Something For the Valley Players' Scrapbooks

Valley's No. 1-ranked class 4-A high school football team continued to be short-changed by the Des Moines Register this morning.

The Tigers from West Des Moines built their record to 6-0 last night by rolling to a 52-7 victory at Mason City.

However, the story of the game was buried on page 6 of today's Register sports section.

The seven-paragraph summary of the game was included in those under the "Elsewhere in the CIML" category.

Rather strangely, someone named Jared Patterson was given an italics credit line under the story.

It almost seemed like the Register's editors wanted readers to think Patterson writes for the Des Moines paper.

Nah, they wouldn't try something like that, would they?

Patterson doesn't work for the Register.

He works for the Mason City Globe Gazette, and his full story was in the Globe Gazette this morning under this headline: Talented Tigers too much for Mohawks

Patterson's full story from the Mason City paper follows. If nothing else, it gives West Des Moines and Des Moines readers an opportunity to have a clipping of the account of the game for the Valley players' scrapbooks.

The reason I have a strong interest in Valley is because I have lived seven blocks from the high school for more than 40 years, I had three sons who were students and athletes there, I'll have a grandson there next year [with more granchildren to follow], and I have scores of neighbors who are Valley fans.

I still recall the day many years ago when I was talking to someone about the Valley athletic program.

Jack Elgin then was the school's football coach, and the Tigers weren't winning many games.

"They have 50 kids out for the football team and 500 kids in the marching band," the guy said to me.

Things have changed considerably since then, my friends. In a bigtime way.

The marching band is still the best anywhere in the midwest, and coach Gary Swenson has built the football program into one of the finest in the state.

Now if someone can inject some life into the boys' basketball program!

By JARED PATTERSON, jared.patterson@globegazette.com

MASON CITY — The superlatives kept coming from John Lee’s mouth.

The Mason City football coach knew that top-ranked (4-A) West Des Moines Valley had as talented of a football team as any in the state.

On Friday, Lee got to witness firsthand just how talented the Tigers are as they routed the Mohawks 52-7 in a CIML Iowa Conference tilt.

“We knew that we were going to have to play perfect just to keep it close,” Lee said. “That’s the best team in the state of Iowa.

“They have as good of a chance as anyone to win state and be the 4-A champion.”

On Friday, the Tigers looked like the best team in the state.

Running backs Zach Cutkomp and Theo Burkett ran for 143 and 141 yards, respectively. Each found the end zone twice.

Burkett hadn’t played since the Tigers beat Marshalltown on Sept. 12 due to a nagging hamstring injury.

“We felt coming in that these two could play for anybody in the state,” Valley coach Gary Swenson said. “I was real pleased. I thought we were very sharp on both sides of the ball.”

Defensively, the Tigers stymied the Mohawks, holding quarterback Ryan Goetzinger and Co. to 31 yards on the ground.

Goetzinger had eclipsed both 100 yards rushing and passing in four of Mason City’s first five games.

On Friday, he was held to 13 yards rushing.

“I’m as impressed as we were when we watched them on film,” Lee said. “That’s the best team we are going to see. The score might not show it but you are going to get better when you play the best team in the state.”

Mason City’s lone touchdown came on a six-yard strike from Goetzinger to Zach Alexandres late in the first half that trimmed Valley’s lead to 31-7.

“Our kids battled hard,” Lee said.

The Mohawks fell to 4-2 after the loss with a rivalry game at conference foe Fort Dodge looming.

The Dodgers beat Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 34-27 on Friday.

A win Friday would give Mason City its first winning season since 2002.

“It would be big for these seniors,” Lee said. “They set a goal of winning five games last year. For them to set a goal and go out and achieve it would mean a lot to us coaches.”

WEST DES MOINES VALLEY 52, MASON CITY 7

Valley 17 21 14 0 — 52

Mason City 0 7 0 0 — 7

Summary

V — Kevin Sheldon 23 field goal, 4:49.

V — Taylor Nelson 1 run (Michael Hovick kick) 2:52.

V — Zach Cutkomp 2 run (Hovick kick) :49.

V — Theo Burkett 9 run (Hovick kick) 9:41.

V — Cutkomp 5 run (Hovick kick) 8:37.

MC — Zach Alexandres 6 pass from Ryan Goetzinger (Cody Barnich kick) 2:53.

V — Cutkomp 2 run (Hovick kick) :32.

V — Burkett 63 run (Hovick kick) 10:57.

V — Ryan Dixon 8 run (Hovick kick) 5:14.

TEAM TOTALS

V MC

First downs 17 7

Rushes-yards 37-318 20-31

Passing yards 124 107

Comp-att-int. 6-8-0 7-16-0

Total yards 442 138

Punts-avg. 1-31.0 7-32.5

Penalties-yards 5-45 3-20

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing — Mason City: Goetzinger 10-13, Cody Moore 5-5, Clint Hain 2-6, Blake Lybbert 1-(-3), Chavyea Wilder 1-4, Noah Huisman 1-6; Valley: Cutkomp 14-143, Burkett 9-141, Togbah Gabriel 7-25, Nelson 4-0, Chad Stapes 2-1, Dixon 1-8.

Passing — Mason City: Goetzinger 7-15-0 — 107, Lee Gealow 0-1-0 — 0; Valley: Nelson 6-8-0 — 120, Garth Gripenberg 1-4.

Receiving — Mason City: Huisman 5-77, Alexandres 2-29; Valley: Taylor Hilderbrand 2-35, Jon Meister 1-25, Stapes 1-25, Dixon 1-18, Gabriel 1-4.

*

AND THERE'S MORE....

Continuing on the theme of what wasn't in today's Register, R. H. of Des Moines sent this e-mail to me:

Hi, Ron,

"I'm pretty new at this Blackberry thing myself. I have had mine for two months now after spending a decade with U.S. Cellular and moving over to Verizon. The Blackberry has its typical features within a phone (internet, texting, etc.). Technology is something I was never good at, so I'm learning on the go with how to use email. The one thing I do not like is the "Sent from my Verizon Wireless Blackberry" at the end of the emails I send. I feel like a walking advertisement for the company. Just like the MLB playoffs on TBS. Now, if they could just jettison Dick Stockton and Craig Sager from the broadcast.

"You mentioned this and I have to agree: using a Blackberry is just like being tied to the computer at home! If I'm driving around doing errands, I have to turn the dang thing off and put it in the glove compartment! It will take about a month to understand the basic features of using the Blackberry (how to call, use internet, sending and receiving emails) . Those are the only things I care to know in order to use it.

"I'm very humbled by the nice words by a fellow reader. I never try to be cute or snazzy when I write. It takes patience, knowledge of the information or topic, and understanding all the angles and sides to it. Plus, it never hurts to appreciate those who have spent their careers telling the stories in the written word that we read everyday.

"If Dick Stockton's play-by-play is horrible, then Craig Sager's loud suits are equally offensive. Lindsey Nelson and Heywood Hale Broun are spinning in their graves on how Sager has ruined plaid sportscoats with the tacky outfits he wears. Nelson and Broun wore plaid jackets and looked classy and dignified. Sager's a clown.

"Finally, if there is one team that knows how to battle adversity, come from behind, and finish off an opponent, it would be the Boston Red Sox. They are no longer the AL cousins of the team posing as the Chicago Cubs.

"Just in: O.J. Simpson has been found guilty on all 12 charges in his sports memorabilia burglary and kidnapping case. Ironic that the clock struck midnight in Las Vegas when the verdict was read.

"Best,"

R.H.
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: R.H. had filed a dispatch to me earlier in the week on his Blackberry, and I asked him for more information on the communications gizmo. I'm due for a new cell phone from Verizon now, and I'm considering a Blackberry. I mentioned to R.H. that I'm not the world's greatest at the new technoloogy, so I appreciate what he told me about the Blackberry. I also appreicate him updating me on another Boston Red Sox' victory and the O.J. Simpson verdict last night. Neither of those stories was in the city edition of the Register -- something that wouldn't have been allowed to happen in the newspaper's good old days. R.H.'s comment about being "humbled" referred to a comment from another reader. The man had been reading my website, he admires good writing and noticed that R.H. of Des Moines had authored a number of stellar posts in recent months. He wondered if R.H. was my grandson. I said he isn't, but added that I, too, like the stuff R.H. writes.]