Little Hawks earn first win, 27-23

IOWA CITY — Iowa City High faced a gotta-score drive in a gotta-win game.

The Little Hawks delivered.

Michael Fredieu scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:34 remaining as City High tripped Cedar Rapids Prairie, 27-23, in a Class 4A District 6 football game Thursday night at Bates Field.

'I'm really proud of what we got done tonight,' said City Coach Dan Sabers. 'It's been a pretty tough last few weeks. We really challenged them this week.

City High (1-5 overall, 1-1 district) roared to a 21-6 halftime lead, then Prairie (3-3, 1-1) came back and took its first lead on Sam Drysdale's 47-yard field goal with 10:44 left.

The Hawks got it back with a chance to run clock with 6:03 left, but went three-and-out, opening the door for the Little Hawks' first win.

Starting at the Prairie 49, the Little Hawks marched to the end zone in five plays. A 20-yard run by quarterback Nate Wieland got City to the 3, then Fredieu did the rest.

Wieland ran for 193 yards and three first-half touchdowns.

'We came out with the right mindset,' he said. 'We executed all week and felt confident coming into tonight.

'It's been tough, but we stuck together, and tonight, it all came together.'

The Little Hawks by no means resembled a winless team before intermission, racking up a 21-6 lead.

'They came ready to play, and we didn't,' said Prairie Coach Mike Morrissey. 'They set a high intensity level, and we didn't match it. We didn't do much fundamentally correct, and when you add (four) turnovers, that's a recipe for disaster.'

City High marched on its first possession before fumbling it away in the red zone, then scored on its next two possessions for a 14-0 lead. Wieland did the honors with TD runs of 8 yards and 1 yard.

Prairie answered to get within 14-6 on Keagan Pinter's 1-yard TD sweep on fourth-and-goal. After a 15-yard penalty on the conversion attempt, Drysdale missed the PAT kick wide left.

The Hawks were poised to score again, moving to the City High 3. But Dakota Simonsen's pass to the end zone was picked off by Erick Fletcher and returned to the City 39.

Two plays later, Wieland got to the left corner and sprinted for a 57-yard touchdown.

The Hawks got their feet under themselves in a dominant third quarter, outgaining City 211-9 in the period and getting touchdowns from Connor Grade (28-yard pass from Dakota Simonsen) and Jojuan Simpson (7-yard run) to get within a point. Drysdale's long field goal completed the comeback, but City High had the final statement.

Simonsen started his second straight game, with Trey Beckman out with a concussion.

Pinter rushed for 167 yards for Prairie.

City High is at Burlington next week. Prairie is at Kingston Stadium, where it will face No. 2 Cedar Rapids Washington.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@sourcemedia.net