The Little Hawks finished (2-7) overall in one of the worst seasons in over 30 years. Now they’re on their way to transformation in the 15’ season.
October 31, 2014
After a dramatic back and forth final loss to Muscatine (42-47) the City High football team is left without a playoff game for the first time in 12 years.
“We’ve been through a lot this season as a team, and it hasn’t been easy at times but we stuck together and were able to create opportunities for ourselves towards the end of the season,” Fredieu said.
Overall, the Little Hawks went (0-4) in non-district play, the first time in 33 years that they dropped beneath (0-3).
The Little Hawks rallied late in the season with back to back victories including a Homecoming win against Prairie (27-23) and comeback win against Burlington High School (38-24).
“There were a couple of games, where we had the ball and were driving, and as you look at a few of the individual games coming through, you’d like to think that this team had a chance to be an above 500 team,” offensive coordinator Joe Wilcox said.
A key in the turnaround came with a renewed power running game with #24 Mike Fredieu.
“It was a role that we needed; someone to come in and be a physical runner, which was something the coaches and I thought I was capable of doing,” Fredieu said.
Fredieu began starting after previous starter running back #1 Bryson Runge ‘15 became injured during mid-season play. Fredieu ended the season with 30 points rushing, for a total of 649 yards.
Also helping out the running game was quarterback #15 Nate Wieland ‘17, the team’s top rusher, with 42 rushing points and for 753 yards. Wieland threw for 1093 total yards for five touchdowns with a 51.7% completion rate.
The two game winning streak was checked by Cedar Rapids Washington High School, the #1 ranked team in the state at the time. The Little Hawks fell (28-7) and Washington claimed the district champion title, the first such title in history. Washington is currently undefeated – 2nd in the state behind Dowling Catholic High School.
“You know, we came up and gave Wash, Cedar Rapids Wash, one of their closest games that they played, and one of their toughest games all year,” Wilcox said.
Wieland ‘17 sees areas to improve for the 2015 season.
“We had too many mental break downs early in the season. We’ve started to eliminate a lot of those mistakes,” Wieland said.
The continued development of the Little Hawks’ progress made in the 2014 season is left to the class of ‘16 and the sophomores. Juniors such as Erick Fletcher, who led the team on defense with 46 solo tackles, and Griffin Fellows, the team’s top receiver. Fellows ended the season with 19 receptions for 238 yards.
The sophomores field a near undefeated team, 17-1 in two years of play.
The younger players will need to fill positions left by graduating seniors such as DeJuan McKenny ‘15 and Eric McDonald ‘15, team captains and defensive linemen. McKenny, a defensive end, followed Fletcher closely with 31 tackles. McDonald has been a key offensive lineman since his junior year.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into being a football player, there’s a lot of time. Sometimes it can go unnoticed. There’s a lot of good work from the seniors, but that’s a group that needs to be replaced,” he said.
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