Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Ottumwa (0-6) at City High (1-3)

Where: Bates Field 7 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play.

Player to Watch: Ottumwa senior receiver Trae Swartz (6-4, 225) has caught a team-high 23 passes for 325 yards and leads the Bulldogs with three touchdown grabs.

Key Stat: City High is -5 in turnover margin in four games this season committing nine turnovers while forcing four. Seven of the nine Little Hawk turnovers have come in the past two games.

About the Little Hawks: City High dropped its second consecutive tight game following its three-week layoff, falling to Liberty High 28-24 on Friday.

The Little Hawks dropped their first game back after missing three weeks of competition 50-36 at Linn-Mar on October 2.

City High will look to get its running game on track against an Ottumwa defense that is allowing 250 yards per game on the ground this season.

Senior quarterback Raph Hamilton has been a key factor in the City High running game with a team-high 55 carries for 267 yards and four scores.

Juniors Jamari Newson (214 yards), Darren Richardson (106 yards), Joey Bouska (80 yards) and Keyshawn Voss (54 yards) all had carries last week against Liberty along with sophomore Ben Kueter (35 yards). Look for that combination to split the backfield load again this week as City High attempts to crack the 200-yard mark on the ground for the first time since a week-one win over Davenport Central.

About the Bulldogs: Ottumwa enters the postseason seeking its first win of the season after falling to Ames 42-21 in its regular season finale.

The Bulldogs dropped a pair of one-score games to open the season falling to Central DeWitt 14-7 and Oskaloosa 21-14 but haven’t had a game closer than 19 points since.

Ottumwa has lost its three games against Class 4A competition this season by an average of 30 points.

Senior quarterback Adam Denniston (5-11, 190) has passed for 562 yards and four touchdowns with Schwartz the top target with 23 receptions.

Senior receivers Blaze Rominger (5-11, 150) and Colton McKinnon (5-8, 145) both average better than 20 yards per reception on limited opportunities. Rominger has three catches for 109 yards and McKinnon has caught five passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Kie Glosser (6-1, 180) leads the Bulldogs in rushing with 564 yards and five touchdowns while McKinnon has rushed for 186 yards and two scores while averaging better than 13 yards per carry.

Marion (2-4) at Clear Creek Amama (4-3)

Where: Clipper Field, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Clear Creek Amana 47, Marion 7

Player to Watch: Marion sophomore quarterback Alex Mota (6-1, 175) has passed for 213 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 436 yards and a team-leading seven scores.

Key Stat: Clear Creek Amana has picked off 12 passes this season while allowing just three passing touchdowns. The Clippers have forced 17 turnovers in seven games.

 

About the Indians: Marion has shown major improvement this fall after enduring an 0-9 season a year ago.

The Indians snapped an 11-game losing skid that dated back to 2018 with a 29-20 season-opening win over Center Point-Urbana and added a 46-0 win over Clinton in week three.

Marion has lost three straight since its 2-1 start with losses to No. 10 North Scott, 4-2 Dubuque Wahlert and a 27-24 loss to Central DeWitt in the regular season finale.

Marion is led by sophomore quarterback Alex Mota (6-1, 175) who has passed for 213 yards and a touchdown and ranks second on the team in rushing yards with 436 and a team-high seven touchdowns.

Senior Lucas Unsen (6-0, 190) leads Marion with 528 rushing yards and has three touchdowns while Wyatt Cannon (6-3, 175) is the top receiving target with six receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown.

About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 31-24 loss to Grinnell in the regular season finale.

The Clippers will look to continue its recent string of success in the run game against a Marion defense that has been stout against the run this season allowing 158 rushing yards per game.

After averaging 157 rushing yards and going over 200 yards once in its first four games Clear Creek Amana has averaged 297 yards per game on the ground over its last three games, running for at least 279 yards in each of those games.

Senior tailback Alex Figueroa leads the way for Clear Creek Amana rushing for 884 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

Figueroa has been consistent, rushing for at least 70 yards in every game and posting four games with more than 100 yards.

Senior quarterback Ryan Navara has thrown for 947 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 352 yards and six scores.

Navara had a career-high 116 rushing yards in the regular season finale against Grinnell.

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