The 4A Club Conference Preview: Missouri River Conference

Because of the pandemic, the Iowa High School Athletic Association has let Class 4A schools and conferences make their own schedules, essentially bringing back conference play in Class 4A football for the first time since 2013. So here’s a preview of every Class 4A school in the Missouri River Activities Conference. <strong>Disclaimer: </strong>Bishop Heelan, Le Mars, and Sergeant Bluff-Luton are all also apart of the MRAC, but since they’re all 3A when it comes to football and I’m only covering 4A schools, I won’t be covering them this season.   Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln My Preseason Ranking: 32nd My Team Rating: 29.5556 (D-)   Head Coach: John Wolfe Offensive Coordinator: Tony Tedesco Defensive Coordinator: John Wolfe Base Offense: Spread (1-0, 0-0) Base Defense: 4-3   Watchlist Players: N/A   Returning Starters: QB [player_tooltip player_id="23941" first="Lennx" last="Brown"], SR WR/OLB Damari Brown, SR WR/CB Chase Riche, SR WR Carson Schaa, JR OT/DT Keelan Bailey, SR OT Wes Harvey, SR G/DT Timmy Thompson, SR C Daniel Amarillas, JR DT Gabe Daniels, JR MLB Quentin Bradley, JR CB/WR Lucas Spanjer SR K/P Alex Stogdill, SR   Risers/Arrivals: QB Eli Lusajo, JR RB/OLB Greg Chinowth, SR WR Kaleb Molczyk, SR WR Mac Volff, SR DE Mikaele Hayes, JR OLB TJ Hayes, SR   A quick word: The Lynx might’ve been on the downslide for awhile, but AL might be able to turn it around because not only did the schedule changed to face their conference rivals, but the number of starters coming back from last season.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>     Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson My Preseason Ranking: 29th My Team Rating: 30.5556 (D)   Head Coach: Brant Anderson Offensive Coordinator: Brant Anderson Defensive Coordinator: Dan Strutzenburg Base Offense: Double Wing & Spread (3-2, 2-0) Base Defense: 3-3-5   Watchlist Players: N/A   Returning Starters: QB/S [player_tooltip player_id="24006" first="Austin" last="Schubert"], JR WB/CB JJ Johanns, JR FB Dylan Carmen, SR WR/OLB Hunter Jones, SR OT/DE Austin Renshaw, SR G/DE Angel Silva, SR C McKinley Meisel, JR MLB Doug Carpenter, SR K Carter Harold, SR   Risers/Arrivals: WB Josh Whitelaw, JR OE/OLB Lane Toman, JR OE Braetyn Couse, JR G Colton Fender, SR G Robby Brecht, SR DT Ben Poole, SR OLB Konnor Stanfill, JR CB Reese Schlotfeld, JR CB Devon Bovee, SO S Blayke Binau, JR   A quick word: TJ returns a fair amount of two-way contributors from last season that are looking to make an even bigger impact in 2020.     Sioux City East My Preseason Ranking: 15th My Team Rating: 37.7778 (B-)   Head Coach: Brian Webb Offensive Coordinator: Keenan Ganz Defensive Coordinator: Nick Taylor Base Offense: Multiple (2-0, 1-0) Base Defense: 3-4, 4-3   Watchlist Players: N/A   Returning Starters: WR Easton Voigt, SR OT Ryan Crawford, SR OLB Blake Hogancamp, SO MLB/H-B Ethan Breyfogle, SR CB Cass Camarigg, SR S/RB Taejon Jones, JR K Jacob Schroeder, JR   Risers/Arrivals: QB [player_tooltip player_id="23964" first="Luke" last="Longval"], JR (from Bishop Heelan) RB/MLB Kyler Peterson, JR WR/S Bennet Vanderloo, SR C Tamerson Pius, SR DE Ethan Sneider, JR DE Seth Hodgins, JR DT Drew Doty, JR OLB Ke’Shawn Canady, JR K Emmanuel Moreno, JR   A quick word: East looks like the best 4A team from Western Iowa once again in 2020. The Black Raiders return a bunch of starters and regular contributors from last season, they even added Heelan’s QB [player_tooltip player_id="23964" first="Luke" last="Longval"] to their roster too.     Sioux City North My Preseason Ranking: 38th My Team Rating: 27.6667 (E+)   Head Coach: Mitch Mohr Offensive Coordinator: Mitch Mohr Defensive Coordinator: Travis Binder Base Offense: Spread (1-0) Base Defense: 4-2-5, 4-3   Watchlist Players: WR/OLB [player_tooltip player_id="23849" first="Dante" last="Hansen"], SR   Returning Starters: QB Gavin Hauge, SR RB [player_tooltip player_id="24025" first="Brady" last="Wavrunek"], SO WR/QB Landon Lovrien, JR WR Evan Helvig, SR WR/CB Austin McClain, SR OT/DT [player_tooltip player_id="23979" first="Callan" last="Grant-Morris"], JR G Grant Nieuwendorp, JR DE Izaiah Truitt, JR MLB Jacob Kyle, SO CB Josiah Lynam, JR CB Brayden Allan, JR K/P Jack Lloyd, SO   Risers/Arrivals: WR Desmond Grace II, JR WR Keller Newton, JR G Ty-Kell Blair, SR DT Wyatt Elgert, JR OLB Brody Martin, JR MLB Jayston Paulson, JR CB Ashton Blair, JR S Devon Foy, SR (from Sioux City West)   A quick word: North returns some a bunch of starters, so expect to see some improvement on the field after spending the last bunch of seasons in the basement of Class 4A.     Sioux City West My Preseason Ranking: 39th My Team Rating: 24.4444 (F+)   Head Coach: Brandon Holmes Co-Offensive Coordinators: Lee Irvine & Anthony Rivera Defensive Coordinator: Brandon Holmes Base Offense: Spread (1-1, 2-1) Base Defense: 4-2-5   Watchlist Players: N/A   Returning Starters: RB DeVionne West, SO WR/S Keavian Hayes, SO WR/S Michael Duax, SR OT/DT Travis Rivera, SR OT/DE Tristan Ashlock, JR G Michael Benson, SO C/DT Santos Valdez, SR DE Logan Mannion, SO DT Aidan Gutierrez, SR CB/QB Koby Pearson, SR K/RB/CB Antonio Medina, SO   Risers/Arrivals: QB Devin Frye, JR QB Keenan Hegna, SR RB/CB Drew Benson, WR Landin Barker, SR G Luis Cota, JR C Todd Uhl, JR DE/TE Kaleb Johnson, SR OLB Chase Mentele, SR OLB Jaxon Howe, JR MLB Kaleb Belt, SR MLB Briar Bottjen, SR CB Salvador Baez, JR S/QB Kaleb French, SR   A quick word: West was pretty much a punching bag last season. Combining injuries with inexperienced backups made the Wolverines look like a joke come subdistrict-time. Now with the new conference schedules and most of their contributors coming back, West should seem better prepared for the 2020 season than last year.