Cedar Falls hands J-Hawks another drubbing

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Happy homecoming? Uh, no.Class 4A second-ranked Cedar Falls punished Cedar Rapids Jefferson from the start, rolling to a 48-7 win in a Mississippi Valley Conference football game Thursday night at Kingston Stadium.Barkley Hill rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns in just over two quarters of play, and the Tigers (4-0) scored on their first seven possessions."We respected Jefferson a great deal, and our players responded very well," said Cedar Falls Coach Pat Mitchell. "They played to a high level."This figured to be a mismatch. And it was, from the opening kickoff throughout the rest of the game.The J-Hawks (0-4) got off to a horrible start. A muffed kickoff. A procedure penalty. A fumbled handoff. Then a bad long snap from punt formation and an unfortunate scramble that ended at the Jefferson 1-yard line.Hill scored on the next play to put the Tigers in front, and another lopsided Jefferson loss was under way. The J-Hawks have been outscored, 188-29, in their four games.Jefferson receiver Alec Saunders was injured, perhaps seriously, after taking a hit while trying to catch a pass on the J-Hawks' second series. He was immobilized and carted off the field.J-Hawks Coach Jim Womochil said that Saunders suffered a bad concussion and will be kept overnight at Mercy Medical Center. Womochil said Saunders faced "potential abnormalities" in his neck and will see a neurologist Friday.Cedar Falls led 41-0 at halftime.A long punt return by James Harrington set up Hill's second touchdown, a 12-yarder in which three J-Hawks had opportunities to stop him behind the line of scrimmage.The Tigers went 92 yards in eight plays for their third score, a 17-yard pass from Jordan Doyle to Andrew Stone.Stone caught another TD aerial, a 40-yarder from Kyle Denning, then Hill broke loose for a 55-yard TD run to make it 35-0 early in the second quarter.Cedar Falls racked up 303 yards of first-half offense on only 19 plays from scrimmage."We've got to get better defensively," Womochil said.Alex Baxter scored Jefferson's first touchdown on a 25-yard quarterback keeper late in the third quarter. Baxter rushed for 102 yards and passed for 144."He's a good football player. He needs to become a great quarterback," Womochil said."We're awfully young. We've taken some lumps early, but I believe in this group of kids."A moment of silence was observed before the game to remember Jack Fisk, a former coach who led the J-Hawks to the state championship in 1972.