Mississippi Athletic Conference

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The Mississippi Athletic Conference (MAC Conference) is a high school athletic conference whose members are located in the Iowa Quad-Cities, plus three other schools in eastern and southeastern Iowa.

Contents 1 Member Schools 2 Sports 3 History 3.1 Successes 4 References

[edit] Member Schools

There are 10 full members of the Mississippi Athletic Conference. Nine of those schools are in Class 4A, Iowa's largest enrollment class. The smallest — Davenport Assumption — is in Class 2A (the third largest among Iowa's five enrollment classes); however, Assumption does play with the Class 4A schools in football and boys' golf.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	9-12 Enrollment	Mascot
Bettendorf	Bettendorf	1951	Public	1,478[1]	Bulldogs
Burlington	Burlington	1914	Public	1,400 (approximately)[2]	Grayhounds
Clinton	Clinton	????	Public	1,253[3]	River Kings/River Queens
Davenport Assumption	Davenport	1958	Private/Catholic	400 (approximately)[4]	Knights
Davenport Central	Davenport	1904	Public	1,458[5]	Blue Devils
Davenport North	Davenport	1985	Public	1,019[6]	Wildcats
Davenport West	Davenport	1960	Public	1,982[7]	Falcons
Muscatine	Muscatine	1868	Public	1,800 (approximately)	Muskies
North Scott	Eldridge	1958	Public	1,056[8]	Lancers
Pleasant Valley	Pleasant Valley	1962	Public	1,132[9]	Spartans

[edit] Sports

The conference offers the following sports:

• Fall — Football, volleyball, boys' cross-country, girls' cross-country, boys' golf and girls' swimming.
• Winter — Boys' basketball, girls' basketball, wrestling and boys' swimming. Bowling will be added as a sport starting in 2006-2007.
• Spring — Boys' track and field, girls' track and field, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, boys' tennis, girls' tennis and girls' golf.
• Summer — Baseball and softball.

Although the member schools field freshman — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at sophomore and varsity levels only. Also, not all schools field teams in every sport (e.g., North Scott does not have its own swimming teams).

[edit] History

The MAC — as it is known to locals — was formed in 1978. Charter members Bettendorf, Clinton and Muscatine had been members of the Mississippi Valley Conference, while Davenport schools Assumption, Central and West were part of the Quad-City Metro Conference. North Scott, which was participating in its first "big school" conference, had been in the Big Bend Conference (along with several smaller schools), and Burlington was not affiliated with any conference. At the time, the conference was known as the "Mississippi Eight."

Davenport North opened its doors in 1985 and was immediately admitted to the newly-renamed MAC. Pleasant Valley also became a part-time member in 1985, although it didn't compete in football, basketball, wrestling, baseball or softball until 1987 when the school became a full-fledged member.

[edit] Successes

The conference has had a reputation for being one of the toughest in Iowa. For instance:

• Bettendorf — a perennial powerhouse in athletics — Its most well known program locally, state-wide, and nationally is that of football which has won seven state championships between 1981 and 2007, winning the MAC conference most of those years and going as far as the semifinals in Cedar Falls on numerous occasions. Recently, the Bettendorf football team completed a decades worth of games posting a record of 114-16.^[10]. An astonishing record and one that has been averaged each decade since 1980. The boys' sophomore level football team under Coach Schaeffer had consective undefeated seasons throughout the recent decade. Due to the success of Bettendorf football many rivals are found throughout the conference and state. Current rivals include North Scott, Davenport Assumption, and Iowa City High. Bettendorf posts all time series records of 33-8-1, 43-18-2, and 12-8 respectively. The Bulldogs have also been very successful in many other sports, particularly boys' basketball, soccer, and swimming. In addition, the boys golf won four straight Iowa Class 4A titles between 2003-2006. The girls' teams have been successful as well, establishing winning programs in swimming, soccer, and volleyball. Finally, Bettendorf is known for having one of the most modern, full-scale athletic campuses of any high school within the state or region. These modern facilities rival that of many college campuses. Recently, Bettendorf High School renovated its gymnasium the gym has new banners, color schemes, floor, and bleachers. The bleachers feature fold out seats for a more enjoyable fan experience.Also, the Bettendorf Middle School boosts one of the largest gyms across the state featuring four full length basketball courts which can accommodate various basketball and volleyball tournaments throughout the year for both junior high and freshman level athletics. Bettendorf while known for its competition at the high school level, expands its athletes abilities to prepare for competition in college and beyond. Currently, Pat Angerer and Colin Sandemann are the two most popular athletes to come out of Bettendorf as they play integral parts for the nationally ranked Iowa Hawkeyes football team. However, Bettendorf also sends athletes in various other sports to Division 1 schools. Boys' basketball, girls' and boys' soccer, girls' and boys' tennis, girls' and boys' swimming as well as football and volleyball are all sports that consistently produce Division 1 collegiate athletes.

• Davenport Assumption, a private catholic school under the direction of the Davenport Diocese, has also experienced widespread success in many sports, particularly football and baseball. In recent years as Assumption's enrollment has dropped significantly they have adjusted to remain competitive. While competing still in the MAC 4A conference, Assumption competes in the lower class playoffs. This has paid off dividends as the school has posted record seasons and state championships in baseball and girls' basketball consistently. On the 4A front, the Bettendorf-Davenport Assumption rivalry is one of the best-known in the conference, and football games pitting the two schools are often highly anticipated. As of 2009, Bettendorf leads the series 43-18-2. The Assumption Knights have won seven conference championships in football. Also, the baseball team has won eight state championships, including four since 2000. In addition to the success in football and baseball, the cheer and dance teams are the best in the state. Competition cheer has won fourteen of the last fifteen state champtionships. The dance team has also been impressive winning numerous statea titles in multiple categories over the past several years. Significant recent Assumption alums include Michael Brandtner, the punter at Iowa State, Ted and Fritz Bentler who are each defensive lineman at the Army Academy at West Point, Willie Agro, a baseball player at Illinois to name a few.^[11]

• In softball, North Scott made 11 trips to the state softball tournament between 1987 and 2003, winning three state titles. Muscatine, another powerhouse in softball, has made 10 trips since 1981, winning two state championships. In the past decade, both Muscatine and North Scott have also been contenders in football, after years of struggling. North Scott is also known for its wrestling program which has had tremendous success over the years against the MAC and statewide competition. North Scott also has one of the more unique basketball gyms throughout the Midwest. Known as the "Pit" the sunken court is reminisce of teh University of Iowa's Carver Hawkeye Arena. The layout of the gym produces some of the rowdiest and competitive games in the MAC.

• Davenport North is well-known for its success in volleyball in the late 1980s and early 90's, and has had some state success in boys' basketball. Current NBA star Ricky Davis was part of the school's mid-1990s basketball surge. As well as basketball, North is well known throughout the Quad Cities and the state of Iowa for the history in girls' volleyball. The school has a modern YMCA included in their campus athletic complex.

• During the early years of the conference, Davenport Central was best-known for its football success, particularly with players such as future NFL star Roger Craig. Davenport Central has begun to recapture its winning ways having successful programs in girls' varsity volleyball, and boys' varsity basketball. Davenport Central is known in the area for their gymnasium which harkens back to the early 1900s fieldhouses throughout America. The atmosphere at athletic competitions at the gym draws big crowds on Friday nights.

• Pleasant Valley has had much success the past couple years with cross country. The Spartans are the defending Iowa Class 4A boys' state champions (2006, 2007, and 2008) with plenty of talent for the future. Coach Eric Belby has effectively set up a cross country dynasty and his program is recognized nationally with a preseason ranking as the #44 high school team in the nation in 2009. The school has also had state success recently in several sports, including boys' basketball, track, swimming and softball, and in the past football. Pleasant Valley Cheerleading is tremendously successful. They have been known locally, regionally, and even nationally for their philanthropic efforts over the last few years. Over the course of a few years a non-for profit organization was started entitled, "The Sparkle Effect" ^[12] which aims to increase confidence and self esteem among the school's special needs students. The effort has been a success and the students have earned various praise appearing on Oprah.

Davenport Central, West, North and Davenport Assumption all hold football competitions at Brady Street Stadium. Brady Street Stadium is well known throughout the area for its historical charm yet modern field. The field turf has seen various improvements and renovations since its first installations in the late 90's early 00's. St. Ambrose University also calls Brady Street Stadium home.

In addition, in the middle of the boys' basketball season, six teams are selected to compete in the Quad Cities Shootout. This is a small tournament against six teams form the Illinois side of the river. It's held at Augustana College in Rock Island. Generally, the six metro teams (Davenport North, Davenport West, Davenport Central, Davenport Assumption, North Scott, and Bettendorf) participate. Each team is pitted against a team of a similar record from Illinois, with each team playing only one game (it is just a way for the teams to get a non-conference game over the Christmas break; no champion is crowned. However, the teams with the best record generally play the last game of the day). Generally, five of the participants from Illinois — Moline, United Township (of East Moline), Rock Island, Rock Island Alleman, and Galesburg — represent the Western Big Six conference; the sixth participating team is Geneseo.

A similar competition is held for the girls' teams at Black Hawk College in Rock Island. Generally, the four metro teams from Illinois (UTHS, Moline, Rock Island, and Alleman) play against West, North, Central, and Bettendorf (in no particular order).+

Due to the unique nature of the Quad Cities, the closeness of cities, many athletes from various school districts compete and are teammates on different athletic squads whether it be through AAU basketball, fall baseball, ASA softball, or Olympic development soccer. The area is a highly competitive, athletic environment with tremendous talent representing each district.

[edit] References