Football assignments announced for Clear Lake and Ventura’s 2008 seasons

Posted March 6th, 2008

The Iowa High School Athletic Association has announced district football assignments for the 2008 season.

Clear Lake and Waverly-Shell Rock to remain familiar foes in Class 3A District 2
   As a member of Class 3A District 2, Clear Lake retains last year’s biggest challenger to its district title, but gains familiar foes. Four of the eight teams in the district are members of the North Central Conference with the Lions.
   The new District 2 will include Algona, Charles City, Forest City, Hampton-Dumont, Iowa Falls-Alden, Waverly-Shell Rock and Webster City.
   The Lions have qualified for the State playoffs for 10 straight years under the direction of Coach Fred Wieck. Last season, they finished in a tie with Waverly-Shell Rock atop the Class 3A District 3 standings. The Lions were crowned as champs by virtue of their defeat of W-SR.
   Charles City and Forest City were also part of District 3 last season, finishing at the bottom of the pack with 2-5 and 0-7 records, respectively.
   Algona and Webster City were both members of District 2 last season. They finished in the middle of the district with 4-3 and 3-4 records.
   Hampton and Iowa Falls-Alden both move up to Class 3A next season. Hampton won its Class 2A district last season with a 7-0 record and advanced to State. IF-A finished with a 3-4 record.
NEH will again be the toughest competition for the Vikings in District 3 eight-man action
    As the number of eight-man football teams has grown, districts have become much more local. Ventura will participate in District 3 along with CAL, Clarksville, Corwith-Wesley-LuVerne, Janesville, Northeast Hamilton and Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka.
    Last season the Vikings (4-1, 8-1) finished as runner-up to Northeast Hamilton in District 1. CAL, Clarksville and Janesville were also members of that district, finishing with 1-4, 1-8 records.
    New members of the district, C-W-L (4-2, 7-2) and W-CL-T (0-6, 2-8) both competed in District 2 last season.
    Ventura Coach Mike Horstman said he considers NEH the team to beat again this year, with his Vikings again pushing hard.
    “We have 8 games on our schedule (chosen by IAHSAA). I would have added a ninth game, but we would have to play on week 0 on Aug. 22 and I believe that hurt us last year,” said Horstman. He added that CWL and WCLT are good teams bringing back experienced players which should make the league even more competitive.