WEBSTER CITY – Only 12 of the 56 Class 3A football teams in the state of Iowa made it out of Week 3 unscathed, and two of them will meet tonight at Lynx Field.

Unbeaten versus unbeaten. Strength on strength.

Which team will blink first?

Seventh-ranked Webster City (3-0, 1-0) will welcome surprising Algona (3-0, 1-0) to town for the Homecoming festivities. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Tonight’s winner will earn a leg up in District 2. Quite frankly, it’s a position the Lynx expected themselves to be in at this point in the season. Not many people would have said the same thing about the Bulldogs back in early August.

While WCHS has reached the playoffs the last seven years, Algona hasn’t been there since 2008, which was the last time it produced a winning record. The Bulldogs compiled a mark of 9-45 from 2009-14, including a 1-8 trek a season ago.

But here they are, ready to prove their perfect 2015 resume is no fluke.

“They’ve got a good (offensive) system … it’s been dang good against the three teams (Forest City, Estherville-Lincoln Center and Greene County) that they’ve played,” WCHS head coach Bob Howard said.

Which team finds the most success on the ground could very well determine the winner. Algona (1,000 yards) leads the district in rushing yards, while WCHS (852) sits right behind in second. Six of the top nine rushers in the district will be on the field.

Fitting enough, they rank next to last and last in the district in passing yards.

Algona brings three capable ball carriers into the fold and a beefy, physical line that is led by guard Cole Banwart, a 6-foot-5, 280-pound senior who has accepted a scholarship offer from Iowa.

Halfback Noah Arrowood (387 yards, 7 touchdowns) averages 7.0 yards per carry, and fullbacks Grant Carroll (251 yards, 2 TD’s) and Noah Murphy (180 yards, 2 TD’s) average 8.7 and 4.9 per tote, respectively.

Stopping the Bulldogs’ wing-t scheme won’t be easy, but it’s a challenge that WCHS accepts. Algona may pick up 333 yards rushing per game, but the Lynx have allowed just 141 on average in their opening three games.

Lynx defensive tackles Cooper Lawson and James Cherry have been run stuffers, and linebacker Victor Jergens showed in last week’s win over Carroll that he can cover plenty of ground while pursuing the ball.

“They’re very physical and they have good backs, so this is a challenge,” Howard said. “But we think we’re pretty physical up front (on defense), and we have a pretty good front seven or eight.

“We’re going to see who is going to run the ball the best.”

WCHS ran the ball for 260 yards in last year’s 63-7 shellacking of Algona in a game in which the Bulldogs turned the ball over five times.

The Lynx three-pronged rushing attack of Gavin Dinsdale (381 yards), Avery Fuhs (262 yards) and Payton Kannuan (234 yards) will be what Algona will attempt to contain. Expect the visitors to key on Dinsdale, which could leave Fuhs and Kannuan free to chew up real estate in chunks.

Homecoming week proved to be a hindrance for WCHS a season ago when it laid an egg in a 17-14 loss to Greene County. Could that happen again? Howard doesn’t think so.

“I think the kids are fine and the senior leadership has been really good this year,” he said. “I think they’re ready.”