Elkader Central keeps scoring and scoring and scoring

CEDAR RAPIDS – Hard to fathom how a football team can be almost a month into its season and be scoring 77 points a game.

Elkader Central put up 62 in its opener, followed that with a whopping 94 in its second game and had 76 last week. Technically, that's an average of 77.333.

How have the Warriors been able to generate so much offense? It's a little more complex than a simple math equation.

Or maybe it's not.

'It doesn't hurt to have a running back like Nathan Fitzgerald,” said Elkader Central Coach Tom Wilwert.

Fitzgerald has 779 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns, averaging a state-best 13.7 yards per carry. Last week against Springville, the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder went off for 383 yards and nine TDs.

Even in the wide-open, high-flying Eight-Player game, that's impressive.

'Just fun,” Fitzgerald said. 'Last season, I had eight against Rockford, so that gave me a little sense of what it's like.”

'He's the strength of our offense,” Wilwert said. 'He is a physical runner with great balance, and he's got some burst.”

Like any good back, Fitzgerald was quick to point out the work of his linemen: Blake Rodenberg, Justin Cummer, Kennie Orr and Ben Tshirgi. Sophomore quarterback Derek Ehrhardt can throw the football for Central, and he's got some skilled guys to throw to in Isaiah Hopp, Ben Backes and Neil Kelly.

Aaron Hoth, Fitzgerald's backup at running back, averages almost 10 yards a carry and has scored four touchdowns this season. That proves there's depth on this team.

'You can't sit and take away one thing defensively away from us,” Wilwert said. 'We have pretty good team speed, the line gets off the ball. If you watch us play, we look a little different than other (Eight-Player) teams. We do some things differently. But there is a purpose for everything we do.”

This is the third season of Eight-Player football at Central, and Wilwert thought it could be a good one. The Warriors went 6-5, playoffs included, in 2013, and that was despite never having a full lineup.

There were injuries and suspensions that sabotaged the season.

'At no point last year, did we ever field our best eight,” Wilwert said.

But there have been no such issues with this team, offseason training went great, and the results thus far have been even greater.

'I wouldn't really call this a surprise,” said Fitzgerald. 'We expected to be one of the top Eight-Man teams around. We had some things happen last season that prevented that from happening ... It has definitely been motivating. We knew we had this opportunity last season, and we lost it.”

'To make a short story long, we knew we'd be pretty good,” Wilwert said. 'I'm not sure we thought we'd be playing this well, though.”

Central opened some eyes with its 76-29 win last week over Springville. It'll be a prohibitive favorite Friday night at Cedar Valley Christian and the following week against Midland.

A really potentially yummy matchup comes Oct. 3 at home against Turkey Valley. A historically strong 11-player program, TV is 3-0 in its first season playing the Eight-Man game.

'We have high goals,” Wilwert said. 'We want to play in the (UNI)-Dome.”

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