Kee football team has valiant comeback effort through game’s middle frames erode away to a 50-44 loss at home to Riceville
Accounts for five touchdowns ... Kee football sophomore Dalton Mudderman breaks free on a quarterback keeper in the Hawks’ 50-44 loss at home to Riceville Friday, September 23. Mudderman accounted for five of the six Kee touchdowns in the ballgame, carrying the ball 10 times for 22 yards and two such tallies while connecting on 12 of 22 pass attempts for 182 yards and three more touchdowns. He also recorded team highs of 10 solo and 11.5 total tackles in the contest. Photo by the Kee High School Yearbook. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
In what proved to be a rollercoaster of a ballgame at home against Riceville Friday, September 23, the Kee football team couldn’t quite get over the final climb after a fourth quarter descent that watched a 44-30 Hawk advantage erode away to a 50-44 Kee defeat. The game was a non-district battle that came about after the Hawks’ fellow Eight-Player District 5 squad Central Elkader announced it would not be able to field a varsity team this season.
The Hawks were riding the momentum of consecutive wins over the past two weeks, and Riceville looked to be another addition to that streak coming into the game with nothing but losses on their 2022 schedule so far this season. However, it was the losses the Hawks have recently suffered in their player personnel due to injury that head coach Chad Winters feels factored into his team not being able to come away with Friday’s victory.
“We dug ourselves in a 22-6 hole early in the game,” Coach Winters said. “With some new faces on the field and the adversity we were facing, it was good to see us bounce back from that and take control of the game. Football is a huge game of momentum. They had it early, we had it during the middle of the game, and they were able to make some big plays in the fourth quarter to get it going their way again. When the other team has the momentum like that, we need to respond in a big way. We did it early in the game with (senior) Carter’s (Goetzinger) kick-off return for a touchdown, but we couldn’t swing it back our way in the fourth quarter.”
The Hawks will remain at home for their Homecoming game this Friday, September 30, hosting Edgewood-Colesburg in what Coach Winters sees as a crucial game for his squad in determining extension of its season beyond the regular season. The Vikings come into the game with a 2-2 season record, with wins over Springville, 52-7, and just this past Friday at West Central, 52-32, after being idle the week earlier due to a couple teams dropping their varsity programs earlier this season.
“Moving forward, we know our next two games dictate our play-off life,” Coach Winters said in looking forward. “Win them both and we are in, lose one and we are likely out. We have a big Homecoming game against Ed-Co that we need to have a great week of practice to get ready for.”
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