The AGWSR football team is fighting for its playoff lives, and is in need of an upset at Wapsie Valley Friday night to stay in the hunt.
The team has been on the losing end of three straight blowouts in district play, which followed a close win over BCLUW. One of the keys to success, according to Head Coach James Koop, is learning how to physically compete with opponents that are bigger and stronger.
“That’s just one of those things when you are playing Class A football and you are having to play underclassmen because they are the ones that need to be on the field,” Koop says. “They’re the best we have at those positions. But sophomore strong is still not junior, senior strong. Lake Mills, they started 10 seniors just on offense. Nashua-Plainfield had a lot of upperclassmen. South Winneshiek, I think, had more upperclassmen than us two playing. That’s not an excuse. It is the reality of it. And we’re frustrated that we’re not doing better with the situation. All we can do is keep plugging away and trying to find solutions.”
Koop says with as many as four underclassmen starters on each side of the ball, his team has had uphill battles against teams with lineups of exclusively upperclassmen.
AGWSR is 1-4 and 1-3 in A District 3. Wapsie Valley is 3-2 and 2-1 in A-3. The kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. Friday.
