CAM Football: Cougars committed to containing Plowman and piece together four strong quarters

By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / Aug. 22, 2013

ANITA – CAM Cougars head coach Joe Wollum said it best this week when asked about the opportunity to start another season against his program’s chief adversary.

“We’re definitely excited, it’s been a long couple weeks of camp hitting each other,” he said. “The guys are eager to strap on the pads and hit someone else, and you can’t start the season off any better than hitting one of your biggest rivals.”

For the second straight season, all eyes turn to the “White Pole Road” rivalry as the area’s marquee Week Zero matchup.

Still residing in different districts this season in the second year of the district assignment cycle, Friday night offers the schools at least one opportunity to face each other during the season.

The matchup also puts on display two of the top running backs in 8-Man football, with CAM’s Dylan Amdor set to return, along with the Bombers’ Clayton Plowman, who needs just 976 yards this fall to become the state’s all-time leading rusher in the class.

Plowman, a powerful force listed at 6-foot and 205-pounds, rushed for 2,141 yards last year with 38 touchdowns as a junior.

He’s not one to stop entirely, says coach Wollum, just one you hope to contain. That said, committing all your resources to focus on Plowman could be a mistake as well.

“As much as we want to key on Plowman, we can’t totally do that because then one of the other guys will run right by us,” coach Wollum says. “They’ve got a ton of speed.”

Aside from Plowman, the Bombers also have means to move the ball with Emmitt Wheatley and quarterback Traeton Jensen, all of whom are fleet of foot.

“Clayton Plowman is going to go down in the history books as probably the all-time leading rusher in 8-Man football,” coach Wollum says. “We have to give him his respect, but they’ve also got plenty of other weapons on offense. They’re probably going to be the fastest team we will see all year.”

CAM, of course, is not without its own weapons, most notably Amdor, who rushed for 960 yards and 13 touchdowns on 158 carries, marking an average of 6.0 yards-per-tote. Brady Runyan added another 717 yards and 11 TDs while averaging 5.8 YPC with 123 touches.

The Cougars will lean heavily on Amdor as a senior.

“We kind of go how he goes,” coach Wollum says. “If he has a good night, we score points and we tend to have a lot of fun. When teams shut him down, then we struggle. He’s very important for our offense, and as our football team as a whole.”

Both teams will begin the season looking to rebuild their line play from a year ago.

The Cougars will put Keegan Hosfelt at center, with Austin Williamson and Trent Jessen and/or Levi Lank at guards. Logan Dinkla and Michael Holste are expected to anchor the line on the ends. Size is also an issue for the Cougars, as Hosfelt is the only member on the line that weighs over 200 pounds, with the other guys ranging around 160.

CAM is going to need the line to step up right way and play beyond its experience.

“They are going to have to set the tone for us,” coach Wollum says. “We’ve got some great running backs, and if the offensive line can step up and make some holes to run through, then it creates some chances for us to move the chains and score some points.”

At quarterback, CAM will use Trace Ticknor for the majority of the snaps, though Drew Ticknor is expected to see some action there as well.

CAM finished the season 7-4 last year with a first-round playoff loss at Glidden-Ralston. This is the fourth straight year the Cougars kick off the season with a Week Zero matchup.

In last year’s opener in Anita, the Bombers, after a tight first half, broke loose in the final two quarters and buried CAM via 52-26 final.

The Cougars are committed not to let that happen again, and the bullet points to securing a victory are laid out before them.

“We’ve got to limit Plowman, we can’t let him run for 200 yards against us,” coach Wollum says. “That’s priority No. 1, we can’t let him have a big game. And No. 2, we need to put some points on the board. Traditionally, we’ve struggled to score points, especially in the second half against Adair. We need to do a better job of scoring points in all four quarters.”

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