Cedar Rapids Kennedy racks up 50 points at Muscatine: Week 1 prep football roundup

Cedar Rapids Kennedy had about every advantage possible over Muscatine: experience, size, strength, athleticism and roster size.

It showed Friday night as Kennedy pounded Muscatine on the road, 50-6, in its season opener.

'We didn't match them physically at all,' Muscatine Coach Jake Mueller said. 'That was disappointing. That was the No. 1 thing they had over us. I was disappointed in a lot of areas.'

The Cougars committed seven penalties on the night, but that was about the only flaw in an otherwise promising season opener. They jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first six minutes, and when their starters played they were dominant.

Kennedy led 43-0 at halftime and allowed the Muskies to pick up just one first down in the half.

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Senior quarterback B.J. White was efficient when he was in, completing 9 of 10 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns in just over two quarters of action. He also rushed for a 12-yard touchdown on his lone rush of the night.

Sam Harrison was his top target, catching four passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Cairron Hendred rushed 10 times for 61 yards and a touchdown and Marco Shanklin scored on a 43-yard punt return,

The Kennedy defense limited Muscatine to less than 100 yards of total offense,

— Evan Riggs, Muscatine Journal

PLEASANT VALLEY 41, CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 20 — Junior Max Slavens connected with Grant Sexson for two long touchdown passes in the opening quarter as Pleasant Valley cruised to a 41-20 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson in the season opener at Spartan Stadium.

Slavens was making his varsity debut under center and finished with more than 140 yards passing.

Jefferson trailed 24-0 before it got on the board late in the second quarter.

Noah Vawter hit Kyler Bell for a 65-yard touchdown pass. James Baugh had a 77-yard scoring run for the J-Hawks in the third quarter.

DECORAH 31, NORTH FAYETTE VALLEY 6 — Jake Muhlbauer ran for a pair of touchdowns as Decorah downed North Fayette Valley in West Union in a non-district game, recording its first season-opening win since 2013.

Muhlbauer scored on runs of 62 and 49 yards.

Brannan Hogan and Kailor McCabe also scored for the Vikings.

North Fayette Valley's lone score came on a 59-yard pass from Brooks Hovden to Dylan Muggler in the 3rd quarter

— Darin Svenson, correspondent

WEST DELAWARE 37, INDEPENDENCE 0 — Junior quarterback Nick Casey passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another score in his varsity debut as the Hawks rolled to a season-opening win at home.

Casey completed 19 of 27 passes, including 14- and 5-yard TD passes to Tyler Kelley. He also connected with Cabryn Cook on a 56-yard score.

Kelley had seven catches for 89 yards and Mitch Mangold caught seven passes for 69.

Jordan Bries also scored for the Hawks on a 2-yard run.

— Bill Logan, correspondent

WEST BRANCH 35, WEST LIBERTY 20 — Beau Cornwell passed for three touchdowns and Tanner Lukavsky rushed for another as the host Bears scored a season-opening victory over West Liberty.

With the score 28-20 after three quarters, Lukavsky, a sophomore, rushed right down the middle of the defense for a 60-yard score to seal the deal.

'I'm pleased with this effort,' West Branch Coach Butch Pedersen said. 'Not many people predicted us to win this. But our kids played with a lot of heart and effort and that's what won the game tonight.'

— Jason Miller, correspondent

NORTH LINN 21, NORTH TAMA 6 — Brad Miller rushed for 257 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries as North Linn won in Traer.

ELKADER CENTRAL 50, EASTON VALLEY 16 — Elkader Central quarterback Max Wingert rushed for 221 yards and five touchdowns and passed for another score as the Warriors rolled at home.

MONTICELLO 42, ANAMOSA 41 — Max Keleher rushed 23 times for 214 yards and scored the game-winning two-point conversion with 2:34 to play as host Monticello edged Anamosa.

Jacob Manternach completed 11 of 14 passes for 312 yards, including six to Gavin Cooper for 220 yards.

For Anamosa, Matthew Walton completed 13 of 19 passes for 294 yards. Zac McLean caught seven of those for 124 yards.

— Pete Temple, correspondent

WESTERN DUBUQUE 12, DUBUQUE WAHLERT 10 — Drake George ran for a 91-yard touchdown and Nathan Armstrong kicked field goals of 27 and 22 yards as the Bobcats held off the Golden Eagles in their season opener at Buchman Field in Epworth.

George finished the game with 93 rushing yards on 16 carries. Quinn Baumhover completed 16 of 28 passes for 177 yards in his first start at quarterback for Western Dubuque (1-0). Drake George caught seven passes for 83 yards.

Bryce Osterberger threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Dan McDermott and Joe Friend kicked a 28-yard field goal for Wahlert (0-1). Kolton Bartow ran for a game-high 111 yards for Wahlert.

— Tim O'Neill, Dubuque Telegraph-Herald