Despite steamrolling their first eight opponents of the season last fall, the Sigourney-Keota football team watched the first round of the class 1A playoffs from the stands. After losing to Mediapolis in week nine for a district championship, the Cobras were on the outside looking in thanks to the Ratings Power Index (RPI).

The RPI is a system that calculates a team’s record, their opponents’ record, and their opponents’ opponents’ record to decide at-large bids. A schedule that resulted in just 25 wins from their nine opponents was a big reason why the Cobras found themselves low in the final RPI rankings. In hopes that history does not repeat itself, Sigourney-Keota made an emphasis to boost the non-district slate for 2020. Last week, the Iowa High School Athletic Association released the schedule for this fall and the Cobras were dealt a class 2A opponent in Mid-Prairie, class 1A powerhouse in West Branch, always steady Wapello, and Eddyville-Blakesburg for their non-district games. Head Coach Jared Jensen tells KCII Sports they wanted tough teams and that’s what they got. “The non-district schedule will test us out early to see where we are at and that’s exactly what we need. Last year we were in a situation where our non-district opponents struggled, so this year we knew we had to get some solid teams and I think we did that.”

The Cobras’ non-district opponents went a combined 7-29 in 2019, but the four teams for this fall went 24-14 last season.