(Greenfield) Nodaway Valley/O-M will have their hands full this Friday when they face #1 Van Meter.
The Bulldogs have won 56 consecutive regular season games. They’ve outscored their last two opponents 147-0. Wolverine coach Seth Comly is more focused on righting the ship for his own teams. After a 2-1 start, they’ve lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. “Fixing ourselves and the little things we’ve been messing up on. It’s back down to the basics.”
Nodaway Valely/O-M lost 52-6 to ACGC in Week 5 with their only points coming in the 4th quarter. “We moved the ball well here and there. We got some traction on offense and looked alright, but didn’t get near as much of it as we wouldn’t liked. Our defense started to find a way to slow down that offense. I thought little things like that showed us some promising things going into the future.”
ACGC ran for 442 yards against the Wolverine defense last week and averaged over ten yards per attempt. Comly says his team struggled with consistency. “Consistency and a consistent effort. I think that ultimately was the story of our game. We didn’t give great effort all the time and it showed on the scoreboard. I think if we get that consistent effort we’ll be just fine.”
Nodaway Valley/O-M is still very much in the hunt in the Class 1A, District 7 playoff race. Four of the six teams in the league will qualify. Entering Week 6, the Wolverines are tied with West Central Valley and Panorama for the final spot. They will go head-to-head with those squads in Weeks 7 and 8. “We have to take it one game at a time because there still is a chance our season will continue. We can make a run, we can still get things figured out. It’s not we lost two district games and are totally out of it which makes it harder for the guys to buy in. We mentioned we have to keep in perspective that we are still trying learn things and have a new coaching staff and new team.”
Van Meter’s stats have be gaudy to say the least. The defending state runner-up averages 47.4 points per game and allows 2.6. Comly on what impresses him about the Bulldogs…”Consistent effort level and their ability to execute at a high rate in the simple things they do. They don’t get too complicated, but they’ve gotten really good at what they do. Kudos to coach Trudo up there, he has things figured out.
Van Meter’s last regular season loss was to Madrid on August 28th, 2015.
Nodaway Valley/O-M coach Seth Comly:
