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The St. Edmond football team hopes a return to Dodger Stadium will help them get back on track Friday night.
After opening district play with a tough loss at West Bend-Mallard last week, the Gaels (1-1 overall, 0-1 in league) host North Iowa (0-2, 0-1).
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
St. Edmond claimed a 65-19 victory over Ar-We-Va two weeks ago at home before falling to the Wolverines, 66-22. Head coach Matt Dillon is hoping to see more of the Week 1 performance than the Week 2 result.
"We knew West Bend-Mallard would be a tough task," Dillon said. "Last year, they were a junior-dominated team that really took it to us. All those kids were back and they dominated us again.
"But we had a couple chances early and had the ball gone a different way here or there, maybe we score and kind of hang with them."
Junior JT Laufersweiler has thrown for 262 yards with two touchdowns, while adding 96 yards and a pair of scores on the ground. Senior Johnny Dickerson has a team-leading 16 receptions for 192 yards and two TDs.
The Gael defense has forced three turnovers, with two of them resulting in touchdowns courtesy freshman Kinnick Henning and sophomore Klay Baker. Henning leads the team with seven tackles, while 10th-grader Adam Walker has three sacks.
"Our message to the kids last week at halftime was to come out and play as hard as you can," Dillon said. "We know we were going up against some of (West Bend-Mallard's) younger players, but I was proud of the effort we gave.
"We just have to show up, come out and be physical and play. We have to make some plays on offense and make some stops on defense."
North Iowa has dropped its first two games of the season, falling to Bishop Garrigan (32-14) and Gladbrook-Reinbeck (70-13). The Bison played the Golden Bears to a 6-6 tie after the first quarter before going behind 20-14 at the half.
While the offense struggled for North Iowa, the defense allowed just 155 yards rushing and 68 yards in the air. In the loss to Gladbrook-Reinbeck, the Bison gave up 230 yards rushing, with the Rebels averaging 11 yards per carry.
Last year, North Iowa scored a 48-13 victory over St. Edmond, going ahead with 20 points in the first and 20 in the second. However, leading passer Brett Doege and top rusher Riley Sabin graduated.
"North Iowa had a lot of really talented players last year that graduated," Dillon said. "But they return a few that have been playing well. They were right there with Garrigan before some late turnovers in the fourth."
Juniors Brogyn Greensky and Charlie Schaefer have both played quarterback. Greensky has 234 yards and a pair of TDs, while Schaefer has 102 and a score. As a team, the Bison have just 118 yards rushing, while Noah Hofmann is the No. 1 target, catching seven passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns.