DAILY GLOBE
LAKE PARK, Iowa -- Few high school football teams can claim to have a more prolific passing game than the Harris-Lake Park Wolves, but Ar-We-Va, Westside can try. The Rockets, who travel to play H-LP tonight (Friday, Nov. 4) in the quarterfinals of the Iowa state 8-Player football tournament, have passed for well over 2,100 yards this season en route to an 8-2 record. Quarterback Jake Danner has completed 137 of 217 passes (63.1 percent) for 2,119 yards and 29 touchdowns, amazingly with only one interception.
Danner’s statistics fare well when stacked against his counterpart, H-LP’s Bryce Perkins, who has completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,649 yards and 32 touchdowns (five interceptions).
Harris-Lake Park remains undefeated at 10-0. The Wolves came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat an 8-1 Audubon team 36-26 in the first round of the state tourney, but Ar-We-Va presents another interesting challenge.
Ar-We-Va nudged Audubon 34-28 in the last game of the regular season, then edged Newell-Fonda 54-53 in its first-round state tournament game.
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Tonight’s game will begin at 7 p.m. in Lake Park.
As good as the Rockets are at throwing the football, they probably don’t scare the Wolves, who are as outstanding rushing the ball as throwing it. Trevor Gunderson, coach Lane Gunderson’s son, averages 6.3 yards per carry and has run for 1,134 yards with 19 touchdowns. Three other H-LP backs have run for 125 yards or more.
Danner leads Ar-We-Va in rushing with 743 yards, 6.4 yards per carry. His main passing partner is Derek Schurke who has 71 receptions and 13 TDs, and a 14.6 yard-per-catch average. Teammate Drew Schurke has caught 35 balls for 608 yards and 13 scores.
Ar-We-Va has outscored opponents 523-241 in its 10 games. H-LP has outscored its opponents 493-112.
