Article Photos

Advertisement

The tank is full, no question.

Ten wins in 10 games has already locked in a school record for victories in a season for the Marshalltown High School football team.

The confidence level for the Bobcats has grown week after week as the wins have continued to pile up.

Marshalltown plays its seventh home game of 2009 at Leonard Cole Field tonight as Waukee (7-3) comes to town for a first round matchup in the Class 4A state playoffs at 7 p.m.

The Bobcats a year ago missed out on the postseason with a 3-6 record. Marshalltown head coach Dave Holdiman points to a pair of road wins early this season as getting the ball rolling for the fourth-ranked team in the state.

"We knew the seniors were 7-2 as sophomores and missed the sophomore (conference) championship by a touchdown so we knew we had a good core of players to work with," Holdiman said.

"Two things early that really gave us some confidence where the win at Sioux City North and the win at Valley where we had a last-second field goal to win," Holdiman added. "I think those two early wins gave this group the confidence that they could play with anybody."

In Week 8, Marshalltown claimed a 44-22 victory over Waukee.

"This time it will definitely be tougher. Beating the same team twice is tough," said MHS senior Jarred Carlson. "We've already played them so they know what we got and we know what they got."

The Warriors feature do-everything quarterback Chad Owens - 1,391 rushing yards and 21 touchdown to go with 1,580 passing yards with 13 TDs. Owens rushed for 118 yards and passed for 133 in the first matchup against MHS.

"If we can do the kind of job we did the first time in containing him, our chances improve," Holdiman said.

The offense has plenty of confidence going against Waukee as in 2008 Chanse Creekmur threw for a school-record 441 yards. Marshalltown's 505 passing yards as a team ranked as the fourth most in a game in Iowa high school history. Creekmur hit the Warriors for 346 yards this season.

The MHS-Waukee winner advances to face the winner of Ankeny (9-1) against Johnston (6-4) in Friday's quarterfinal round.

"They are a group that has improved week after week," Holdiman said of his team, "and is not content to sit on their laurels and that's a good sign."