Photo by Waroon Jalukar
The Mason City High School varsity football team had their final home game this past Friday, a nail biting victory over Waterloo West. The senior night was high energy, ending in a two-point conversion that pushed the team over the edge to victory. The team was ecstatic in the end zone, falling over each other in the moments after the final play. It was clearly an emotional night for the players. The game had gone unexpectedly into double overtime after an uneventful first half and action packed fourth quarter. Between this and their Homecoming win against the Trojans, the home season of football has been an exciting one. The team currently has a 2-6 record. Their last game regular season is this week at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.
The rest of their season has been a mixed bag of highs and lows. They have had 12 touchdowns total and 124 points overall. Senior quarterback Danny Kamm is rated 149.1, according to Quik Stats Iowa. Practices began in late July, and they have continued to improve over nearly 4 months. The played at Clear Lake in the classic rival game to kick off their season, and also gone up against at Urbandale, Forest City, and Marshalltown.
Looking toward the future, the freshman team has also been active this season. Coach Matt Kuhn calls the team “Coachable. As a group they really listen to their coaches and want to get better.” He cites an example of the team’s ability to bounce back in their game against Cedar Falls. “We had just lost the previous week and the players responded by playing their best game of the season.” They won that game 54-0.
When asked about standout players, Coach Kuhn said it was almost impossible to pick, and that the whole team has had great moments. He points out Conner Dalen and Tyres Green. Dalen, Kuhn says, “has been a great leader in the quarterback position. He plays the position with a great attitude, runs hard and reads the option well. He is also able to make throws that most Freshmen QB’s don’t have the ability to make which makes the offense even more dangerous, because we have a lot of talented players who can make plays after Conner gets them the ball.”
Tyres Green “has done everything on the football field. He makes tackles on special teams, starts both ways and often times doesn’t get a play off to rest.” He once scored 4 touchdowns in one game, though Kuhn says that “His heart and football knowledge is more noticeable when he isn’t scoring touchdowns. He has run down opponents who would have scored if he didn’t give the effort to chase them down and he has on multiple occasions knocked the ball loose causing fumbles by the opponent.”
Kuhn says that there is certainly “great opportunity ahead for Mohawk Football. The team has got a great balance of playmakers, guys working in the trenches and individuals who just love the game of football.”