The high school football teams from Montezuma and BGM are looking for a game against a team they can sink their hooks into.
They’re playing each other this Friday evening, Sept. 10, so they may be in luck.
Both will be across an opponent they shouldn’t be afraid to step on the gas against.
It’s the first home game of the season for Montezuma at Badger-Gabriel Field. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Montezuma put the hammer down on Grand View Christian last week, 64-26. BGM beat Twin Cedars 91-0. Can’t figure out anything from those results?
Try these: Montezuma beat Iowa Valley, 57-24. BGM lost to the Tigers, 52-47.
BGM is a tradition-rich program. This is a young Bears team, with just four seniors on the roster.
Jacob Maurer, (5-11, 175) is the quarterback, and he’s the Bears’ main go-to guy. He is 16-for-29 through the air for 265 yards and five touchdowns. He has rushed for nine scores, on 335 yards in 36 carries.
Jacob Moel (6-2, 170), has caught eight passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns.
On defense, Moel leads the Bears with 15.5 tackles, including 5.5 for lost yardage. Cooper Winter (6-2, 155) has 12.5 stops, including 5.0 for losses, and Mason Maschmann (5-9, 165) has 10 tackles.
For the Braves, some of the numbers are getting out there after three games.
Quarterback Eddie Burgess (6-4, 230) has completed 28 of 55 passes for 604 yards and nine touchdowns. He has also spearheaded an improving Montezuma ground game with 39 carries for 391 yards and eight touchdowns.
Burgess is throwing to an ever-expanding corps of receivers. Masin Shearer leads at nine catches for 190 yards and four scores. Owen Cook is at five catches for 143 yards and one score and Cam Michalek has six catches for 116 yards and one touchdown.
Burgess leads with 20 tackles and has three interceptions. Zach Bennett has 10.5 tackles. Defense has been a community project for the Braves, who have 25 players in on stops already.
The Braves were missing some players who were banged up last week, but Coach John Beck anticipates their return “soon,” he said.
Cook is a major weapon as a kicker. Of 28 kickoffs, 15 have gone for touchbacks. He’s 12-for-14 on point after boots, and one-for-one on field goals.
POLL NEWS – I’m not a big fan of high school team sports polls – but – it should be noted that the football Braves are #1 in this week’s Radio Iowa poll for Class 8 . . .