North Tama: 3 games, 0 points allowed

TRAER -- No bells. No whistles.And no points allowed.North Tama's football team is its same old stingy self; the Class A third-ranked Redhawks have posted three consecutive shutouts to start the season."The kids here love to play defense," said Redhawks Coach Brent Thoren. "We have good offensive players, too, but defensively ... there's something about it. Something about our physical style of play lends itself to a good defense."Physical. That's the first word that came from HLV Coach Kevin Smith, whose team has been blanked by the Redhawks four times in the past three years."They're physical. They're athletic. They're aggressive," Smith said. "They get you on your heels and they get you in situations in which you don't want to be."In the chess match that is football, the offense generally acts and the defense reacts.Not so with North Tama. The Redhawks want to set the tone, forcing the opposing offense to adjust."We want to get the other team guessing," Thoren said.That's not to say the Redhawks shift and dance around much in their basic 4-4 set. They don't stunt or blitz a lot."They don't do a lot of fancy things," Smith said. "They just attack you, all the time."Thoren said, "The kids just want to fly around and play football. It's a pretty simple scheme. We just turn them loose and let them play football."The philosophy is to defeat the man on the other side of the ball."More plays than not, the Redhawks win the battle. They've allowed about 160 yards this season.Not 160 yards per game. That's 160 yards. Total.They've taken away the run: In a 62-0 win over Garwin GMG in the season opener, the Redhawks sent the Wolverines backward to the tune of minus-20 yards rushing.They've taken away the pass. In last week's 41-0 waltz over East Buchanan, the Redhawks picked off six throws."Every play, everybody knows each other's assignments," said defensive end Lucas Hefty. "We flow well together."The closest anyone has gotten to the North Tama end zone was when HLV returned a kickoff to the Redhawks' 15. They were denied from there.North Tama's string of zeroes is nothing new. In the past 40 games since 2007, the Redhawks have posted 27 shutouts and have compiled a 36-4 record. In the past 30 regular season games, the Redhawks have allowed 79 points -- 2.6 per game.The Redhawks advanced to the state final -- losing to Southern Cal in overtime -- in 2008, then made it back to the semifinals last year."I'm not sure we have as many outstanding individuals as those teams had," said defensive coordinator Tom McDermott. "But the kids do a good job utilizing the abilities they have. They're hard-nosed and don't want anybody to score against them."McDermott spent 15 years as the head coach, beginning in 1973. He stepped down when he became the school's principal, then eventually the superintendent.He's retired as an administrator now and is back with the football team as one of Thoren's assistants.Linebacker Cade Isenhower leads the team in tackles with 36. He has intercepted a pass for a touchdown."I just look for the ball and go to the ball," he said.Hefty has 13 tackles, five for loss, and has recovered a fumble.Nine of the defensive starters are seniors."We have a lot of great leaders on this team," Thoren said. "They take it personally when somebody scores on them. When we get them out of the game and bring the freshmen and sophomores in, they don't want people to score on them either."The Redhawks host Colo-Nesco on Friday."We have to be ready for them," Isenhower said. "We have to be ready for everybody."