Washpun crosses 1,000-yard mark, City High runs over Dubuque Senior

DUBUQUE --- It's no accident Xavier Washpun leads the Mississippi Valley Conference in rushing.

A 5-foot-10, 200-pound moving ball of energy, Iowa City High climbed on Washpun's back and rode him into next week's critical Battle for the Boot full of confidence — and in first place in the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division.

Washpun unofficially become the league's first back over the 1,000-yard mark with 158 yards on Friday night in the Little Hawks' 44-14 victory over Dubuque Senior at Dalzell Field.

'I was just reading my lineman's blocks and keep doing my job, running my feet and breaking tackles,' Washpun said. 'It was just revenge time. They kind of ruined our homecoming so we wanted to come out here and do the same thing, put some points on the board and keep their offense off the field so they couldn't score.'

Washpun entered the game with 890 rushing yards — 124 yards more than the MVC's second leading rusher. He staked City High to a 16-0 halftime lead after touchdown runs of 13 and 6 yards.

'It's just a tremendous advantage,' City High coach Dan Sabers said. 'How many times did Senior have a player that could make a play, but he's just so tough that it's hard to defend that. How do you defend that? You've got a guy there, it's just hard to tackle him. That's a tremendous advantage.'

City High came in with a little extra motivation after Senior ruined the Little Hawks' homecoming with a 21-0 victory last season in Iowa City. This season, it was City High spoiling the Rams' homecoming.

'I didn't bring it up once, I swear to you,' Sabers said. 'We're about this year and this team and we know we've got kind of a fine line: We have to get out and execute to have the kind of success that we do and that's been our focus.'

The Little Hawks (5-1, 4-0) opened the scoring with a sack of Rams quarterback Austin Clemens in the end zone for a safety.

Senior couldn't muster much offensively and totaled minus-15 yards on its first two possessions. The first half overall wasn't much better as the Rams went to the break with just 69 yards of offense.

Senior crossed the 50 just once in the opening half, but that drive ultimately ran out of steam when quarterback Lee Bonifas' fourth-down pass fell incomplete in the end zone.

Senior went three-and-out on its opening possession of the second half and Washpun returned the punt 39 yards. Wieland connected with Cory Lindsey two plays later for a 32-yard TD and a 23-0 lead.

The Little Hawks got a scare when Washpun went down with an apparent leg injury in the third quarter. He limped off with assistance from medical personnel before returning on the next possession. He said after the game he was fine.

In the meantime, Senior took advantage of good field position and Bonifas scored on a 52-yard run.

The Little Hawks answered right back, though, and built a 30-7 lead on Jake Leohr's 23-yard TD run.

Sparked by the emergence of Bonifas, the Rams drove right back downfield and Parker Hammel scored on a 15-yard run with 8:21 to play.

Washpun scored his third TD of the game on the ensuing drive, a 25-yard scamper. Dejuan McKenny closed out the scoring with a 31-yard run with 1:20 to play.

Next week's showdown in Iowa City looms large for the Little Hawks and crosstown rival, Iowa City West. Both teams are undefeated in the division, and beyond being a rivalry game it will likely decide who wins the Mississippi Division.

'We feel the same as any week. We just want to come out and win; do our jobs and execute and try to get the boot back,' Washpun said.