Last year they were rivals, this year they are teamattes and the merger of two former class A high school football powers is off to a great start. Manning and I-K-M combined for 18 playoff appearances and a whole grade sharing agreement between the two school districts is in its first year and the IKM/Manning Wolves as they are now known are off to a 3-0 start.
Floyd Forman, who was the head coach at Manning, says the players have handled the change very well as has the staff. He is leading the team along with former IKM head coach Tom Casey. Forman handles the offense and Casey is in charge of the defense.
The Wolves are ranked fifth in class 2A. Forman says they didn’t know what to expect at the 2A level, but did have 9 or 10 starters back between the two schools and they’ve learned the Manning offense and the IKM defense, and adapted well.
The Wolves are on the road in district eight action tomorrow night to take on a Carroll Kuemper team that features a new-look offense. Forman says Keumper has switched their offense and will pass the ball quite a bit.