In a thrilling and back-and-forth affair, the CAM Cougars Football team defeated the GTRA Titans to move on to the second round of the Iowa High School Football Playoffs.  Makade Paulsen was the star of the show, factoring in on all nine of CAM’s touchdowns while rushing for 347 yards.  In addition to the run game, Paulsen teamed up with Colin Bower multiple times to have a solid night through the air.  However, in a game with 18 total touchdowns and 131 points, it all came down to a Kegan Croghan field goal to give CAM the 67-64 win over the Titans.

On the opening drive, GTRA performed as advertised, moving the ball down the field with pace and efficiency to score 8 points and take the early lead. Looking for a response, CAM drove down the field but nearly stopped. However, on fourth down, Paulsen would roll out to his right and find Kayden Winther at the pylon for a 13-yard touchdown reception to bring the game to within two. It would be their first of three fourth-down touchdowns on the night. In one of the few defensive stops, the CAM defense forced the only turnover of the night when Karson Calhoun picked off Kasey Hough inside Titan territory. The interception would set up an 11-yard Bower touchdown reception to give CAM their first lead of the game. However, they missed their second straight two-point conversion leaving the advantage of 12-8.

Both defenses would earn stops, giving the ball back to the Titans. Once again, they drove down the field and cashed in on a jet sweep to Caleb Swedin to reestablish their lead in the second quarter. Then in a surprise move, GTRA recovered an onside kick in side CAM territory and took advantage. Hough would pick up his first of three rushing touchdowns to put the Titans up by 10. With the ball back, the Cougars marched down the field as Bower caught his second of three touchdown passes to bring the deficient to two. After getting another stop on defense, it didn’t take CAM long to retake the lead. Paulsen hit his first explosive run of the night to give the Cougars a 28-22 lead. However, as would come to be commonplace, GTRA would respond to tie the game before the half.

The score tied at 28; the game had a different feel in the second half. Where CAM had been chasing GTRA for a large portion of the first half, it was the Titans now chasing the Cougars. This was in large part due to CAM receiving the kickoff and capitalizing on the opening drive with a 13-yard Paulsen touchdown run. The one downside was that GTRA had an answer for everything CAM did.  when the Cougars scored, the Titans scored. Where CAM missed a two-point conversion, GTRA did the same. The only real difference was that the Titans had a few more explosive plays, including two 60-plus-yard passing touchdowns from Teagan Hanson, who played much of the 2nd half and threw for 277 yards. However, Paulsen added another huge run for a touchdown as well.

With the game tied at 64 and the clock starting to wind down, CAM started moving the ball down the field. With just seven seconds remaining, Bower made one last reception and stepped out of bounds. Still, 7 yards away from the emdzone, the next play would likely be the last of regulation. CAM called their timeout and came back with the field goal unit. The pressure now was all on Croghan, who had not attempted a field goal all year. Despite this and a shaky snap, Croghan nailed it and gave the Cougars a 67-64 lead with two seconds remaining. All that was left for the Titans was the lateral play on the kickoff and CAM handled it and put a seal on their first round victory.

Head Coach Barry Bower was pleased with his team’s mental fortitude.

Bower said that he appreciated Paulsen’s toughness but also said that his success helped the team in more ways than one.

Despite never attempting a field goal this year, Coach Bower was confident in Croghan.

Bower’s feelings on the win.

CAM will await their next opponenet.

The Exira-EHK Spartans football team were overwhelmed in their 72-16 loss to the Lenox Tigers on Friday night in the first round of the 8-man playoffs. From the first play Lenox was locked in as Gabe Funk intercepted the Spartans which led to an immediate 55-yard touchdown pass from Funk to Gabe Robles to put the Tigers up 7-0. After a mishandled kick return Lenox scooped the ball up for an onside recovery. The following play saw a 20-yard touchdown sprint by Laramie Stoaks making it a 13-0 game. At that point the tone was set and Exira-EHK would struggle to catchup. The reminder of the first quarter had three more scores for the Tigers all rushing, including a 73 yard race from Stoaks putting them up 35-0.

The second quarter didn’t fair much better for the Spartans as a running clock started. Midway through the second quarter Funk faked a pitch and kept the ball on a 36 yard touchdown scramble. The score then increased to 42-0. Right before the end of the second quarter Funk had one more long touchdown run left as he weaved his way through the Exira-EHK defense for 51 yards, creating a 50-0 lead at halftime.

The Spartans did rally in the third quarter with two goal line touchdown runs by Alex Hansen to chip away at Lenox’s lead, even with a 59 yard touchdown pass and punt return by Funk. The end of the third quarter would sit at 64-16. Exira-EHK’s defense held in the fourth while only giving up one Tiger touchdown by Ashton Leonard. The final score of the game would then be 72-16.

Lenox’s main scorer Gabe Funk had an impressive outing with six total touchdowns showing a wide range of skill and decision making. The Spartans top producer on Friday was Hansen with his two scores. Exira-EHK head coach Drew Buckholdt noted that he was impressed with the way Hansen carried himself throughout his time as a Spartan.

Looking at the future of Spartan football, coach Buckholdt is optimistic about the talent he has returning.

The loss drops Exira-EHK’s final record to 3-6. Lenox stays undefeated at 9-0.

Iowa takes a 4-3 record into Saturday’s game against Northwestern. The Wildcats enter with a record of 3-4. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz.

The Hawkeyes needed a late field goal to escape with a win last season in Wrigley Field.

In the last eight games in this series each team has won four.

The CAM Cougars Football team will make a trip to Ruthven to open the postseason for a matchup with the GTRA Titans. CAM finished the regular season with a 6-2 overall record and went 5-1 in district 10 earning them second place and an automatic playoff bid. However, they will start the postseason with a long trip and a tough 7-1 GTRA team. Regardless, Head Coach Barry Bower is pumped up and ready to go.

Although Bower knows that a good start is always important, he says that his team has experience with traveling long distances and that he doesn’t think it will play a major part in the outcome.

Quarterback Makade Paulsen has led the CAM offense all year. He leads the team in multiple statistical categories including rushing yards and touchdowns. However, you can’t forget about their capable back Brayden Chester and their leading receiver Colin Bower. Coach Bower says that getting the ball to Chester and Bower early is important, but that the Cougars will need to continue to play assignment football.

The biggest challenge for CAM will be stopping the GTRA offense. The Titans put up 58.75 points per game and are led by senior quarterback Kasey Hough who has completed 73.8% of his passes. He has also thrown for over 1300 yards and 23 touchdowns with just two interceptions. In addition to executing the fundamentals, Bower says the number one key to stopping the Titans will be CAM’s alignment.

You can catch all the action from Ruthven with an audio livestream on KJANTV with pregame coverage starting at 6:30 pm.

Class 3A Region 7 Semifinals

Kuemper Catholic – 3 vs Des Moines Christian – 2

Clarinda – 2 vs Van Meter – 2

Class 4A Region 5 Semifinals 

Lewis Central -3 vs Carroll – 0

Sergeant Bluff-Luton – 3 vs Webster City – 0

Class 4A Region 7 Semifinals 

Glenwood – 3 vs Creston – 0

The 3-5 Exira-EHK Spartans are gearing up for a tough battle against one of the top ranked 8-player football teams in southwest Iowa, the undefeated Lenox Tigers. In order to make it into the playoffs, the Spartans had to grab a victory against the Griswold Tigers on senior night. Exira-EHK did just that winning in impressive fashion with a score of 60-30.

Looking back on last Friday’s win, Spartans head coach Drew Buckholdt was pleased with the intensity his team played with throughout all four quarters.

In that victory, both junior Bryce Brabham and senior Alex Hansen combined to rush for over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns. That ground game earned Exira-EHK an opportunity to extend their season and it’s something they’re not taking for granted.

While preparing for tonight’s game, coach Buckholdt commented that the Tigers do a very nice job of being mobile and aggressive as a unit. Starting Lenox quarterback Gabe Funk being a prime example with 15 rushing touchdowns and 26.5 tackles.

Part of coach Buckholdt’s strategy is to minimize turnovers and find different ways to control the line of scrimmage. If they can do that, they will give multiple scoring opportunities to quarterback Bryce Brabham to add on to his thousand-yard rushing season.

Coach Buckholdt would also like to see an increased intensity from his defense and will look to athletes like Alex Hansen to add on to his 68 tackle and two sack season. Coach Buckholdt is enthusiastic about the chance to take on Lenox.

Tonight’s game will be broadcasted on KJAN with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.

Girls Team Results

Girls Individual Results

Boys Team Results

Boys Individual Results

Boys Team Results

Girls Team Results

Girls Individual Results

Girls Team Results

Girls Individual Results

Boys Team Results

Boys Individual Results

The co-leaders in the Great Plains football race collide Saturday when fourth ranked Dordt hosts number eight Morningside. Dordt posted a 28-24 victory in Sioux City a year ago for its first ever win in the series and coach Joel Penner says it was a big hurdle for the program to clear.

That’s Dordt coach Joel Penner who says finishing drives in the red zone will be a key. Dordt has the GPAC’s top rushing attack while Morningside has the league’s top passing offense.

Penner says it will be a great atmosphere for the game.

Both teams are 6-0 in the league race.