August 27, 2018 By Chris Varney
Each Monday during the High School Football season, I will give you my thoughts on Friday’s games.
— The Brian Sauser era began at T.T. Cranny Field on Friday night with a 27-12 victory over Wellman Mid Prairie. It was not 100 percent pretty but the Tigers did what they had to do to get the victory. The defense looked solid, especially after the weather delay when they forced three turnovers to end drives by the Golden Hawks. Senior Eli Ivanov made a great interception soon after play resumed and he did a great job of shutting down Wellman’s Justin Schwartz in the 2nd half. Sophomore Matayas Durr looked really good on the defensive line getting penetration and making things happen in the backfield. On offense, Drew Coffman overcame an early interception to play well, especially calling his own number for 102 rushing yards. The passing game sputtered a little but shows some promise.
Special teams were huge for Grinnell. Sophomore Cole McGriff is a weapon at punter, averaging about 37 yards a kick. Senior Gavin McFarland made a 35 yard extra point — it looks like he and Sophomore Kyle Dillion both have strong legs and will solidify the field goals and extra points.
In recent years, Grinnell would make a mistake early in games and they never be able to overcome it. On Friday, Coffman threw an early interception that resulted in a touchdown and a 12-6 Wellman lead. This time, however, the Tigers forgot about it and recovered to get two scores late in the second quarter. They never gave up and played strong to the end.
— BGM won an emotional game at Lisbon on Friday, 35-24. The Bears were led by Senior QB Scott Tibbetts who ran for a touchdown and threw for 2 more. Then on Sunday, he was at a memorial service for his sister Mollie that was attended by at least a thousand people at BGM High School. It has been a tough week for the Tibbetts family and I am sure it was not easy for Scott as well. Anybody who doubted Scott’s decision to play on Friday should think again. I talked with Head Coach Jerod Burns on Friday morning and he told Scott that it was his decision to play or not play. Scott chose to suit up — everybody should defend and support his decision. Scott’s teammates have rallied around him and I expect BGM to have a great season this year led by Scott Tibbetts.
— English Valleys has only made it to the playoffs three times in their history, the last being in 2010. The Bears are 2-0 to start the season this year and both wins have been blowouts (70-6 over Twin Cedars and 74-18 at Winfield Mt. Union on Friday). It will get tougher for EV this week when they visit Wayland WACO. Senior Cooper Andressan currently leads the entire state in rushing with 300 yards. Last year, English Valleys won 2 of their first 3 games but did not win the rest of the season. The Bears go on the road this week then have a bye and then have 2 more road games at Tri County and Montezuma. Then its a tough stretch to end the season with Iowa Valley, @ HLV, New London and Lone Tree. There is a lot of football to play but the Bears will be a team to watch this year in 8 man.