Iowa High School Football Pre-Season Practice Begins August 9th

by Jeff Fisher

Iowa High School Football Huddle

Welcome to our new look for the 2010 Iowa high school football season!

With the first day of practice beginning August 9th, I wanted to take the time to thank all of my readers, who have made this blog successful over the past three years.  I have bigger-and-better things planned this year with more original content.

Also, don't forget to check-out High School Football America for great high school football stories from around the country.  If you have story ideas that I should know about, please feel free to email me.

Here's a look at important dates for the 2010 season...

First Practice - August 9th

Regular Season Begins - August 26th

Playoffs Begin - October 27th

Championships - November 19th-20th

Jeff Fisher is Founder/Editor-in-Chief of High School Football America

Aplington-Parkersburg One Year After the Murder of Its Head Coach

by Jeff Fisher
Iowa High School Football Huddle

One year ago today, Aplington-Parkersburg head football coach Ed Thomas was murdered by his former player Mark Becker.

Today, KCRG's Jeff Linder takes a look at how the town is healing with the help of former Falcon player Alex Pollock, who at the age of 26 is now in charge of the Falcon tradition.

East Central High School featured by High School Football America

by Jeff Fisher
Iowa High School Football Huddle

There's really only one true way to understand America...get out there and meet people in small towns.

When I created High School Football America last year, it was my goal to find the untold stories of high school football.  Most of those stories will be from small towns, where the high school football teams blend seamlessly into the fabric of the community...and in a lot of cases, define the community.

With that as the background, check-out High School Football America's latest video vignette from East Central High School in Miles, Iowa...population 462.

The school is going through tough economic times, but it doesn't take away from the passion the community has for this 8-man program in eastern Iowa.

Enjoy,
Jeff

Kuemper Catholic Hires New Head Football Coach

by Jeff Fisher
Iowa High School Football Huddle

Brian Webb is the new head football coach at Kuemper Catholic.

The Daily Times Herald is reporting that Webb, who has been an assistant at West Des Moines Valley High School, was chosen from about 30 applicants.  Webb takes over for Justin Penner, who resigned to take over the head coaching job at Mason City.

Webb's hiring still must be approved by the board of education.

Aplington-Parkersburg Names New Head Football Coach

by Jeff Fisher
Iowa High School Football Huddle

One day after a judge sentenced Mark Becker to life in prison for the murder of Ed Thomas, Aplington-Parkersburg named one of his former players as the Falcons new head football coach.

Alex Pollock, a 2002 Aplington-Parkersburg graduate, played under Thomas and won a state title in 2001. Last season Al Kearns and Jon Wiegmann were co-coaches after Thomas was murder in June.

Kerns has retired, and Wiegmann will continue as the team's defensive coordinator.

The Des Moines Register reports that Pollock will carry-on the tradition established by Thomas

2010-11 Iowa High School Football Schedules Released

by Jeff Fisher
Iowa High School Football Huddle

The Iowa High School Athletic Association has released the 2010 and 2011 from every classification except 4A.

The 2010-2011 schedules can be accessed here through the Iowa High School Athletic Association website.

Iowa High School Athletic Association Relaxes Rules for Shared High School Football Program

by Jeff Fisher
Iowa High School Football Huddle

Share football programs in Iowa will no longer be penalized for outgrowing their classification.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association has struck down a rule that disqualified combined teams from making the playoffs, if their new shared enrollment surpassed their original classifications.

Iowa currently realigns its schools every two years.  Under the old rule, a combined program couldn't play in the post-season until its received realignment.  The new rule is that if the two combined football teams do it between alignment periods, they will play the schedule of the larger school.