High School Football Rewind: Elkader Central weathers the weather to remain unbeaten

CEDAR RAPIDS - Elkader Central had to spend a lot of time on the bus Friday night before getting its fourth win this football season.

Only not in the way you’d think. This was no obnoxiously long drive for the Warriors to play their opponent.

Maqpuest says it’s only 48 miles from the school to Lansing Kee.

It was repeated lightning delays that forced the team to retreat to its Blue Bird special for cover. Central’s 36-28 victory was completed about 11:30 p.m., four and a half hours after it kicked off.

The return trip home ended around 1:30 a.m. A long night, but a good night.

“Everyone was (still) in pretty good spirits when we got back to school,” said Elkader Central Coach J.W. Downs.

Central took a 16-0 lead after the first quarter, a quarter that was interrupted about halfway through because of the weather. It was 22-14 Warriors at halftime, with the second half about to start when more lightning appeared.

Back to the bus for another lengthy delay.

“We just tried to keep them fired up,” Downs said. “There was a really big momentum shift before the first lightning delay. Kee was driving down the field, we forced a fumble and recovered it. Then we had a couple of good runs for first down before the delay.

“We wanted to keep their energy up. And you want to keep them loose as much as you can, 20 kids on a school bus. Basically it was trying to keep their heads in the right space.”

The win moved Elkader Central to 4-0, one more win than it had last season in Downs’ first as head coach. A Maquoketa Valley grad, he joined the program as a middle school coach in 2022, a year in which Central fielded only a JV team because of low numbers.

The Warriors were 0-8 upon their varsity return in 2023 and 3-5 last season. Four wins are the most the Eight-Player program has had since 2016, when it finished 8-3 and in the playoffs.

In fact, Central was a state quarterfinalist in 2014 and 2015, finishing 11-1 each season.

“Obviously this is huge,” Downs said. “It takes a village to have a successful football program. That goes beyond the players. It’s parents, extended family, coaching staff and our families, community members, peers in the school, other sports. We’ve got a great village. We had a decent amount of high school students come out and support us (last night) and stay in there through the rain delays. They stayed out there until the game got done.”

Brothers Owen and Griffen Hammersland have led Central offensively: Owen, a junior, leading the team in rushing, followed by his sophomore sibling. Senior Braxton Bormann, senior Jake Hertrampf and sophomore Mason Loan also have been significant skill-position contributors.

Seniors Max Fettkether, Garrett Burns, and Braden Taylor, and sophomore Zane Embretson are the other main starters on both sides of the ball. Downs wanted to emphasize the importance of his coaching staff as well: Jamie Hammersland, Josh Embretson, Mitch Seitz and Blake Rodenberg.

Back to the village.

“The goal for us is to continue to strive toward our number one goal,” Downs said. “That is to be the best teammate we can be ... We’re not concerned with playoffs, we’re not concerned with a team two weeks from now. Week by week, day by day, rep by rep, we just want to continue being better and doing our jobs. That’s every position, every coach, every day.”

Elkader Central hosts Springville this coming week for homecoming.

Red zone ramblings

– Quarterback Grady McGuire rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns as Cedar Rapids Washington won at Grinnell, 24-21, Friday night. McGuire also completed 6 of 9 passes for 95 yards.

Nicholas Riley added 123 yards rushing for Washington (2-2), which rushed for 315 yards in breaking a two-game losing streak.

– Mason City scored 20 first-quarter points in downing Marion, 29-6. Running back Dane Hanson had 137 yards rushing and two TDs for the Riverhawks (2-2).

Marion (1-3) got a fourth-quarter touchdown run from sophomore Logan Hendricks to avert the shutout. The Wolves had three turnovers in the game: two interceptions and a fumble.

– Quarterback Kyle Tracy completed all nine of his passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns in Class 1A No. 3 Iowa City Regina’s 55-6 win at Eldon Cardinal. The Regals (4-0) had 11 different players catch passes in the game.

– Trevin Helming completed only 6 of 17 passes but a pair went for touchdown in Class 5A No. 8 Johnston’s home upset of No. 2 Iowa City Liberty.

– Junior quarterback Reece Wheeler threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns in Iowa City West’s 31-14 win at Bettendorf. The Trojans (4-0), ranked eighth, are the lone unbeaten team in Class 5A on the Eastern side of the state.

Wheeler’s yardage came on just 14 completions. Ethan Headings had five catches for 129 yards, Juju Manson five catches for 110 yards and two scores.

– Has Eastern Iowa big schools gained at all on its behemoth Des Moines suburban brothers in Class 5A? It doesn’t look like it.

In head-to-head matchups so far this season, Eastern Iowa schools are 1-7. The lone winner is Iowa City Liberty, which beat Southeast Polk three weeks ago, 38-20.

– Highland, Meskwaki Settlement School and Remsen St. Mary’s all forfeited games Friday night because of low number of available players. St. Mary’s was last season’s Eight-Player state champion at 13-0.

Highland Coach Cory Quail stepped down from his position recently because he felt his outmanned team should not be playing.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com