DENISON — Fort Dodge makes its first football trip ever to Denison on Friday night, taking on the Monarchs in the Dodgers’ last road game of the regular season.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

A pair of former Iowa State Cyclone defensive backs square off in the coaching circle, as Nik Moser leads Fort Dodge (4-3 overall, 1-2 in Class 4A-1) against Kamari Cotton-Moya and Denison-Schleswig (4-3, 2-1). Moser was a safety for ISU from 2002-05; Cotton-Moya manned the secondary in Ames from 2014-17.

“They’re a very solid football team,” Moser said of the Monarchs. “You can already tell the influence Coach K (Cotton-Moya) is having on this program, even though he’s only in year two. They’re better up front, tough defensively and they’ll throw a lot of looks at you with multiple formations on offense.

“We talk about going 1-0 every Friday…if our goal is to have a winning season (at 5-4), we have to get to 4-4 first. Our kids understand that. It’s a big week — not just for this season but the direction of our program in general.”

D-S held off Le Mars in a defensive slugfest a week ago, 13-7. The Dodgers, meanwhile, routed Storm Lake by a final of 50-17.

All-district standout Jaxson Hildebrand has rushed for 666 yards and seven touchdowns at nearly six yards per carry. Hildebrand has also been one of the top defenders in the district.

Six-foot-2 junior Luke Wiebers has thrown for 728 yards and four scores. Top target Jake Fink, also a junior, has 22 catches for 295 yards.

“Hildebrand is just a really good all-around player on both sides of the ball who is big and strong (6-1 and 220 pounds),” Moser said. “Wiebers is an athletic quarterback who makes things happen with his arm and his legs. Fink is one of the better receivers we’ve seen since Ames.

“Coach K has them headed in the right direction.”

Fort Dodge senior quarterback Connor Carver has thrown for 1,428 yards and 18 touchdowns with only four interceptions. The Bemidji State University recruit has also rushed for 341 yards and five scores.

Javion Jondle, an Iowa Central recruit, has 50 receptions for 619 yards and eight TDs as Carver’s lead target.

Carver moved within one TD pass of Randy Reiners for second on the Dodgers’ school charts last week against Storm Lake. He is only 263 yards away from becoming the third quarterback in school history to reach 4,000 yards through the air.

Jondle is tied with ex-Dodger all-stater Trey Mosley at 21 receiving touchdowns for his career, which trails only Tysen Kershaw.

Senior Orion Larson-Trott has rushed 64 times for 408 yards and six scores. Senior Kaleb Lynch, senior Tucker Pederson and freshman Dreshaun Ross — who will miss this week’s contest to compete at the nationally-renowned Super 32 Challenge wrestling tournament in North Carolina — are FDSH’s top tacklers.

“We’re going to see two quality opponents to (close the regular season),” Moser said. “We have to execute consistently, stay disciplined and be fundamentally sound, which isn’t anything new or different — just something that makes a difference in games like these.”