The longest roadtrip on the Winfield-Mount Union Wolves’ 2015 football schedule happens to be tonight’s season opener. The Wolves are set to make a nearly 160 mile round trip to Marengo, facing the Iowa Valley Tigers.

Despite the distance, Winfield-Mount Union head football coach Scott McCarty says the trip shouldn’t affect the team, “The kids travel for all their other sports, some of the baseball games they play are over two hours away.” McCarty said, “In fact, I actually like opening the season on the road. You avoid the home town hoopla and the kids ability to sit and mess around before the game.”

Last season’s meeting in Winfield saw the Tigers edge the Wolves, 14-6. McCarty says it was a heartbreaking way to begin last season, “We had high expectations coming into the year, as everyone does.” McCarty said, “We had it tied up at halftime, and we kicked off to start the second half. We tried something new on special teams to start the year last year and they took the second half opening kick to the house and it proved to be the difference in the game.”

Another factor in last year’s setback to the Tigers was the Wolves’ anemic passing offense. Winfield-Mount Union completed five of 22 pass attempts for 70 yards and three interceptions.

Tonight’s non-district football game between the Winfield-Mount Union Wolves and the Iowa Valley Tigers is set to kick off at 7 p.m. at Iowa Valley High School.