Fort Dodge had its mettle and maturity tested in a humbling loss at Dallas Center-Grimes last week.

Now head coach Nik Moser’s squad will try to circle the wagons within the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium against one of their oldest rivals.

The final non-district week of the season in Class 4A has Waterloo East visiting Fort Dodge for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday. This is the 65th all-time meeting between the old conference rivals, dating back to 1932.

Moser was disappointed in the lack of intensity and urgency from his team at DC-G. He shouldered the responsibility and knows his players have to be ready to go versus the Trojans, who have rallied to win consecutive games and “are playing with a lot of confidence.”

“They’ve been impressive,” Moser said of East. “They’ve shown a lot of resilience, coming back in the last two weeks after they were down. They have a lot of really talented athletes and some guys who have been around at the varsity level for multiple years.

“I just think it’s really cool that we’ve renewed this rivalry. I’ve known (current Trojan activities director) Tim Moses (a former East star and Northern Iowa Panther) for a long time, and played with his nephew Milan at Iowa State. I’ll always make sure we embrace history and tradition here, and this (matchup) is a big part of both.”

Returning quarterback Landen Sewell has thrown for 485 yards and five touchdowns, with senior Ahdan Muhammad catching 18 passes for 348 yards and all five of the scores. Junior tailback Davarrion Clark has been effective on the ground, with 355 yards and five TDs of his own at over eight yards per carry.

“Sewell is a veteran who does a nice job,” Moser said. “Muhammad is impressive, and Clark is dynamic. They’ve been very tough to stop offensively.”

Moser saw an attitude shift this week in practice. He knows that, with a young squad that starts six sophomores, patience and perspective is a must.

“We were a little more intense than usual early this week, and the players showed a sense of urgency,” Moser said. “The hardest part of coaching a younger group is dealing with the ebbs and flows of a season. You don’t really know how you’ll react until you actually go through it.

“We hung tough and were right there in Week 1. We tasted a little success in Week 2. Now we need to prove we can handle and bounce back from some adversity. I think last week opened our eyes and taught us some lessons the hard way. Hopefully we’re ready to respond.”

Sophomore tailback Dreshaun Ross has rushed for 381 yards and four touchdowns at over six yards per carry to anchor the FDSH offense. Ross has also recorded a team-best 26.5 tackles and four tackles for loss.

Senior Drew Moritz has five tackles for loss. Ross and senior Cal Hartman intercepted passes last week.

Senior Ty Adams leads 4A — and the entire state — in kickoff return yards (264), while classmate Grant Williams is fourth in punting at 41.9 yards per attempt.

East, which captured state championships every season from 1966-71 during a state-record 55-game winning streak, holds a 35-29 edge in its all-time series with the Dodgers. Fort Dodge has prevailed in six of the last seven meetings, including consecutive victories in 2021 and ’22.