Regina goes back to back in Class 2A

CEDAR FALLS - Twenty-eight straight was fate.

Though Iowa City Regina admits Saturday's 24-20 win over spirited Spirit Lake in the Class 2A state championship game at the UNI-Dome was probably its toughest during this regal Regal two-year run of football.

Regina (14-0) trailed, perish the thought, by a 10-0 margin after the first quarter and 10-3 at halftime.  But the Regals regrouped, recharged and repeated.

"Last year, we had some great football players, and they really had high expectations," said Regina Coach Marv Cook. "This year, we thought we we had some great football players, too. They've been playing together a long, long time, and they've represented Regina very well."

"There are similarities and differences," said Regina quarterback Nate Streb. "It's really a lot more emotional as a senior, just because it's your last time around."

Regina was so dominant in its first dozen games this season, the continuous clock went into affect in all of them. That comes, of course, with a lead of 35 points or more.

The Regals built a big lead on Dyersville Beckman in Monday's semifinals and hung on for a seven-point win. This time, a rally was actually required.

It was Regina's closest margin of victory during its 28-game win streak. Over the past two season, it still outscored its opponents by an average of 38 points.

Pretty incredible.

"Last week, we were stressed, no doubt," said Regina's Jacob Vollstedt. "But this was definitely a tough game. This one and the Solon game last year (a 21-15 victory). I'd say this one still trumps it."

The game turned on a pair of big plays early in the second half, neither one of them offensive. Ben Keating blocked a Paul Brown punt deep in Spirit Lake territory, with Jake Lehman picking it up and running it to the Indians 5. Vollstedt slammed over from 3 yards out two plays later to tie things at 10-10.

Cornerback George Sehl intercepted an overthrown Brown pass over the middle on the ensuing possession, leading to a Joe McCaffery 6-yard TD run and Regina's first lead. After a three-and-out by Spirit Lake, Sehl used every inch of his 6-foot-3 frame to jump over a smaller Spirit Lake defensive back on a long jump-ball pass that turned into a 49-yard touchdown and 24-10 Regals lead.

"I bet we ran that play 10 times this season," Sehl said. "It worked most of the time. Nate threw a great ball, I just went up and got it."

Spirit Lake (13-1) got within 24-17 with a TD in the final minute of the third quarter but had to settle for a short field goal after driving to the Regina 1 midway through the fourth quarter. The Regals took possession at their 24 with 5:55 to go and ran the ball effectively for the first time all day, running out the clock in the process.

Other than a pair of passes, every play was a smashmouth run up the middle by Vollstedt. With a minute and a half left, he bulled his way for 3 yards on a 4th-and-1 carry from the Spirit Lake 22 to seal the deal.

"I wanted the ball," he said. "I knew we could get three to four yards every play. They knew exactly what we were running, but we were going to keep running it and pound it down their throat."

Here is the game boxscore and a short video of Vollstedt's game-clinching run:

TEAM STATISTICS

IC Regina

Spirit Lake

First downs

14

18

Rushes-yards

45 - 141

38 - 102

Passing yards

160

220

Comp-Att-Int

10 - 15 - 1

14 - 28 - 1

Total yards

301

322

Fumbles-lost

1 - 1

0 - 0

Punts-average

4 - 33.0

5 - 32.8

Penalties-yards

6 - 57

2 - 15

Rushing:

 IC Regina –

Jacob Vollstedt 26-80 ,

Joe McCaffery 13-39 ,

Nate Streb 5-23 ,

Team 1--1

 Spirit Lake –

Luke Kabele 26-77 ,

Rick Maris 8-24 ,

Bryson McCabe 1-1 ,

Paul Brown 3-0

Passing:

 IC Regina –

Nate Streb 10-15-1-160

 Spirit Lake –

Paul Brown 13-27-1-201 ,

Adam Dau 1-1-0-1

Receiving:

 IC Regina –

Alex Balke 3-41 ,

George Sehl 2-62 ,

Chris Nepola 2-34 ,

Joe McCaffery 2-23

 Spirit Lake –

Zack Herrig 5-125 ,

Bryson McCabe 4-59 ,

Rick Maris 3-34 ,

Luke Kabele 1-2

IC Regina

3

21

–

24

Spirit Lake

10

7

3

–

20

SL-Brett Cochran-Bray 30 FG

SL-Rick Maris 19 pass from Adam Dau (Cochran-Bray kick)

ICR-Nick Dolezal 43 FG

ICR-Jacob Vollstedt 3 run (Dolezal kick)

ICR-Joe McCaffery 6 run (Dolezal kick)

ICR-George Sehl 49 pass from Nate Streb (Dolezal kick)

SL-Zack Herrig 22 pass from Paul Brown (Cochran-Bray kick)

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SL-Cochran-Bray 22 FG