The Exira-EHK Football Team will travel to Audubon to take on Carson Wessel and the Wheelers this Friday. The contest will mark the third of the season for both programs. Exira-EHK is coming off a 30-20 victory over Stanton to pull their record to 1-1, while Audubon is rolling at 2-0 after their blowout win against Colo-Nesco.

The Spartans will have their hands full with the Wheelers’ speedy junior quarterback Carson Wessel and the offense.  Heading into Friday, Wessel leads the Western Iowa Conference in touchdowns (9), rushing yards (374), offensive touchdowns (9), offensive yards (626), yards per completion (21.0), and quarterback rating (217.1).  Wheelers’ senior running back Aaron Olsen is also a big part of the offense. He is coming off a fantastic game last week where he ran for 127 yards and averaged 6.0 yards per carry. Exira-EHK head coach Drew Buckholdt knows his defense will need to keep the Audubon offense behind the sticks.

The Spartan defense is led by senior linebacker Alex Hansen. Hansen leads the team with 16.5 tackles and 3 tackles for loss. Coming into Friday’s game he ranks in the top 10 in the Rolling Valley Conference in total tackles, solo tackles, and tackles for loss.  He is also a contributor on the offensive side of the ball. He has averaged 5.4 yards per carry and 2 touchdowns this season. Hansen also holds the 4th longest run for a touchdown in the conference to date.

Offensively the Spartans’ run game will be a key factor in the ball game. Starting a young quarterback making just his second varsity start, it is likely that coach Buckholdt will rely on his running game which made a big jump from week 1 to week 2. In their week 1 loss to Ar-We-Va the Spartans compiled 149 yards and averaged 3.9 yards per carry. However, last week those numbers improved as Hansen ran 114 yards and junior Bryce Brabham ran for 117 yards. Despite the improvement in the run game Buckholdt is hoping for an even bigger improvement against Audubon.

Running the ball won’t be easy for Exira-EHK as they will have to contend with a Wheelers’ defense led by linebacker #81 Austin Christensen and Cornerback Adam Obrecht. Christensen is tied for fourth in the WIC with 15.5 tackles. Obrecht is not far behind with 13 and both of them share the conference lead with two interceptions.  Buckholdt knows that assignment football will be important.

Catch all the action on KJAN Radio with kickoff at 7pm.