The 7-1 GTRA Titans football program is preparing for a competitive matchup against the 6-2 CAM Cougars this Friday night. The Titans last game a week ago turned into a 66-20 rout of the North Iowa Bison.

44-point victories are a good reminder for GTRA head coach Todd Hough of how much improvement his team has seen in the last year.

A large part of the Titans success is the equal distribution on offense. Starting quarterback Kasey Hough has been sharp in the pocket with a 73.8 completion percentage and over 23 touchdowns. Those 23 touchdowns have been distributed to seven different receivers.

Coach Hough has also liked the disruption his defensive has caused on opposing offensive lines. That has allowed linebackers Caleb Swedin and Landen Dietrich to cause havoc on offenses. Both linebackers combine for 74 tackles and six tackles for a loss.

Even with a tested defense, the Titans are not overlooking the running attack of CAM. The Cougars have rushed for over 1800 yards and average 6.4 yards a carry. A large part due to senior Makade Paulsen and his 985 rushing yards.

The bus ride for CAM will be over two hours on Friday and coach Hough thinks that will only play a small part in the game.

KJANTV will be broadcasting the game with the pregame slated to start at 6:30 p.m.

The 8-0 Lenox Tigers football team are focused and ready for their matchup this Friday against the 3-5 Exira-EHK Spartans in the first round of the 8-player playoffs. Lenox has seamlessly cut through the regular season with their closest game being a 28-point victory against a talented Bedford program.

Co-Head Coach Cole Bonde noted that the Tigers have seen large amounts of success from the leadership of their senior class with athletes like Gabe Funk and Jordan-Martin-England.

The Lenox offense has been nearly unstoppable this year thanks to the arm and decision making of Funk. Funk has thrown for 957 yards, 15 touchdowns, and only one interception on the year. Combined with the ground game of Martin-England’s 81 carries, 735 rushing yards, and 17 scores the duo have been hard to contain.

Defensively the Tigers have been led by Brody Brokaw with 37.5 tackles and 7.5 tackles for a loss. Laramie Stoaks is another defensive back who leads the team in interceptions with four and has minimized most teams passing attacks.

While studying film in preparation for Friday, coach Bonde noted that Exira-EHK tends to be creative with their schemes. That creativity lends the Spartans numerous opportunities to score and take momentum away.

One of Lenox’s main focuses heading into Friday is to quickly create explosive plays and get an early lead. This offensive mentality has kindled a Tiger offense that is scoring 55-points a game.

KJAN will have the coverage for Friday’s contest with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.

Drake coach Todd Stepsis says the Bulldogs will focus on the run game during their bye week. Drake has ridden the arm of quarterback Luke Bailey to a 5-1 overall record and 4-0 start in the Pioneer Football League race, but the Bulldogs are only averaging 88 yards on the ground and only ran the ball 20 times in last week’s 19-16 overtime win at Presbyterian.

Drake blocked a potential walk off field goal to send the game to overtime and survived despite several redzone turnovers.

Drake continues to excel in close games. The Bulldogs have won 15 straight PFL games dating back to 2022 and 10 of them have been by a touchdown or less.

Stepsis says they are using the bye week to get the starters some rest and prepare for the stretch run.

The Bulldogs return to action at home on November second against Marist.

Iowa had lofty goals coming into the season but only seven games in the Hawkeyes’ hopes of competing for a Big Ten title and a spot in the expanded college football playoffs are gone. They take a 4-3 record into Saturday’s game at home against Northwestern.

That’s Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara who believes the Hawkeyes have what it takes to bounce back.

McNamara was 11 of 23 from 150 yards in a 32-20 loss at Michigan State and knows he needs to be better going forward.

Tight end Luke Lachey says the Hawkeyes are not going to quit.

Lachey says despite his struggles for much of the season he remains confident in McNamara.

Northwestern coach David Braun says Iowa’s offense has made progress this season, even though the way they play has not changed. The Wildcats take a 3-4 overall record into Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

Braun says with running back Kaleb Johnson the Hawkeyes have a big play threat.

Braun says new offensive coordinator Tim Lester has put his stamp on the offense.

Under Braun the Wildcats have played well on special teams. He says that will be a challenge against the Hawkeyes.