A prep football diary

Editor's note: Kyle Schepanski is a senior football player at Anamosa High School who worked a summer internship with The Gazette through the Workplace Learning Connection. He has agreed to file a weekly diary about the Raiders' season. This is the first installment.

By Kyle Schepanski, Anamosa senior

One simple word described the extra motivation to pull out a win last week against North Cedar - revenge.

After a heartbreaking overtime loss a year ago we were looking to redeem ourselves.

We succeeded.

After last year's battle, and this year's off-season, Anamosa and North Cedar had officially become rivals.

We came out of the gates with some adversity, suffering a three-and-out on the opening drive. But a fumble from North Cedar in its own territory led to a touchdown gave us all the confidence we needed.

We would score the next 15 points and cruise to a 22-0 victory, giving Anamosa it's first 1-0 start since 2011.

This game did not only get the season started on the right foot, it also gave us the bragging rights. We got our revenge.

Now we are looking to build off that 1-0 start and become one of the best teams in the state.

This year's team is the first in more than 25 years to be ranked in the preseason. Last year we had to prove them wrong, this year we are going to have to prove them right.

That one simple word - revenge - could describe our motivation for this whole season. Revenge on all the teams that have been laughing at Anamosa football for so long.

Our time is now, and nobody is laughing anymore.