MONTICELLO — Having already making a name for herself on the state high school cross country scene, after reaching the state meet as a mere freshman and already off to a sensational start this fall, Anamosa’s Cammy Dole did something even she had never done before.

She claimed a meet individual championship!

“Cammy won her first career race and against some runners from Monticello and Bennett-Durant who have some good talent as well,” said Anamosa cross country coach Phil Kauder as Dole led the Raider girls’ team to a third-place finish scoring 68 points posting a phenomenal 16:28 clocking crossing the finish line first at Monticello.

ANAMOSA — Through the first 24 minutes of play, the Anamosa football team was doing all the right things on the field, but on the scoreboard were staring at a 6-0 halftime deficit hosting Cascade Friday, September 8.

“I was happy with the way our defense was playing and offensively, we were doing a good job of moving the football,” said Anamosa football coach Jeff Kean. “But each and every time we seemed to be moving the ball and gaining some momentum, we’d have a penalty that would not only move us backwards, but would kill whatever momentum we were building as well.”

But a second half power surge by the Raiders (1-1) was exactly what a packed house in Anamosa had been waiting for as the hosts scored 31 points over the final 24 minutes and exploded for their first football triumph since 2004 with a 31-12 rout of the Cougars.

“The game didn’t feel much like a rout though,” said Kean. “We trailed at the half without scoring a point, but once we got things going on the offensive end, it all began to roll the right way.”

The Raiders trailed 6-0 at the half as the only score came on a Brennan Melloy two-yard touchdown scamper for the Cougars.

Cascade opened the second half kicking to Anamosa and squibbing the kick, Raider Robert Young grabbed it and marched 38 yards giving the hosts sensational field position to start the third quarter.

“But after he took his first hit, he just seemed to get into a flow and things just seemed to go good from there on out.”

Inglis’ first pass fell incomplete, but then the back-up Olin (2-0, 2-0) quarterback hooked up passing plays of 10 and 32 yards before closing his first drive with a 25-yard scoring strike to Mason Smith breaking the scoreless tie.

“Midland put up one heck of a fight,” said Fuhrmeister. “They played with passion and determination and were hitting hard all game long.”

After a successful Krister Vitnes extra point, the Lions took their 7-0 advantage into the locker room at the halftime break.

“Midland was moving the football pretty successfully on us in the first half so coach Thomsen switched from a 4-4 defense to a 5-3 and concentrated a little more on their running game,” said Fuhrmeister. “I thought the adjustments helped. It also helped too putting some more points on the board too.”

The third quarter saw Inglis continue his aerial assault on the Midland defense as Justin Smith grabbed a 48-yard strike and marched into the end zone giving Olin a 14-0 lead.

The Eagles answered as Jed Holland cashed in a drive with a three-yard scoring plunge for the hosts and just like that, Midland was right back in the hunt trailing just 14-7 after a Scott Willimack extra point.

“That was the key point of the game,” said Fuhrmeister. “How were we going to respond to the challenge they threw at us? I was happy with what I saw out of our team.”

Inglis hooked up with Justin Smith yet again, this time on a 19-yard scoring toss that put the Lions up 21-7.

Olin began to pull away in the final frame as Justin Smith hauled in two more Inglis scoring passes covering a whopping 47 and 51 yards.

“Things just really seemed to be in sync that whole second half offensively,” said Fuhrmeister.
“It really helped that Midland decided to play Justin Smith 1-on-1. We just let him run loose and Dan got him the ball as much as he could Kahm Sauer and Kevin Hansen up in the booth noticed that and let us know that was a something we should try and exploit.”

Holland ended the scoring in the contest taking off for a long 63-yard touchdown run in the final frame for Midland.

“We just had a hard time slowing him down all game long,” said Fuhrmeister. “He got his yards, but we did the best we could to shut everyone else down and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”

Olin’s passing game is what the Eagle defense had a hard time slowing down as Inglis came in and in his first-ever varsity football quarterback duty, passed for a whopping 334 yards and five touchdowns while completing 21-of-32 passes.

“With Midland having quick linemen and a very good defensive front, I didn’t feel running the football was our best bet at winning,” said Fuhrmeister. “We went back to our passing game and had the kind of success we’re used to having. I was still happy the way we ran the ball in the fourth quarter and chewed up some clock.”

Mason Smith carried the football four times in the final frame and rushed for all 32 of his yards in the fourth quarter. He also led the Lion receiving corps with 11 catches totalling 61 yards.

“Mason had a big night too when we really needed it,” said Fuhrmeister. “Midland is a team I think will get better and better each time out this year. People don’t give them enough credit They’re turning things around over there.”

Justin Smith tallied 229 receiving yards on eight grabs while Justin Rix snared three passes for 32 yards.

Rix also led the Olin defense with a whopping 17 tackles while also picking off another pass.

“Our ends Justin Smith and Travis McAtee did a nice job on defense,” said Fuhrmeister. “Adam Moore, Marshall Bassett and Rix did a great job at linebacker too. We had quite a few kids playing out of position who really stepped up and made a big difference for us in this win.”

ANAMOSA — Officially, the first-ever Anamosa youth tackle football league game ended in an 8-0 final for the Anamosa Blue team over the Anamosa White club on an overcast day at Downing Field Saturday, September 9.

That’s what will go down in the standings at the Northeast Iowa Youth Football League (NEIYFL) office. But unofficially, there was no need for a scoreboard as 47 fifth and sixth graders made Anamosa football history being the first-ever to take part in the tackle league.

“Ideally, we would have liked to have seen an 8-8 tie, but this was about as close a game as we’d hoped for,” said youth football coordinator and White team coach Darwin Carstensen. “We as coaches did the best job we could dividing the kids into two teams we hoped would be even and I thought the way the game played out, it was a pretty even matchup.”

The Blue team has 23 players and the White 24 others.

The two teams opened against each other and will play five more contests over the next five weeks.

“We’re here to develop football players and build for the future of Anamosa middle school and high school teams,” said Carstensen. “We’re not really too concerned about final scores and things like that. We want these kids to get an experience unlike any they’ve had before and become better football players.”

The Anamosa Blue team hosts Monticello Black September 17 (1:00 p.m.) then travel to Manchester September 24, to battle the Vikings (1:00 p.m.). They return home October 1 to host Cascade (1:00 p.m.) before playing their final regular season contest October 8 traveling back to Manchester against the Bears (2:30 p.m.).

The Anamosa White team hosts the Manchester Bears September 17 (2:30 p.m.) before traveling to Monticello to battle the Monticello Black team (1:00 p.m.). On October 1, the White team hosts the Manchester Vikings (2:30 p.m.) and close the regular season with a date at Cascade October 8 (1:00 p.m.).

Both Anamosa Blue and White teams play Bowl games October 14 or 15 at a site and against an opponent to yet be determined.