The football Braves are away to a great start – a 2-0 record with big wins over teams that likely will finish with pretty good records.
Now comes a new opponent – at least in terms of football – in the Grand View Christian Thunder.
It will be the first district game of the season, and it starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 3, in Des Moines.
The Braves have tangled with the Thunder’s high-powered basketball teams in the past.
The Thunder have enthusiasm, if roster size means anything. They count 35 in the program, a lot for a Class 8 team.
They’re coming off a 48-24 loss to Green Mountain-Garwin last week.
GMG went 1-8 last season, and counts 15 on its roster.
Defense has been the issue for Grand View Christian. The Thunder went 1-7 last season and have up 50 or more points in five different games.
The Thunder has a passing game.
Quarterback John Noah, a 6-1, 170-pound sophomore, was 25-for-42 for 268 yards and two touchdowns against GMG.
Colin Woodbury, a 6-1, 190-pound junior tight end, caught seven passes for 133 yards, a 19.0 per catch average. Three other receivers caught five or more balls.
Noah rushed 22 times for 56 yards, but the rest of the team had a net of minus-5 on the ground.
Last season, Noah was 50-for-174, for 788 yards and seven scores. He rushed 77 times for 155 yards and three touchdowns.
The Thunder graduated its two top tacklers from a season ago.
The other teams in Montezuma’s district are Baxter, BGM, Grand View Christian, Melcher-Dallas, Twin Cedars and Woodward Academy.
Montezuma is 2-0, Baxter is 1-0, and the rest are each 0-1, all in non-district play.
Goal one for Montezuma this week: Keep improving, and hope that a win will be a by-product of that.
GRAND VIEW CHRISTIAN plays behind its school, located at 1701 East 33rd St. in Des Moines. Traveling west on I-80, you can take the southbound U.S. 65 exit. Go south to University Ave, taking the westbound exit toward Des Moines and the state fairgrounds. Go west to Gate 6 at the fairgrounds (East 33rd St.) and turn right, or north. Now, you’re just two minutes and about six blocks away. Turn into the school, and wind your way to the left and behind it. The field has a woodsy setting.