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Wapello (5-1, 3-1)

at Belle Plaine (4-2, 2-2)

- When: Friday, 7 p.m.

- Where: Belle Plaine

- Last week: Taylor Jacobsmeier scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 6-yard run midway through the fourth quarter in the Indians’ 20-14 win over area school Durant-Bennett.

- 2008 score: Belle Plaine 49, Wapello 18

- Statistical leaders: Wapello (Rushing – Dylan Schrader 97-546, 2 TDs; Taylor Jacobsmeier 27-162, 4 TDs; Danny Johnson 5-134, 4 TDs; Passing – Jacobsmeier 74-114-1, 1,183 yards, 16 TDs; Receiving – Jacob Lafayette 41-645, 5 TDs; Brock Webb 13-214, 4 TDs; Logan Lanz 7-61, 3 TDs; Defense – Lafayette 58 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries; Webb 45 tackles, 2 TFL; Jace Winslow 44 tackles, 1 TFL); Belle Plaine (Rushing – Brian Crow 105-612, 7 TDs, Damon Rhoads 42-341, 5 TDs; Seivon Steward 38-241, 4 TDs; Passing – John Long 22-46-3, 306 yards, 4 TDs; Receiving – Chris Janss 9-170, 2 TDs; Steward 5-87, 1 TD; Defense – Ryan Rupp 52 tackles, 8 TFL; Devon Parr 44 tackles, 6 TFL, Janss 40 tackles, 6 TFL, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 INT 36 yards for TD).

- What to watch: Already with Danny Johnson out of the lineup with injury, 10th-ranked Wapello will be sitting its top receiver and defender in Jacob Lafayette this week with a high ankle sprain suffered in last week’s win over Durant. “It’s not looking good,” Wapello coach Todd Parsons said of Lafayette’s injury. “If we’re lucky, he’ll be back next week. We’re going to have some kids step up in his absence.”

- Coach Parsons: “It’s nice recognition (entering the Class 1A ratings at No. 10), but rankings don’t mean much. I’d prefer for us to be ranked at the end of the year. It’s nice for the kids, but we don’t put much stock into it. Belle Plaine is a good football team. It seems like I say that every week, but they are big, physical, have good skill kids and they play sound defense. They have some big kids up front and any time you run into big and physical teams, it will be tough. We’re also on the road, and that will be tough, especially against a tough football team.”

CP-Urbana (4-2, 3-1)

at Wilton (3-3, 2-2)

- When: Friday, 7:15 p.m.

- Where: Wilton

- Last week: Wilton exploded in the second half for a 31-7 victory over area rival West Liberty. The Beavers, leading 10-7 at intermission, scored three touchdowns in the second half to seal the win.

- 2008 score: Wilton 35, West Liberty 0

- Statistical leaders: Center Point-Urbana (Rushing – Dylan Ramsey 69-557, 9 TDs; Joey Dighton 63-337, 2 TDs; Passing – Austin Plante 13-35-6, 186 yards, 0 TDs; Receiving – Terry Reicks 8-89, TD; Garrett Gatrost 4-81; Defense – Zach Kulish 57 tackles; Logan Driessen 55 tackles; Joey Dighton 1 fumble recovery for 90 yard TD; Nic Lansdown 41 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries; Dylan Ramsey 28 tackles, 3 INT, 1 TD); Wilton (Rushing – Nate Fratzke 48-158, Alec Crawford 65-131, 2 TDs; Passing – Alec Crawford 57-120-5, 654 yards, 7 TDs; Receiving – Kyle Holmes 15-291, 6 TDs, Ryan Waack 17-179, 1 TD; Defense – Fratzke 53 tackles, Cory Gorsuch 36 tackles, Crawford 28 tackles, 2 INTs, Dylan Stepleton 27 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries).

- What to watch: Center-Point Urbana features two running backs that can cause problems for the Beavers. Dylan Ramsey and Joey Dighton have combined for almost 900 yards this season.  “They have a double backs situation,” Wilton coach Lance Pedersen said. “We’ll definitely have our hands full against a quality Center Point-Urbana team.”

- Coach Lance Pedersen: “Center Point-Urbana is obviously one of the top teams in our district. They are huge up front – they average 230 pounds. Last week was definitely a nice win for our guys on not a very nice night. Any win is a good win, which will help us confidence-wise on Friday night.

“We’re 3-3 going into the game. All of the teams we’ve lost to are either undefeated or top teams in the state. If we can go out, stop the run and be effective on offense, we can do that (keep our playoff chances alive).”

Van Buren (0-6, 0-4)

at Durant (2-4, 1-3)

- When: Friday, 7 p.m.

- Where: Durant

- Last week: Durant led much of the way until a late touchdown by Wapello’s Taylor Jacobsmeier helped the Indians pull out a 20-14 win over the Wildcats.

- 2008 score: Durant 34, Van Buren 26

- Statistical leaders: Van Buren (Rushing – Spencer Watson 46-195, 2 TDs; Kelby McClaran 53-178, 2 TDs; Passing – Zach Boyd 25-80-2, 378 yards, 1 TD; Receiving – Colin Weaver 12-257; McClaran 15-163; Jordan Harvey 7-143, 1 TD; Defense – Jordan Harvey 69 tackles; Nic Giberson 42 tackles; McClaran 40 tackles); Durant (Rushing – Jake Goering 140-726, 5 TDs, Caleb Fruend 51-382, 4 TDs; Zach Downing 33-165, 1 TD; Passing – Skylar Dierikx 26-46-2, 322 yards, 1 TD; Receiving – Fruend 13-198, 1 TD; Defense – Wil Rathjen 34 tackles, 2 TFL; Fruend 33 tackles, 5 TFL).

- What to watch: It’s homecoming at Durant this week and what better way for the Wildcats to rebound from a tough loss than to face a winless Van Buren squad. “We’re excited, it’s homecoming week and we’re going to get after it on Friday,” Durant coach Barry Bower said.

- Coach Bower: “The thing about it is we’ve had a good week of practice. Our players are focused and we’ve got good players. We’re going to take every opponent seriously. It should be a good contest. We’re just happy to be playing on Friday.”

West Liberty (2-4, 2-2)

at I.C. Regina (6-0, 4-0)

- When: Friday, 7:15 p.m.

- Where: Iowa City

- Last week: West Liberty gave up 21 points in the second half in losing to Wilton, 31-7.

- 2008 score: Iowa City Regina 13, West Liberty 7 (overtime)

- Statistical leaders: West Liberty (Rushing – Adrian Moran 49-208, 1 TD; Erik McKillip 18-152, 1 TD; Passing – Mason Garcia 45-117-4, 707 yards, 5 TDs; Receiving – Jonathan Lopez 21-508, 5 TDs; Nathan Smith 7-96, TD; Defense – Adrian Rocha 59 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 fumble recoveries,  TD; Kory Wiele 48 tackles, 9 TFL, 1 fumble recovery for 95 yards; Zach Vance 40 tackles, 12 TFL; Lopez 7 INTs for 81 yards); Iowa City Regina (Stats not available).

- What to watch: Iowa City Regina is ranked No. 3 in Class 2A and unbeaten in six games. The Regals are big. “They’re good,” West Liberty coach Joe Donovan said. “They have a lot of size, they’re big with a few guys 6-5, 6-6 and an agile quarterback.”

- Coach Donovan: “This is a must-win situation for us. Who knows what is going to happen? We’re faced with a challenge and we’re going to go after it – it’s what I’ve preached all week. We’ll have everyone to go and we have an opportunity to do something special, and we’re going to approach it full-speed ahead.”

Columbus (1-5, 0-4)

at Mid-Prairie (5-1, 4-0)

- When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

- Where: Wellman

- Last week: Columbus and Mediapolis had a scoreless game going until the last minute of the third quarter when the Tigers broke through and won, 20-0.

- 2008 score: Mid-Prairie 49, Columbus 6

- Statistical leaders: Mid-Prairie (Rushing – Tanner Miller 124-1,027, 16 TDs; Brody Barthelman 23-165, 3 TDs; Passing – Mark Aldeman 26-49-2, 308 yards, 3 TDs; Receiving – Kaleb Duwa 11-216, 3 TDs; Zach Passmore 10-122, 2 TDs; Micheal Aldeman 5-55, TD; Defense – Aldeman 59 tackles, 1 fumble recovery 78 yards for TD; 3 INTs, TD; Tyler Clark 25 tackles, 1 fumble recovery 14 yards for TD; Duwa 20 tackles, 1 fumble recovery for TD, Barthelman 46 tackles, 6 TFL; Billy Riggan 40 tackles, 4 TFL); Columbus (Rushing – Jared Eichelberger 167-992, 10 TDs, Brady Milder 67-407; Luis Aguirre 24-261, 2 TDs; Passing – Rafael Cardenas 13-186-7, 186 yards, 2 TDs; Receiving – Andrew Villagrana 4-122, 2 TDs; Defense – Eichelberger 47 tackles, 6 TFL, 1 fumble recovery; Milder 45 tackles, Steve Lizzaraga 42 tackles, 2 TFL).

- What to watch: Mid-Prairie has one of the best running backs in the state in Tanner Miller. He’s already reached the 1,000 mark rushing in six games. “Mid-Prairie has one of the best players in the state in Tanner Miller,” Columbus coach Jeff Martin said. “He’s not fancy, he runs a basic route but he’s quick and agile and very good laterally. His dad played at Nebraska.”

- Coach Martin: “Last week was relatively close until the end. Our kids played a lot better because they wanted to make a statement after the L-M game, a game we’d like to play again. But we wanted to play better than we did the week before and we did. We’re going to prepare this week the same as we would anybody. What they do, we’re going into it against some of the best in the state and see what we can do. We’ve got to get healthy. We’ve got some kids banged up – nothing really serious – but we have some kids who are not practicing a lot this week so we can get our injuries healed up for this week.”

Louisa-Muscatine (2-4, 1-3) at

West Burlington (4-2, 3-1)

- When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

- Where: West Burlington

- Last week: Louisa-Muscatine lost 58-6 at Sigourney-Keota. West Burlington/Notre Dame stumbled at Davis County.

- 2008 score: West Burlington 46, Louisa-Muscatine 6

- Statistical leaders: Louisa-Muscatine (Rushing – Madison Chandler 75-424, 2 TDs; Brode Hills 71-314, 2 TDs; Passing – Lucas Kemp 26-59-1, 448 yards, 5 TDs; Receiving – Nathan Carle 7-171, 1 TD; Hills 8-124, 3 TDs; Defense – Levi Goff 36 tackles; Dexter Bieri 34 tackles; Kemp 34 tackles; Cole Schreurs 2 INTs); West Burlington (Rushing – Ryan Kelley 68-330, 5 TDs, Stewart Holloway 27-116, 3 TDs; Marcus Miller 32-176, 0 TDs; Passing – Taylor Newland 52-99-5, 974 yards, 9 TDs; Receiving – Brad Hardy 11-349, 5 TDs, Andrew Schilling 12-190, 1 TD; Kelley 13-160 1 TD; Kameron Gray 3-106, 2 TDs; Defense – Miller 84 tackles, Holloway 51 tackles, 7 TFL; Edward Perkins 40 tackles, 10 TFL, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 TD; Schilling 5 INTs, Newland 4 INTs).

- What to watch: West Burlington is effective both in the run and the pass with numerous threats. Defensively, Marcus Miller has 84 tackles. “They have quite a few athletic players that are spread around their offense and defense,” L-M coach Guy Dierikx said. “We are focused on getting all of our guys to the football in order to create turnovers. Defensively they are very good and aggressive at the linebacker position. We need to be able to control the middle of the line, and get a good solid push. Getting off the ball and establishing the line of scrimmage will be our main focus.”

- Coach Dierikx: “Obviously, last week was a disappointment for us, but what happened in the past is in the past. We can’t change the past, so we are 100 percent focused on the next game for us. We can only control our focus, attitude and determination this week throughout practice. So far this week our kids have done a great job of this and want to get back out there on the field to prove that wasn’t our team last week.”