The Clear Creek Amana football team opens the 2016 season tonight when they travel to Mount Pleasant.

The Clippers were 5-5 a season ago, ending their year in the first round of the playoffs against Maquoketa. Offensively, the Clippers were 12th in class 3A in 2015, rushing for 2,520 yards, led by Iowa Mennonite’s Drake Brezina who finished with 1,010 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. He averaged nearly eight yards per carry. Senior Robby Swails led CCA through the air with 279 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions a year ago.

Defensively, the Clippers were in the top 20 in class 3A, allowing just 17 points per game. The Clippers also forced 17 turnovers as a defense. CCA graduated their top two tacklers from last year, with Aaron Akers and Evan Downes accounting for 97.5 tackles. The leader returner is Jared Eckrich who finished with 50 stops a year ago.

Mount Pleasant is coming off of a 1-8 season last year. The Panthers struggled on both sides of the football, allowing 28 points per game while scoring just 14 per contest. The Panthers threw for 1,561 yards last year and 12 touchdowns. On the ground they were third worst in the state with just 759 yards and seven touchdowns. The Panthers turned the ball over 21 times on the season.

These two teams met during district play in 2015 with Clear Creek beating the Panthers 19-6 in Tiffin on October 2nd. The Clippers rushed for 326 yards in the victory. Action begins tonight at 7:30 in Mount Pleasant.