OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa football team will try to end its three-game skid Friday at Schafer Stadium.

The Bulldogs take on Class 4A, Division 3 opponent Mason City in their homecoming game. Though it’s not a must-win game playoff-wise, it may be confidence-wise.

After suffering a 49-7 shellacking at the hands of Marshalltown last week, the Bulldogs are in desperate need of a victory. And a home game against a winless Mohawk team provides Ottumwa with a perfect opportunity to get back in the winner’s circle. Ottumwa, however, shouldn’t underestimate its opponents.

To make the Class 4A playoffs, Ottumwa needs to finish ahead of at least one other team in its division and a victory over Mason City would go a long way toward accomplishing this goal. If the Bulldogs lose to the Mohawks, however, they will have to win one of their last two Division 3 games to have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs. 

Coach Zach Pfantz, however, said winning is not the team’s main goal going into the game.

”We want to compete against ourselves and play with a lot of passion, energy and excitement ... Something that we’ve been lacking the last couple of weeks,” Pfantz said.

Ottumwa has had one its best weeks of practice this month, the coach said, adding that the coaching staff and some senior players have been challenging the team to step up its intensity level.

At the helm for Mason City is quarterback Matt Meyer. Thus far this season, Meyer’s completed 48-120 passes for 592 yards, tossed two touchdown passes and thrown six interceptions. Colin Halfpap has been Meyer’s most popular receiving option with 19 receptions for 245 yards on the season. Wyatt Cooper and Alec Watson also are receiving threats for Mason City. The two Mohawks have caught 17 passes between them for a combined total of 185 yards.

Rushing yards have been scarce for Mason City. Austin Voves has rushed for 101 yards on 41 carries and Lucas Mariner has recorded 92 yards on 30 rushes. In contrast, Ottumwa running back Seth Griffiths has ran for more than a hundred yards in half of the Bulldogs’ game.

Ironically, Mason City’s top two backs have yet to rush for a touchdown this season. In fact, Meyer leads the Mohawks in rushing touchdowns with three.

“They run with quite a few different people,” Pfantz said. “They have a lot of diversity in their calls and what they are trying to do.”

The Bulldog offense will try to turn things around after a subpar performance against Marshalltown last Friday. The boys struggled to get into any sort of rhythm against the Bobcats as even the plays that went for substantial yardage were scattered.

On the plus side, fullback Alec Maas seems to have grown into his role as one of Ottumwa’s most viable receiving options. He led the Bulldogs in receiving yards for the third straight game, pulling down four passes for 75 yards.

“He’s doing everything we ask him to do,” Pfantz said.

Yet, Ottumwa’s passing game still leaves much to be desired. Pfantz said the defects in his team’s passing attack can be attributed to lack of protection for quarterback Alex Goodvin and bad decision making.

“We’re going to try to do something protection wise and route-concept wise to get our passing game going,” Pfantz said.

Though he didn’t pile up major yardage against the Bobcats, Griffiths, partly because of a sluggish passing attack; continues to be Ottumwa’s go-to guy on offense. Last week, he not only scored Ottumwa’s only touchdown on a gutsy 25-yard run, he also had 30 carries.

The Bulldog defense will try to recover after getting carved up by Marshalltown’s super-talented, high-octane offense last week. Ottumwa’s defense, which had played well going into last Friday’s game, just didn’t have any answer for legendary Bobcat quarterback Blake Gimbel and his talented crew of receivers. Gimbel fired four touchdown passes, rushed for two more and the Bobcats’ offense compiled 393 yards in the game.

To turn things around, Ottumwa will need solid efforts out of some it’s lead tacklers, including linebackers Chris Peden, defensive end Logan McCarty, free safety Shawn Foster and strong safety Tyler Johns. Aside from last week’s debacle, Ottumwa’s defense has been proficient and hopefully they will bounce back Friday.



OTTUMWA VS. MASON CITY

Time and Place: Ottumwa takes on Mason City in its homecoming game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Schafer Stadium in a Class 4A, Division 3 game.

Records: Ottumwa (2-4) will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak. The Bulldogs were thumped by a talented Marshalltown team 49-7 last week. Mason City (0-6) is still looking for that first win. The Mohawks fell to a strong Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines team 42-9 last week. 

Last meeting: Ottumwa beat Mason City 39-17 the last time the two teams faced off in 1991.

Key Fact: Mason City quarterback Matt Meyer has thrown two touchdowns and six interceptions this season.



Ottumwa Probable Starting Lineup

Offense

QB — Alex Goodvin (6) Sr.

RB — Seth Griffiths (34) Sr.

FB — Alec Maas (19) Sr.

WR — Zach Bowling (9) Jr.

WR — Kyle Keck (11) Sr.

LG — Lucas Lunford (72) Jr.

RG — Clayton Cudworth (84) Sr.

C  — Joey Lee (77) Sr.

LT — Aaron Wagner (53) Sr.

RT — Josh Hudnut (65) Jr.

TE — Sam Kramer (21) Soph.

K — Justin Vonderhaar (56) So.

Defense

DE — Avery Palen (41) Jr.

DE — Logan McCarty (30) Sr.

DT — Jonah Wright (62) Sr.

DT — Conner Mier (64) Jr.

LB — Chris Peden (7) Jr.

LB — Titus Weller (35) Jr.

LB — Cole Eklund (46) Sr.

CB — Zach Bowling (9) Jr.

CB — Andrew Altfillisch (8) So.

FS — Shawn Foster (14) Sr.

SS — Tyler Johns (15) Sr.

 P — Bryce Ward (88) Sr.