WAUKEE, Iowa — Week one of the high school football season is upon us, and the countdown to the season opener is on.
Waukee Northwest will play Valley Friday, Aug. 26.
Local 5 paid a visit to the team Monday to see how they're faring after going 5-4 in their inaugural season last year and qualifying for the playoffs.
The Wolves say they are hungry for more this year and even feel that this could be a breakout year for the program.
"After last year's loss, we lost by one point in double overtime, I feel everyone is coming back with some vengeance and really wanting to win," said Brady Grisham, senior running back.
They're looking forward to show people what they can do, and they're especially looking forward to opening up the season against an opponent like Valley.
"Last year we were really trying to you know, set the tone as brand new program. You know, what kind of team we're gonna be and I think, last year, we showed that we have kids that play hard and will be tough and play with great effort that's what we expect again this year. If we do that, we'll have a chance to win a lot of games," said head coach Corey Kopatich.
After being just one win away from the state title game last season,
the Valley Tigers are back with some familiar faces as well as some new players taking the step into starting roles.
Both head coach Gary Swenson and players say they're not as experienced as last year but are looking to defense to be one of their strong suits.
"We're gonna be defensively strong for sure. We have a couple guys returning on defense that are gonna be big players for us this year and we also have a couple offensive threats that not many people know about which is nice," said Ayden Price, a senior wide receiver.
Swenson also anticipates that the offense may take some time to develop after losing key contributors like Eli Raridon.
But they're ready for that challenge -- and starting the season off against
a team like Waukee Northwest will only make them better.
"Little bit of an unknown at this point, but there's a lot of good teams in the area and they're all on our schedule. So, we're gonna find out in a hurry where we're at and, as we get tested throughout the season, we'll either respond or it'll be a tough year," Swenson said.
Local 5 will have highlights to this game and plenty more across central Iowa in the first Friday Night Blitz of the season.