When it comes to Norwalk’s football schedule this fall, head coach Paul Patterson is once again confident that a challenging non-district schedule will prepare the Warriors well for what could be a four-team race in Class 4A, District 5.
Norwalk’s four non-district games include road tests at perennial playoff teams Pella and Dallas Center-Grimes and home dates vs. Des Moines Lincoln and defending 4A state champion Lewis Central.
The LC Titans finished 11-2 last season – their only losses coming against 3A champ Harlan and Indianola – while Lincoln, a 5A school, went 5-4. Pella (4-5) and DC-G (3-6) will both be looking to bounce back from down years this fall and have a built-in rivalry factor with Norwalk that always creates an extra challenge.
Indianola, which finished 9-2 last year and reached the Class 4A playoff quarterfinals, is also a Little Hawkeye Conference rival that is part of Norwalk’s football district as well.
“Any time that you get these conference schools that compete [against you] in not just football, but volleyball, cross country, wrestling, basketball – all of those things help foster that rivalry and help make a great atmosphere for a Friday night football game,” Patterson says.
Patterson adds that Norwalk’s non-district schedule doesn’t include any “slouches,” and rarely ever will.
“People just aren’t knocking on our door to play us unless they’re good,” he said, “and we need to be accepting of that and we need to be excited about that challenge.”
The Warriors finished 6-4 overall last year following a first round playoff loss at Webster City and tied for third place in District 5 with a 3-2 record, falling to Carlisle and Bondurant-Farrar the last two weeks of the regular season.
Patterson believes that Bondurant-Farrar might be the District 5 favorite this year based on the amount of returning talent. He also knows that Indianola and Carlisle will be very tough to beat while Boone and Perry “still have some growing to do” to compete for a playoff spot.
“One of the things that we keep talking to our kids about is that we’ve got to be ready,” Patterson says. “We have to take care of ourselves and we’ve got to have our ‘A’ game every Friday night.”
The Warriors’ season begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Pella.