West-City High battle lived up to name

IOWA CITY - On a wet and muggy Friday night, two rivals took the field for a dogfight.

The two teams, West and City. The sport, football. The game, the Battle of the Boot.

After two delays due to lightning and rain, the third time was the charm, as the two teams finally picked up the game again at 9:30 p.m., two hours after the scheduled start time.

Within minutes of resuming play, the field already was beaten up. Holes everywhere, pools of water on the sidelines and the red and green jerseys of the two teams eventually turned to a dark brown by the mud.

These markings of dirt on both teams' jerseys marked the gritty and tough game that it was. The game was fueled by defense and conservative offense play.

City High defeated the Trojans, 14-12.

Before the first delay, Trojans cornerback Bryson Adcock dropped what could have been an interception for a touchdown. Although this was a let down for the Trojans, they kept their heads up and focused.

Both teams were unable to throw the ball effectively down the field due to the wet conditions, but the running game wasn't great either.

West quarterback Alex Henderson passed for 134 yards with a 50 percent completion percentage. He hooked up with his main receivers - Oliver Martin and Devonate Lane - throughout most of the game. Martin had 60 yards receiving, and Lane had 59 and a touchdown.

Lane's touchdown catch did not come from the right arm of Henderson, but Martin, his fellow receiver, on a trick play Coach Hartwig called twice. Henderson handed the ball off to Martin on a jet sweep, who then threw it to Lane in the back of the end zone.

The Trojans followed this up by attempting a two-point conversion. The attempted pass was broken up by City High, making the score 7-6.

City connected for the first points of the game soon after the rain delay ended, and they didn't lose the lead after that. City quarterback Nate Wieland passed for 148 yards and a touchdown, but this wasn't the game to look at statistics, as both teams played sloppily as the result of the weather.

The game was won by pure determination, and it seemed both teams equally wanted the coveted boot. However, a few lucky breaks went to the Little Hawks and ended up deciding the game.

Both teams turned the ball over multiple times, so there wasn't a pure advantage in that category.

West was eerily close to coming back as they converted on fourth down multiple times to get within two points of the Little Hawks, and then recovered the ensuing onside kick.

The Trojans were unable to follow up on these breaks, and City High picked off Henderson to wrap up the game.

With the win, City High made it eight straight victories at home in this rivalry.

The Battle of the Boot was a fitting name for Friday night, it was a true battle of wills. It was a game both teams and schools, regardless of the score, will remember for years to come.

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