Image Courtesy of Sigourney-Keota Football Social Media
Tonight marks the all-important turn of the page to the district portion of the calendar for area high school football teams. The Sigourney-Keota Cobras begin the Class 1A, District 6 slate with a road trip to Eldon to take on the Cardinal Comets. SK is 2-1 on the season, having won back-to-back games over Mediapolis and Mid-Prairie following a week 1 defeat at Prairie City Monroe. The Cobras are the top team receiving votes in this week’s Class 1A poll from the Iowa Associated Press. In their 41-35 shoot out win over Mid-Prairie in Sigourney a week ago, SK ran wild. All of their offense came on the ground, 446 yards of it, 259 and five touchdowns from standout Kale Clarahan. Sawyer Stout added a rushing score. On defense, Ashton Schwab had a team high eight tackles, Brady Clark and Jake Moore each an interception. For the season, the Cobras score 28 points per game and give up 16, putting up 318 total yards, 278 on the ground per night. Individual leaders include, Stout three of 13 through the air for 111 yards and two interceptions. Cole Kindred has two grabs for 112 yards. On the ground, Clarahan is at 32 carries for 359 yards and five touchdowns. Defensively, Moore has 18 tackles, three for loss. Evan Vittetoe has seven for loss, Clarahan has a fumble recovery and Clark, Moore and Isaac Bruns interceptions. SK ranks in the top 10 of 1A in six different offensive and defensive, team and individual categories.
Cardinal is still in search of their first win, dropping contests to Pekin, Central Lee and Davis County so far this year by a combined 98-14 score. A week ago against the Mustangs, the Comets fell 23-12. They were outgained 307-193 i n total yards, including 132-37 through the air. Quarterback Alec Rachford was six of 17 for 37 yards passing, ran for 82 yards on 14 carries and had a score by ground and by air. Craig Miller had 12 tackles, a sack and a pick to lead the defense. Cardinal couldn’t overcome a 10 point first quarter deficit, nine Mustang tackles for loss and an interception. The Comets score five points per game and give up 30. The offense averages 119 yards per night, 98 on the ground. Individual leaders include Rachford with 170 all-purpose yards, 118 on the ground and two total touchdowns. Montana Rupe has caught five passes. Isaac Cox leads the defense with 24 tackles, eight for loss. Jesse Hughes has recovered two fumbles, Ty McIntosh and Miller each have a pick. This week, Sigourney-Keota head coach Jared Jensen talked about what he saw in his team’s win over Mid-Prairie and where the Cobras will put in the work to get ready for Cardinal. Jensen said, “(Against Mid-Prairie) we took a huge leap forward offensively, maybe a step backward on defense. Our special teams have to get cleaned up. Coverage breakdowns and other plays kept them in the game. I think we did a decent job up front. Linebackers were doing a pretty good job of filling and flowing. Solid coverage. Kale (Clarahan), this is his first year playing tailback. He just stepped up, he’s a senior, he’s a leader. He’s got great vision and deceptive speed. We’re excited about him in the backfield and the work that our guys did up front to give him lanes. We’re excited to get the win last week, but we have to make sure that we’re on point ourselves. We’ve seen three solid football teams, we know who we are, we know what we need to fix. We’ll be ready to go this week against Cardinal.”
The Cobras have won the last six in the series dating back to 2012, by a combined 323-50 total, including a 56-3 win last year. Action starts tonight at 7p.m. at Cardinal High School.