If Fort Dodge wants to be as good as it expects to be this season, the Dodgers are going to have be much better on defense.
Well that has been the case during the first two weeks of the season.
In two games, the Dodgers have allowed just nine points after shutting out Urbandale at Frerichs Field on Friday. The Jayhawks contained Jontel Clayton and Darrius Caston, but Levi Peters had a great game for the Dodgers as Fort Dodge improved to 2-0 on the young season after a 24-0 win in Urbandale.
Fort Dodge led 10-0 at halftime as Peters accounted for the only touchdown on a 13-yard scoring strike to Mark Wilson with 2:03 left in the second quarter.
Peters put the game away in the fourth with a 1-yard touchdown dive. That score capped off a 10-play, 65-yard drive that made it 17-0. On that drive, Jontel Clayton rolled off his largest gain of the game with a 32-yard scamper.
It was chilly and windy night, but both defenses were red-hot early. There was plenty of hard hitting on both sides.
But in the end, penalties and an unknown injury to Travis Perry was too much for Urbandale to overcome. Perry is one of the team's go-to players. He was missing in action during the entire second half.
Fort Dodge wasn't without mistakes. Before putting the game away with 14 fourth-quarter points, the Dodgers punted on their first two possessions of the second half and lost a fumble on their third.
One week after running for more than 150 yards in a Fort Dodge win, Clayton had just minus-1 yards at halftime. But Peters picked up the slack with two big completions on the only scoring drive of the first half.
Urbandale's defense remained stout in the third quarter but may have ran out of gas in the fourth after suffering from too many penalties and non-existent drives by the Jayhawk offense.
The Jayhawks missed a field goal attempt on itheir second drive that just missed going through the uprights. They also fumbled away their next possession before turning it over downs and then committing two more turnovers in the half.
Fort Dodge's defense flew to the ball, came up with big plays when it needed them and also forced three straight punts against the Jayhawks in the second half.
Other Scores from around the metro area
Class 4A
Dowling Catholic 63, Des Moines East 7
Ankeny 47, Des Moines North 7
Mason City 48, Des Moines Hoover 0
Southeast Polk 28, Waukee 14
Grinnell 34, Des Moines Roosevelt 14
Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 49, Harlan 34
West Des Moines Valley 38, Indianola 0
Ames 31, Ottumwa 21
Marshalltown 34, Johnston 31
Class 3A
Pella 55, Knoxville 0
Carroll 7, Dallas Center-Grimes 3
Ballard 30, ADM of Adel 14 (Ballard six sacks, five forced turnovers)
Carroll Kuemper Catholic 21, Atlantic 7
Oskaloosa 37, Newton 30 (Newton trailed 30-14 at halftime)
Norwalk 23, Creston/Orient-Macksburg 20
Class 2A
Madrid (class A) 63, PCM 14
Roland-Story 7, Bondurant-Farrar 6
Class 1A
Aplington-Parkersburg 35, West Marshall 6
Pella Christian 34, Van Meter 19
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