MASON CITY — A wounded but undeterred Fort Dodge football team heads to Mason City Friday, looking to regain confidence and defend the Decker Sporting Goods traveling trophy.

The 109th edition of this 112-year-old rivalry starts at 7:00 p.m.

The Dodgers were exhausted by Webster City in last week’s season opener, giving up 28 consecutive points in the second half in a 41-13 loss. The performance left a bitter taste in the mouths of coach Nik Moser and his players; the execution needs to be much better, of course, but the effort was not at the level it should have been in the eyes of the Dodgers.

“I think first of all we have to get tougher and more physical from week one to week two” Moser said. “Both sides of the ball. We have to be better at blocking. We have to be better at attacking. Just more fundamentally sound overall, but also playing with more purpose.

“We were all disappointed. That’s obvious. Our guys feel like they have something to prove now — not to other people, but to themselves and to each other.”

In their debut last week, the Riverhawks beat Marshalltown 26-25. Mason City scored all 26 of its points in the first half, led by Drew Hobart.

Much like Fort Dodge running back Noah Daniel did against the Lynx, the Riverhawk junior had a performance he’ll never forget on special teams against the Bobcats, with Hobart returning a pair of kickoffs 95 yards for touchdowns, even dwarfing Daniel’s electrifying efforts of 93 and 95 yards.

“He is an outstanding athlete” Moser said about Hobart. “You really have to keep an eye on him…try to contain him and keep him out of the open field.”

Junior quarterback Dane Hanson ran for 38 yards and threw for 33 in the narrow victory. Receiver Drayden Witt, also a junior, caught a 75-yard TD pass on a sneaky Hobart play.

Mason City’s top defense was provided by senior Andrew Novak and junior Lincoln Berding.

“They are impressive in attack and as always they have solid players” Moser said about the Riverhawks. “They’re our main rival; you don’t need any extra motivation to get up for this game. They want to start 2-0 and we want to avoid 0-2.”

Fort Dodge doubled Mason City last season, 42-21. The Dodgers, who have a 58-42-8 advantage in the all-time series, won 17 straight in the series from 2004-21. The Riverhawks finally snapped the streak in 2022 at home, triumphing 35-30.

Moser is not afraid that anyone in his camp will press the panic button.

“Our focus and work ethic were really good this week” Moser said. “We got smacked in the face after the halftime tie (FDSH was down 14 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter) and we didn’t react the way we wanted. But we’re OK. We’ll learn from this.

“In sports, people are generally quick to jump on or off the bus. That’s the nature of cheering. It doesn’t change who we are or our belief in each other. We know what needs to be done and what’s ahead of us, this week and the rest of the way.”