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MARSHALLTOWN — The Ottumwa High School football team only has to look back to last year’s contest with Marshalltown to be reminded about adversity.
The Bulldogs could not overcome the big plays hit early in last year’s Homecoming contest with the winless Bobcats at Schafer Stadium. The result was a 44-7 loss in a game that had to be called at halftime due to safety concerns outside the stadium.
Friday’s rematch with Marshalltown, however, showed just how far Ottumwa has come in the span of 52 weeks. The 10th-ranked Bulldogs had to overcome the loss of their leading rusher, Cameron Manary, on the game’s opening play as well as more explosive plays by the Bobcats.
This year, however, Ottumwa was up for the challenge. The result was a 42-28 win at Leonard Cole Field on Friday night, extending Ottumwa’s best start in any football season since 2001 to 5-0 leaving the Bulldogs and Bettendorf as one of just two Class 5A teams with unbeaten records heading into the month of October.
“This year, there’s a lot higher standards for us to meet,” Ottumwa senior lineman Dylan Forney said. “Coach (Phil) Lite always talks about adversity. There’s always going to be adversity in the game no matter what. You can’t go down. You can’t just walk off the field. You have to move on to the next play and the next rep.”
Ottumwa’s resiliency was put to the test again early by Marshalltown as Manary, who entered the night on the verge of securing a 1,000-yard rushing season for the second straight year. The leading rusher in Class 5A appeared to be right on track to eclipse that mark early in the game after carrying the ball up the middle for an 11-yard gain on the first snap after Marshalltown’s opening kickoff flew into the end zone for a touchback.
After the 11-yard gain, Manary came up limping after being rolled up on the tackle by Davis…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/prep-football-no-10-ottumwa-014700664.html
Author : Ottumwa Courier, Iowa
Publish date : 2024-10-01 01:47:00
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