Hounds get a chance at puzzle Friday at home

FAMILIARITY

As a spread guy, it’s nice to see some of that because we’ve been preparing for just a devastating pounding run. And it's not like they won't run the ball because they’ve done that well, especially with their quarterback.”

Derek Doherty, FM Head Coach

FORT MADISON – The Fort Madison Bloodhounds will get a real chance to put a 1 in the win column this week when a familiar foe comes to Jim Youel Field Friday night.
The Centerville Big Red are 0-2 on the season, suffering the same start as the Hounds, but bring an offense that reminds Head Coach Derek Doherty of another team from 2023 – his.
“Their quarterback does some really nice things and I feel like their offense is very similar to us last year. A lot of fast screens and power pull stuff that we’ve seen before,” Doherty said.
“As a spread guy, it’s nice to see some of that because we’ve been preparing for just a devastating pounding run. And it's not like they won't run the ball because they’ve done that well, especially with their quarterback.”
The Red feature quarterback senior Landon McGrann, who’s a two-tool signal caller who isn’t afraid to call his own name in a run-pass option. He has just over 300 yards and three touchdowns to go with two picks. He also has 218 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The only other offense to speak of is from freshman Abram Decena who has 110 yards and a score on 10 receptions. But McGrann has hooked up with five different receivers, so Doherty knows they will spread the offense out.
“It's not out of the ordinary to us. You still have to defend everything, whether it’s a packed box or a spread offense, everybody’s got a job to do and you gotta do it.”
He said his post practice message Wednesday was that football is an 11-man machine and can’t be a 10-man machine.
“It’s the ultimate team game. I think we’re getting closer to understanding that through our conversations, but they just haven’t fully understood it. They don’t understand how vital that statement is.”
He said Monday the team had another open floor conversation trying to get at what the Hounds were thinking and feeling about starting the year 0-2.
“We had some things come out and we know we can work on them. Our schematics on film say we’re close - both weeks now. We were close on so many things it can be a game changer. It’s about momentum and we haven’t had that on our side yet, but when it does, it can mean big things.”
He said the kids may be thinking more about the legacy of Fort Madison football and not what they are capable of themselves. With having young players it’s hard for the coaching staff to simulate the pressure of real games and execute that.
But Doherty said he has to do a better job making the Bloodhounds more resilient when things don’t go their way.
“I have to do a better job. We put them in pressure situations in practice, but it’s hard to simulate game speed and real game situations. We put them through adversity and focus on how to respond, but I don’t see the body language,” he said.
“We talked about body language. Guys get paid millions of dollars to perform on Sunday and they screw up, but what’s their body language - it’s very confident.  But we fumble on the one-yard line and instead of guys running out on defense like we’re gonna get this ball back, it was just rolled shoulders and head down. That’s the fight we’re fighting right now.”
One of the bright spots from Friday was the play of kicker Henry Graham. The senior missed a 47-yard field goal attempt coming up just four yards short off a high snap. He also had a touchback on a kickoff and a punt that was downed at the 2-yard line.
Doherty said it’s nice to know that Graham wants a chance when he gets it.
“We got down in that situation and I yelled for him and he said he wanted it. It was a high snap and he got under it and we didn’t make it, but he came up to me on the sideline and said that did nothing to break his confidence and, if I needed him, he was ready,” Doherty said.
“He had a nice kick that went into the endzone and that’s what we want, and then he pinned them deep with a punt, so he had a nice game.”
Guzman has 177 yards through the air in the Hounds’ two losses with three interceptions. He has 219 hard yards on the ground with a touchdown.
Fort Madison runs Caden Barnes and Triston Marshall in the backfield with Guzman. Connor Horn and Tateum Schelich, along with Marshall, are Guzman’s top targets. Barnes had a nice catch-and-run in the second half last week.
Gavin Callahan and Aaron Warner have anchored the defense, both averaging about seven tackles per game.
Centerville has dropped its first two games, but put up 33 points last week in a 56-33 loss to Davis County. They fell 13-6 in their home opener against Albia in Week 1.
Friday’s game will wrap up non-district action with a tough stretch coming up for the Bloodhounds in Week 4 at Davenport Assumption before Keokuk comes to town. Fort Madison heads to Mt. Vernon in Week 6.
“We’re really trying to put this puzzle together and trying to figure out where everything is at. We don’t want to go to wholesale change because the kids have been in this system. We want to do some different things and put kids in advantaged situations. So we have to be more creative in the pass routes and schemes,” Doherty said.
“Coach Mussleman told me he was going into the lab and figure some things out, and I believe that. He’s very smart and we might have some different wrinkles Friday.”