Three Iowa schools look for Great Plains football title

Three Iowa schools will be among those looking to end the University of Sioux Falls dominance of the Great Plains Conference football race. The Cougars have won four straight GPAC titles and 35 consecutive league games. They are favored to win a fifth straight crown this season. Morningside is picked to finish second. The Mustangs made the N-A-I-A playoffs last year and finished 8-3. Coach Steve Ryan’s team has 19 starters back. Northwestern finished 7-3 a year ago and coach Orv Otten has a number of starters returning from a standout defense.Otten needs to replace some of the skill players on offense but he likes the potential of that unit and looks forward to another rugged conference race.Briar Cliff begins its third season of varsity football and 54 players return from last year’s team that finished 3-7. Chargers coach Dick Strittmatter feels the program is moving in the right direction.Sioux Falls will look to continue its dominance with a new coach. Kalen De Boer takes over for Bob Young who turned the program into a national power during his 22-years on the job. The Conference held its media day this week. Briar Cliff gets the season started on August 27th with a game against Peru State.