The Hampton-Dumont-CAL football team will play its second straight home game when it hosts Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in Week 2 Friday.
The Bulldogs (1-0) are coming off a 13-0 win over Iowa Falls-Alden in last week’s season opener, where the defense put the offense in position to capitalize after a slow start. They’ll look to continue a balanced rushing attack after seven players contributed to last week’s run game. Colin Bird was opportunistic with 13 carries for 101 yards and a score. Head Coach Cole Miller says defensively, they’ll switch from defending the spread offense of Iowa Falls-Alden to a multiple-look offense by Clarion-Goldfield-Dows.
“Rivalry games are fun, and when they’re right down the street it’s that much more fun,” Miller says. “They’re going to be physical, they’re going to be a tough football team. Last year they threw a couple different fronts at us, so we’re going to have to be ready for a couple different fronts offensively, and I know offensively for them our defense is going to have to be ready for a downhill run attack and pull out some gap schemes, some things like that. Last year, they were able to throw the ball a lot on us. I hope that we can turn that around this year. I know they hit us for some big gashes but I’d like to see us shut that down this year if we can or at least limit it to a little bit less than we did last year.”
The Cowboys (1-0) defeated Eagle Grove 48-8 last week, where the defense recorded three takeaways to contribute to the blowout. Head Coach Caleb Vogel says lockdown defense is a staple of his team.
“You’ve got to be a hard-nosed defense, you’re gonna come down and, and hit somebody in the mouth,” Vogel says. “If we get knocked down, we’re gonna get back up and we’re gonna keep going. Just be violent on defense. Know your responsibilities, get your keys, get your reads, understanding what the offense is doing. Being a student of the game is also what I teach, understanding the game of football, being in the right spot. It’s just going to make you a better player. But after watching a little bit of film, guys are flying around. And that’s exactly what we want. We want 11 hats to the ball. But it was just exciting to see us go out there and have fun and just be a tough-nosed defense.”
CGD rushed for 383 yards, including 124 yards and two touchdowns by Selvin Gonzalez.
Hampton-Dumont-CAL has won four straight in the series, including a 34-0 road win last year.
The game will begin at 7:00 p.m.
