Local football teams prepare for season openers

Football season is underway, but most teams did not play in week zero and will start their 2009 campaign this Friday.

The first week is a non-conference week for all of the local schools, but the games will still count on their overall record.

Red Oak Tigers – Traveling for their season opener against the Corning Red Raiders will be a rematch of last year’s 18-0 victory for the Tigers.

Corning is returning quarterback Drew Bartenhagen, a 6-foot-3 senior, who completed 42 passes for 533 yards with five touchdowns last year.

The Tigers are hoping to take advantage of Bartenhagen’s interception-prone arm as he threw five interceptions last year.

The Tigers are young in the backfield, starting freshman Tanner Johnson at quarterback and sophomore Seth Esaias at running back, but they will have a lot of seniors in front of them.

The Tigers are big up front with Jackson Miller (230 pounds), John Mertz (185 pounds), Josh Nix (215 pounds), Lucas Orme (220 pounds), and Dalton Ellis (210 pounds).

“We need to stay balanced,” Head Coach Mike Beason said. “We’ve got to limit our mistakes and play as a team.”

East Mills Wolverines – The Wolverines travel to Woodbine to face the Tigers to open the season.

East Mills’ offense in the 20-17 victory, was almost completely dominated by quarterback Jake Bolton who accounted for 246 of the 287 yards of total offense last year.

Bolton, as a sophomore threw for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for 26 yards including a one-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds left to win the game.

Woodbine is returning a big offensive line with senior Dustin Moores (5-foot-11, 197 pounds), junior Spencer Ball (6-foot-3, 225 pounds), sophomore Cory Caddell (5-foot-8, 217 pounds) and junior Jacoby Ehlert (6-foot-3, 250 pounds) to open the holes for a young running back corps.

Essex Trojans – Anita will be the destination for the 0-1 Trojans this week where they will take on the CAM Cougars.

The Cougars won last year’s meeting 50-0, amassing more than 300 yards on the ground.

Running back D.J. Whitlatch and fullback Alex Stork will be returning this season.

Whitlatch ran for 82 yards on 10 carries last season to compliment Stork’s performance of 15 carries, 167 yards and six touchdowns.

The Trojans will be without starting quarterback Justin Moyer with an ankle injury after their 70-0 loss to Walnut.

“We’ll just have to work hard this week, to get ourselves back up,” Essex Head Coach Mike Almquist said. “We’ll be alright.”

Sophomore Cameron Kinney will continue to fill in at quarterback, running the option with his brother Colby Kinney.

Griswold Tigers – Nodaway Valley was a stepping-stone to Griswold’s 8-2 season last year, as the Tigers won 49-6.

Most of last year’s offense was contributed by the running game, including Christian Van Scyoc’s 100 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown.

The Tigers are looking to Van Scyoc to get a lion share of the carries this week, along with Zach Schoning and Cody Bates rotating at running back.

The Wolverines may switch to more of a throwing attack, returning senior wide receivers Steven McFarland, Jesse McCann, James Carroll and senior quarterback Nick Fox.

Nodaway valley went 4-5 last season, gaining momentum winning three of their last four games last season.

Stanton Vikings – The reigning Corner Conference champions will face Meskwaki Settlement in a David vs. Goliath game.

The Warriors will be playing their first-in-school-history game against last year’s state semi-finalist in Stanton.

The Vikings are not sure what to expect from the Warriors considering there are no previous games.

Stanton is returning two-time All-State running back Alex Whigham, who is a weapon any time he has the ball in his hands with 38 offensive touchdowns in three years.

The Vikings will also utilize the arm and legs of new quarterback Tanner Stubbendeck to lead their offense.

Villisca Blue Jays – In a rematch of last season’s 8-0 loss to the East Union Eagles, the Blue Jays will have to rely on the legs of senior running back Nick Berggren and the arm of junior quarterback Timmy Myers to carry the load.

With 436 of the total 479 combined yards being on the ground in last year’s game, the front five of the Jays defense will see their share of tackles.

The Eagles are returning sophomore running back Craig Ditzler who ran for 145 yards on 13 carries in last year’s meeting.

“We’re just going to have to make the plays,” Co-Head Coach T.J. Quick said. “We will have to win the battles up front, and not make mistakes.