The Mount Ayr Community Raiders open the season Friday night against 3A non-district foe, Clarke of Osceola.   

Kickoff will be a 7  p.m. on the Indians’ home field in Osceola.

Delwyn Showalter and Derek Lambert  will be entering their ninth season as co-head coaches of the Raiders.  They have compiled a 54-23 won/loss record during the last eight years including trips to the state playoffs in 2005, 2006 and 2008. 

The 2008 squad was 9-2 defeating Northwest Webster before losing to Prairie Valley of Gowrie in the round of 16 in the 2008 1-A playoffs.  

Showalter started coaching as volunteer assistant for the Raiders in 1984.  He served as defensive coordinator from 1985 -2001 under head coaches David Still and Randy Athay.  

Lambert began his Mount Ayr Community coaching career as a special teams coach in 1997  under Hall of Fame coach Dave Still, and switched to defensive back and wide receiver coach under head coach Randy Athay in 1998.  

Showalter and Lambert work well together with Showalter in charge of defensive calls and Lambert making the offensive decisions.  They have two able and experienced assistants in James Smith and John Larsen.  Both men are University of Northern Iowa graduates and both have had sons who  played for the Raiders.  James has worked with the offensive and junior varsity since coming to Mount Ayr Community in 1979.  Larsen joined the Mount Ayr Community staff in 1988 and has also held coaching positions in wrestling, volleyball and girls track as well as football.  

Former Raider and Mount Ayr Community head track coach Brad Elliott will be helping as a volunteer assistant.

Mount Ayr Community is coming off a 9-2 campaign and lost nearly all varsity starters on both sides of the ball.  

The Raiders do have all-district performers returning in Matt Jones, Dylan Lame,  Malcom Mercer,  David Showalter, Brian Still and Matt Sobotka. 

David Showalter is returning at quarterback and Matt Jones and Matt Sobotka will get a lot of carries from the running back positions.  Cade Lambson and Devin Richards will also pack the pigskin from the fullback position for the Raiders this season.  

Tyler Hinz and Chad Starlin are the starting receivers and Malcom Mercer, Devin Richards, Jake Glendenning, Brian Still and Dustin Pritchett make up the O-line for Raiders.  

On the defensive side the Raiders will have Jake Glendenning, Devin Richards, Dylan Lame and Brian Still as the front four.  Malcom Mercer, Cade Lambson  and Matt Jones make up the linebacking corps and Jesse Penick, Korey Beaman, Chad Starlin and Matt Sobotka fill out the secondary.   Brian Still will handle the punting chores and Korey Beaman will kick the PAT’s and field goals.

Mount Ayr Community won last year’s contest against Clarke by a count of 37-7, capitalizing on a 21-point final quarter on the Raiders home field.  The Raiders have won the last seven games against the Indians and now hold a 26-18-4 advantage in the 48 game series.  Clarke’s last victory in the series came in 1988 by a score of 33-22 in a wild contest played in Osceola.

Clarke had only five seniors on last year’s team, so it will be an experienced and confident Indian team that will host the Raiders this Friday.  The Indians downed Creston 13-3 in their final game of 2008 giving them, renewed enthusiasm and an optimistic outlook toward the 2009 campaign.  

Coach Ryan Sweeney has to replace just two starters on offense and a cornerback and linebacker on defense, so the Indians will have a lot more seasoned veterans than the visiting Raiders Friday night.

Quarterback Joe Lampe returns to direct the Indian attack.  He will be handing off to two returning running backs in Ryan Harmsen and three-year starter Sam Fotadias.  

Lampe will have speedy wide receiver Valentin Torres as a passing target as the Indians will vary their offensive attack against the Raiders. The talented Torres caught a TD pass against the Raiders last season. Harmsen was the second leading rusher last season and the Indians will also try to utilize their speed to get Fotadias outside on option plays.

Fotadias and Harmsen, along with defensive tackle Paul Turner are the leaders on the Indian defensive unit.   The defense will be an aggressive 4-4 attack, often rolling the outside linebackers onto the line of scrimmage for a 6-2 look.  Their inside linebackers are strong and the Raider offense must be ready for a lot of stunts right up the middle of the formation.

“We will have a lot of new faces starting their first varsity game this Friday against a veteran 3A squad on their home field, so we definitely have a difficult task ahead,” said coach Lambert.  “We hope a lot of Raider fans make the trek to Osceola to help get us off to a good start in 2009.”

The rest of the schedule for the Raider varsity includes:

Friday, Sept. 4 -- Bedford, home.

Friday, Sept. 11 -- Interstate 35, home.

Friday, Sept.18 -- Des Moines Christian, away.

Friday, Sept. 25 -- Nodaway Valley, away.

Friday, Oct. 2-- Wayne (Home- coming), home.

Friday, Oct. 9 -- Pleasantville, away.

Friday, Oct. 16   -- Pella Christian (Parent’s Night), home.

Friday, Oct. 22 -- Central Decatur, at Graceland University in Lamoni.

Sixteen student-athletes reported to head coach Josh Vanderflught for cross country practice for the 2009 season.  

The girls have several veteran runners returning for this season.  Senior Erin Budach, juniors Stephini Brown, Grace Fernandez, Brittni Gillespie, Melissa Haveman, Amber Lilienthal, Becca Gregg and Desirae Trammell and sophomore Claire Andresen are the members of this year’s team.

The boys have returning harriers in seniors Tom Hosfield  and Alex Wallace; juniors Jordan Klejch and Christian Overholtzer; sophomores Hunter Brown, Austin Cox,  Jeff Risser and Zach Zollman and freshmen Ian Abarr and Taylor Richie.  

“Maybe we will get some more new faces when school commences,” said coach Josh Vanderflught.   “I am excited to have such a great bunch to work with this year.”  

Molly Budach will be helping Coach Vanderflught as team manager for the Raiders and Raiderettes this fall.

Local fans will have two chances in October to see the teams as the Raiders and Raiderettes are hosting the Pride of Iowa conference meet as well as their own invitational. 

Here is the schedule for the Raiders and Raiderettes:

Thursday, Sept. 3 -- Wayne, away, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 8 -- Winterset, away, 5 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 17 -- Panorama, away, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 22-- Creston, away, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 29 -- Clarke, away, 5 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 5 -- Nodaway Valley, away, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 13 -- Pride of Iowa conference meet, home, 5 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 15 -- Mount Ayr Community Invitational, home, 5 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 22 -- District meet, TBA. Saturday, Oct. 31 -- State meet,  Fort Dodge.

Coaches Amy Shields and Brandie Ruggles welcomed 36 girls to volleyball practice for the 2009 season which commences with a road date against conference foe Southeast Warren on Tuesday, Sept. 1.  

Mount Ayr  Community finished last season with a 13-16 match record.  

“We will have a lot of versatility this season,” commented head coach Amy Shields  “We do have several players with game experience and we will count on some of the players from last season’s successful JV and freshmen squads  to help on the varsity this season.”  Rebecca Pennington was a POI second team all-conference selection last season as a hitter.  

Raiderettes returning with a lot of varsity experience are seniors Erica Kemery, Tiffany Wimer and Dawn O’Brien and juniors Bailey Myer, Jensen Stewart, Rebecca Pennington and Katelyn Sobotka. Mount Ayr Community finished the 2008 season with a district loss to Interstate 35 in Class 2-A.  Enrollment figures have placed the Raiderettes in Class 1-A for the 2009 campaign with tournament sites yet to be determined.  

Listed below are the team roster and 2009 schedule.

Seniors -- Sarah Dredge, Kelsey Glendenning, Erica Kemery, Dawn O’Brien, Tiffany Wimer.

Juniors -- Ariel Dickerson, Jacy England,  Jordyn Grose, Charmaine Johnson, Allie Knapp, Bailey Myer, Becca Pennington, Ashley Phelps, Katelyn Sobotka, Jensen Stewart, Cacey Wilson.

Sophomores ---  Alyssa Adams,  Megan Doubleday, Mariah Fifer, Kylee Klommhaus, Taylor Lynch,  Amanda Perrigo, Desirae Trammell, Shelby Wambold, Katelyn Warin.

Freshmen -- Hannah Fletchall, Cassidy Flowers, Emily Fox, Caitlin Giles, Madi Hosfield, Jena James, Maggie Jennett, Morgan Quick, Hannah Saville, Natasha VanHeeswyk, Logan Wimer.

Schedule for the teams includes:

Tuesday, Sept. 1 -- Southeast Warren, away.

Thursday, Sept. 3 -- Pleasantville, home.

Tuesday, Sept. 8 -- Corning, away.

Thursday, Sept. 10 -- Wayne, home.

Monday, Sept. 14 -- Interstate 35, away.

Tuesday, Sept. 15 -- Bedford, away.

Saturday, Sept. 19 -- East Union Tourney, away.

Tuesday, Sept. 22 -- Lenox, home.

Saturday, Sept. 26 -- Corning Tourney, away.

Tuesday, Sept. 29 -- Nodaway Valley, away.

Monday, Oct. 5 -- Murray, away.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 --  East Union, away.

Thursday, Oct. 8 -- Quadrangular (Clarinda, Corning, Mount Ayr, Treynor), Clarinda.

Monday, Oct. 12 -- Pride of Iowa  Playoff, TBA.

Tuesday, Oct. 13 -- Pride of Iowa Finals, Afton.

Tuesday, Oct. 20 -- Regionals, TBA.

Tuesday, Oct. 27 --  Regionals, TBA.

Tuesday, Oct. 30 --  Regionals, TBA.

Tuesday, Nov. 3 -- Regional Final, TBA.

Mount Ayr Community Raider football players are beginning serious workouts for the upcoming season in a series of camps.

Monday, Aug. 3, the Raiders held “rookie drills” for all first year football players.  It was a little warm, but the 13 young men had a good workout under the tutelage of the Raider coaching staff.  

Tuesday night, Raider linemen had a workout and Wednesday the running backs and receivers ran through the offensive sets and plays and tonight everyone will be there for a team workout.  

The Raiders will open the season in Osceola on August 28 against non-district foe Clarke Community.  The following week the Bedford Bulldogs come to town for the home opener for Mount Ayr Community.  

The first district game will be on September 11  against the Roadrunners from Interstate 35 on the Raiders home turf.  September 18 the Raiders travel to Des Moines to take on the Lions of Des Moines Christian.  

The Raiders will face the always tough Wolverines of Nodaway Valley on the September 15, before the Homecoming game against the Wayne Falcons on October 2.  Pleasantville will host the Raiders on October 9 and Pella Christian will be the Raider’s Parent’s night opponent on October 16.  The Raiders will close the regular season facing Central Decatur in the Southern Iowa Gridiron Classic held on Huntsman Field on the Graceland University campus on Thursday, October 22.

“We will definitely have a lot of new people playing and they have some big shoes to fill,” said coach Derek Lambert.  “We get to work this week and continue to practice hard as the season opener is fast approaching.”  

The Raiders are coming off a great 9-2 campaign in 2008 and a second place finish in the District 6 race.