×

Bobcats head west in search of bounceback victory

T-R GRAPHIC

After dropping its first game of the season to Ankeny Centennial, the Marshalltown football team will look to get back in the win column against winless Sioux City West.

“I think [the loss] was a big wakeup,” Goodvin said. “The kids obviously don’t like losing. We are focused right now. We have got a long bus trip up there to Sioux City West. Our goal is to win this week. Our message is that we have to get better every single day. We have a tough end of the year here and I’m sure Sioux City West is making some changes for their homecoming. I’m sure their kids will be excited and ready to go. We have to make sure we’re ready to go and best prepared to win a football game.”

Sioux City West comes off a 93-0 loss to Des Moines Roosevelt.

On offense, the Wolverines run a spread offense which has averaged five points per game after being shutout three times this season. At quarterback, Sioux City West has gone through four different players with the Abel Harker taking the most attempted passes in the last two games. On the season, Harker is 8-for-33 having thrown for 90 yards and three interceptions. In total, Wolverine quarterbacks are 33-for-90 throwing for 485 yards, ten interceptions and two touchdowns.

“They are trying to find someone to step up, be consistent and provide some quality snaps for them,” Goodvin said. “I do know they are a young football team. They have a couple of freshmen that have done some things offensively for them. Those kids can play. They don’t look like freshmen. They have got a lot of speed. I think they are trying to find some consistency.”

According to Goodvin, in preparing for West’s spread offense the Bobcats will rely on the defensive line.

“It’s going to start with our defensive line up front if we can get a lot of pressure on them,” Goodvin said. “They like to throw the ball a lot and spread it out. If our defensive line can get in the backfield the majority of the night, I think that is going to make the job a lot easier on our defensive backs. We have got to be disciplined and trust our reads and make plays.”

The Wolverines’ run offense has struggled just as much as its passing game. Out of 90 total carries, Sioux City West has averaged just 1.3 yards per carry and scored one rushing touchdown. West’s main source of offensive production has come from wide receiver Keavian Hayes who has nine catches for 279 yards and a touchdown and running back Nick Puente who is used both in the run game and passing game.

“They like to go to [Hayes] and go to Puente,” Goodvin said. “They like to do a lot of swing passes to their running backs out of the backfield. It all comes back from getting pressure on them with the defensive line and our linebackers swarming to the football. They will try to spread it out and run at first as well and throws some quick passes

Sioux City West has also endured a tough season on defense as the Wolverines have given up an average of 48 points per game.

“They will mix the fronts every now and again,” Goodvin said. “They’ll go from 4-3 and play a lot of zone [defense]. They’ll play Cover 3 and Cover 4 and some man [defense] at times. Our guys have got to recognize that offensively. I think for the most part [our offense] has done an outstanding job of recognizing coverages and putting the ball where it’s supposed to be. We just have to clean up and be sharp on Friday night.”

Notably, Sioux City West’s free safety Estevan Quintana has been a standout with 43.5 tackles and three total tackles for loss made, to go with three fumble recoveries one of which was returned for a touchdown.

“[Quintana] their free safety is a pretty talented athlete,” Goodvin said. “That’s going to be important for [MHS quarterback Brendan] Bates to find him presnap every play and then hopefully put the ball away from him and make some plays. He is a good athlete and gets around the ball a lot. I think that’s why they put him in the middle of the field so he can run around and try to shut some things down. We just have to be aware of that and do our thing and execute.”

“We watched film and learned from [last week’s loss]. We have got to trust our initial reads, go stick in our foot in the ground and go make plays. Offensively, stuff is still there we have got to trust what we’re doing and execute.”

Marshalltown will travel Elwood Olsen Stadium with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today