WEEK 8 PREVIEW: MORE COWBELL

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor 

sports@beeherald.com

@BrandonJHurley

The 85th meeting of the battle for the Cowbell will commence Friday night as Greene County hosts Perry in 3A district two action. 

It’s a rivalry that dates back to 1898 and the Rams are in search of their third straight victory over the Bluejays after winning 35-0 in Perry a year ago. The two squads first squared off on Oct. 15, 1898. Thirty years later, the respective Lions clubs of Jefferson and Perry decided to commemorate the game with the Cowbell trophy. 

Today it has become one of the oldest traveling trophies in the state of Iowa and the country as a whole. 

This year’s contest has a little extra incentive, Greene County senior Nick Schroeder said. 

“It’s a huge game, especially because we are looking for our first W and the Cowbell goes way back,” the wide receiver said. “Hopefully, we will have the same success this year. We were up 35-0 at half last year.”

The Rams enter Friday at 0-7, 0-5 while Perry has not fared much better, 2-5, 0-5 riding a five game losing streak. Greene County is fresh off a 35-18 loss to Gilbert in which they held a two-point halftime lead while the Bluejays were completely dismantled, 55-0 against Webster City in which they gave up 416 rush yards. After opening the season with back-to-back victories over North Polk and Nevada, the Bluejays have lost their last five contests by an average of 34 points. Despite Perry’s shortcomings, Greene County head coach Dean Lansman realizes how important this game is for the psyche of his players. 

“We can look at it from the Cowbell standpoint and it’s extremely important. We want to keep (it) in house, but most importantly, they want to get a W,” the coach said. “Right now, that’s really weighing on their minds and we have to go into this week and have a good mental base, work hard and do the things we’ve been doing well. If we do that, I think we will keep the cowbell.”

Points have come at a premium for the Perry offense as they average just a mere 10 points per game, failing to register a single point in three of their last four games. Adan Medina leads the Bluejays in rushing with 216 yards and two touchdowns. He’s also thrown for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Alexis Garrido should be the starting quarterback Friday. Garrido has thrown for 229 yards, three interceptions and just one touchdown. 

Perry should roll out a balanced offensive attack, Lansman said. 

“They will spread us out, kind of like what we’ve seen over the last few weeks, (similar) to Boone,” the coach said. “Obviously, they don’t have quite the athletes like Boone, but that’s what they do. They have a couple nice guys in the backfield and their quarterback is not afraid to run and throw it. They have a nice-sized receiver and they have a back with some speed. They are going to make us defend the whole field but it’s going to be a physical ball game. They are going to pound it. They are looking for their first win in the district and so are we and it’s the Cowbell. They are going to put a lot of pressure on us defensively and we have to be solid. 

The Greene County offense took care of the ball last week and sustained several lengthy drives. A strong balance of run and pass plays were keys to keeping the Gilbert offense off the field. The Bluejays defense gives up 32 points per game and they struggle to contain the run, as evidenced by consecutive 400 yard games in losses to Gilbert and Webster City. 

Lansman expects Perry to put pressure on the Greene County offense. 

“They will be very similar to what we do,” the coach said. “They will play us with a four-man front most of the time and hopefully we can get a few more match ups with our receivers on the edge. They are going to bring linebackers, they are going to blitz us. Obviously, we’ve struggled with that at times. They will make us get rid of the ball quick. Hopefully we can find a couple of gaps and hurt them with that as well.”

During last year’s shutout, Schroeder hauled in four catches for 85 yards and a touchdown (56 yards). He will look to do more of the same in 2016 after coming off a 93 yard performance in week seven. 

“We need a strong run game. Start with some short passes underneath and then hit them deep,” the senior said. “It will be sweet if we can beat them three times in a row.”  

Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Linduska Field Friday, Oct. 14 following the freshmen game.