WATERLOO — The challenge for Nik Moser and his staff — as is the case with most football teams — is to keep his Fort Dodge squad simultaneously confident and cautious.

In the short term, the Dodgers were convincing in their 40-7 victory over Waterloo East on Friday at Memorial Stadium. The question afterward, though, centered around how much better the Dodgers truly got as they passed their final pre-district test with flying colors against their old Big 8 rivals.

“I’m not going to nitpick too much after a 33-point win, but we have to take positive steps forward every single day. And this week was a little bit of a mixed bag,” Moser said. “We played like we practiced. Kind of inconsistent. I just wish we were a little sharper, but I can’t say we deserved to be after how the last few days went.

“Honestly? I think we took a lot of pats on the back for beating an 0-3 opponent (Dallas Center-Grimes) last Friday. It’s my job to make sure we keep things in perspective…that we have an edge, but we’re also aware of how far we still have to go. Don’t get me wrong: we did some nice things (last night). And we’re 3-1, which is where we wanted to be after (the opening loss to Webster City) after four weeks. Our preparation and execution has to be much more consistent, though.”

Sophomore quarterback Tru McBride threw for 184 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone as the Dodgers built a 26-0 lead by the intermission nd never looked back. Fort Dodge held its third consecutive opponent under 300 yards of total offense, had 10 tackles for loss and forced three turnovers.

The Dodgers did struggle some with their ground game, though — averaging less than four yards per carry — and coughed the ball up four times, including three via interception against an athletic Trojan defense that had only surrendered 63 total points the first three weeks.

“We were really solid defensively,” Moser said. “The offense was kind of hit and miss. We had some really nice plays, but started too slow.”

McBride wasn’t as accurate as he has been to date, but he still put up impressive numbers and found seven different receivers in the first half alone. Jamarius Gibbs-Green (51 yards), Royce Pederson (23) and Noah Daniel (25) all caught TD strikes from McBride before the intermission.

Albert Myrvold kicked a 32-yard field goal.

The FDSH defense bottled East up until the last two plays of the second quarter. Fifty-three of the Trojans’ 109 yards came on those two snaps, but the Dodgers stopped East two yards shy of the end zone to preserve the first-half shutout.

A sack by Jonathan Brown late in the opening quarter forced a fumble, which was scooped up by Will McElroy and led to the Myrvold field goal. Brown and Jayon Preston-Grady combined for another sack on the next Trojan possession, and Caiden Fraher later added a sack of his own.

The Dodgers went right back to work in the third quarter, as Daniel intercepted a pass and Gibbs-Green capped a run-heavy drive with a short TD to make it 33-0. Tayven Altman then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and McBride lofted a 16-yard scoring pass to Dalton Eckley to start the continuous clock with 7:28 left in the third period.

Eckley had four catches for 77 yards. Gibbs-Green rushed 21 times for 79 yards. Jayce Skow recorded a sack as well for the Dodgers.

Fort Dodge has now taken six consecutive decisions from East, scoring at least 36 points in every victory while allowing more than a single score only once. The rivalry, which dates back to 1932, now stands at 35-31 overall in favor of the Trojans.

Fort Dodge will hit the road to face defending Class 4A, District 1 champion Denison-Schleswig this Friday.

Glenwood defeated the Monarchs last night, 35-14.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Fort Dodge: Jamarius Gibbs-Green 21-79, Ezrah Barkhaus 13-49, Tru McBride 1-5. Waterloo East: Jah’Khi Parker 11-75, Josiah Spates 2-7, Isaac Lomas 1-6, Chris Pierce 4-6, Majik Holmes 2-(minus-1), George Tyler 2-(minus-4), Team 1-(minus-12).

Passing – Fort Dodge: Tru McBride 11-20-3-211. Waterloo East: Chris Pierce 11-20-109, Jah’Khi Parker 5-10-0-70.

Receiving – Fort Dodge: Dalton Eckley 4-77, Jamarius Gibbs-Green 1-51, Noah Daniel 1-25, Royce Pederson 1-23, Tytrell Mosley 2-22, Kyree Rochon 1-14, Cal Pederson 1-(minus-1). Waterloo East: Tariq Moore 2-52, Ke’Andre Owens 3-42, Gianni Gary 5-32, Jah’Khi Parker 1-22, Terrance Sayles 1-11, Isaac Lomas 3-11, Jayden Williams 1-9.