‘(Audubon) A statement win over Exira-EHK last Friday night is keeping Audubon in the conversation for an 8-Player, District 10 title. The Wheelers are joined Coon Rapids-Bayard and West Harrison as the three league unbeatens.
Audubon sits at 2-0 in the district, but coach Sean Birks says they’ll have five big challenges still ahead. That includes CAM this week. While there is no denying the Cougars lost a wealth of talent from last year’s roster, coach Birks indicates they have a more balanced attack this season. “Last year they lined up and they were going to run the ball. It didn’t make it any easier to stop Lane Spieker and the rest of their dudes, but the big difference now is they are more than capable of throwing the ball. They do multiple formations, they shift, they have multiple kids that line up at quarterback. They have a 6’5″ nightmare matchup that can play tight end and wide receiver, They’ll move him around. It’s going to be a test both the run game and pass game. They are multiple, they are physical, they are well coached, it will be a battle.”
Audubon responded from a 44-0 loss to Fremont-Mills with a 64-30 triumph against Exira-EHK. “Finally playing Wheeler football. We set goals every single week and we hit all six of our goals last week.” Birks says, “The three losses we were checking off maybe one goal a night and it just wasn’t good enough.”
Stopping the run will be the first priority this week for an Audubon defense that has been very fluid this season. “The big thing for us is we are still growing and moving.” Birks says, “We’ve changed up our personnel a lot based on the week. We have coachable kids and smart kids that can figure out where they need to go in different situations. That has been helpful. This week if you allow them to establish the run then they are going to run it all night and it sets up that play action where they leak the tight ends by you. Our run defense has to be good first and foremost. Because if they are able to run it opens up everything they want to do.”
Audubon’s strength offensively has been in their rushing attack led with 1,019 yards through five games. Quarterback Aaron Olsen leads the way with 542 yards and 12 scores while Evan Alt and Manny Beisswenger have been nice complementary pieces.
CAM will be trying to avoid three straight losses. The Cougars haven’t had more than two losses in a row since Weeks 7, 8, and 9 of the 2015 season.
Audubon coach Sean Birks:
