Davenport Central’s early flurry helps topple Iowa City High in key district game

IOWA CITY — The prevailing thought going in was the winner of this game would eventually qualify for the Class 4A state football playoffs.

So go ahead and pencil in Davenport Central. You can probably just get out a great big ol' Sharpie and pen in the Blue Devils.

It was quite a statement they made Friday night, scoring 28 points in the first quarter and overwhelming and outscoring Iowa City High, 63-28, at Bates Field.

'We sent a statement,' said Central running back Jatoviay Hill. 'Winning this game sends a lot of statements for the next two weeks. That's the (main) thing right now, winning.'

Fresh off an amazing 407-yard, five-touchdown rushing performance (in one half, no less) against Davenport North a week ago, Hill finished 'only' with 218 yards and four TDs here. He had three first-half touchdowns as his team built a 35-8 halftime lead.

'I've got to stay humble. That's the first thing. Stay humble,' Hill said. 'I've just got to help my team win.'

Central moved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in District 7. City High is 2-4, 1-1.

The overwhelming district favorite remains No. 4-ranked Bettendorf, which has yet to play either of these clubs. The rest of the district consists of North, Clinton (which City High beat last week) and Muscatine.

This game must have set some sort of record for most touchdowns in the shortest amount of time. That would be four in 51 seconds early in the first quarter.

Brendan Gogulich hauled in a 19-yard TD pass from quarterback Adin DeLaRosa to put Central on the board just 3:06 in. City High star Zach Jones began running back the ensuing kickoff, found no room, retreated and ended up fumbling into the end zone, with Central's Quentin McDonald recovering for a touchdown 10 seconds later.

Jones immediately atoned by catching a short pass on the sideline from quarterback Bryce Hunger, breaking a tackle and sprinting 65 yards for a City High TD 29 seconds after that. City High's ensuing kickoff went out of bounds at the Central 48, and Hill countered on the next play with a 52-yard touchdown run.

Did you get all that?

'Well, we sure helped them to start the game, didn't we?' said City High Coach Dan Sabers. 'There's no question about that. It's a little bit of just who we are. We have breakdowns that really hurt us. We just can't seem to overcome that.'

Hill also scored from five yards out late in the first quarter and two yards out early in the second. Central scored on a fake-punt run to begin the third quarter.

To stick with that first-quarter flurry theme, City High came right back to score a touchdown on a 56-yard pass from Hunger to Jones just 18 seconds later. The teams combined for three more TDs in a span of just 27 seconds later in the third, including back-to-back kickoff returns for score (City High's Jones from 93 yards and Central's Chris Murphy from 85).

Jones finished with 12 catches for 195 yards and three total touchdowns.

'He's tough, isn't he?' Sabers said. 'He's the same kid we've always known. You put him in situations, and he'll compete. Competitors never give up, never quit. And that's what Zach does for us.'

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