Moa runs wild as Kennedy upsets No. 8 City High, 35-14

CEDAR RAPIDS – A night to remember for Miles Moa will give Metro football fans a night to remember next week.

The senior running back celebrated his birthday with 18 candles, 312 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns as Cedar Rapids Kennedy upset eighth-ranked Iowa City High, 35-14, on a blustery night at Kingston Stadium.

Speaking of venerable Kingston, that'll be the site of a Class 4A playoff double-header Wednesday night. Cedar Rapids Washington (6-3) plays Cedar Falls (6-3) at 5:30, with Kennedy (6-3) and Cedar Rapids Prairie (5-4) following at approximately 8. Quite a cool deal.

"We're excited to be back here. It's a great place to play, and our seniors talked before the game about the opportunity to come back. We knew if we didn't win tonight, we'd be on the road.'

Moa, his offensive line and Kennedy's defense made sure they weren't heading to the road. You could say the Cougars out-City Highed City High, playing physically and running the football at will.

Every one of the 367 yards Kennedy gained were on the ground, with quarterback Derek Jacobus attempting only three passes, none complete, unless you count his first-quarter interception. Jacobus still had a pair of touchdowns: a 31-yard run in the second quarter and a 45-yard return of an onside kick attempt in the fourth.

'We just played our game, ground and pound,' said Kennedy tackle Austin Holzer. 'We just don't care what opponent we go against, what game it is, we just do our thing. Play ball like that.'

Moa was an outstanding workhorse, carrying the ball 35 times and scoring touchdowns of 56 and 51 yards. The only thing that stopped him all night were cramps that came late in the fourth quarter and the back judge, who accidentally bumped into him on a third-quarter run that probably would have been a TD.

'I'm just thankful for such a great line,' Moa said. 'Without them, I wouldn't be able to do anything, wouldn't have been able to do what I did tonight. I just appreciate what they gave me.' Backup tailback Marcuso Foy took over for Moa after his calf cramps and finished off a fourth-quarter Cougars drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.

'The thing I really liked about it is we lost a heartbreaker last week to (Dubuque) Hempstead, and we all thought we should have won that game,' Lewis said. 'We always tell the kids on Saturday mornings to just flush it and move on. That was a bitter one, and it took us awhile to move on. But I was really pleased with the way our kids came out tonight. We had a great week of practice despite some of the elements we had to deal with, and it really showed tonight.'

City High (7-2), meanwhile, has to unexpectedly pick up the pieces quickly. The Little Hawks saw their seven-game win streak snapped, held to just 32 yards rushing and 158 yards overall.

Xavier Washpun, the Mississippi Valley Conference's rushing champ, had 75 yards and a TD on 17 carries, less than half his 184-yard per-game average.

'Kennedy is a good ballclub,' City High Coach Dan Sabers said. 'They have good people, Coach Lewis has been around this league and knows how to go out and win football games."

"They've played us tough, played us tough last year ... I just think they were the better team tonight. They were focused and got after us.'

If you're looking for City High bright spots, kicker Drew Cornwell made two extra points to tie the state record for career kicking points. And the Little Hawks still will host a 4A playoff game Wednesday night.

'This is why you play athletics,' Sabers said. 'If you don't like this part of athletics, then you shouldn't sign up. How do you respond after something like this happens to you?'

Here is the game boxscore:

CR Kennedy 35, IC City High 14

AT KINGSTON STADIUM

TEAM STATISTICS

IC City High

CR Kennedy

First downs

9

17

Rushes-yards

33 - 32

51 - 367

Passing yards

126

Comp-Att-Int

7 - 14 - 0

0 - 3 - 1

Total yards

158

367

Fumbles-lost

0 - 0

0 - 0

Punts-average

5 - 42.8

1 - 10.0

Penalties-yards

4 - 23

3 - 25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:  IC City High – Xavier Washpun 17-75 , Dejuan McKenny 2-2 , Kevin Buell 2-1 , Bryson Runge 2--6 , Mitch Wieland 9--31  CR Kennedy – Miles Moa 35-312 , Marcuso Foy 4-33 , Derek Jacobus 4-28 , Terrence Hall 1-2 , Jay Blank 2--2 , Famiek Cook 1--4 , Team 4--6

Passing:  IC City High – Mitch Wieland 7-14-0-126  CR Kennedy – Derek Jacobus 0-3-1-0

Receiving:  IC City High – Jake Leohr 2-75 , Jason Jones 4-31 , Xavier Washpun 1-20  CR Kennedy –

SCORE BY QUARTERS

IC City High

7

7

–

14

CR Kennedy

7

7

7

14

–

35

SCORING SUMMARY

CRK-Miles Moa 56 run (Mark Schulz kick)

CRK-Derek Jacobus 31 run (Schulz kick)

ICH-Jason Jones 9 pass from Mitch Wieland (Drew Cornwell kick)

CRK-Moa 51 run (Schulz kick)

CRK-Marcuso Foy 3 run (Schulz kick)

ICH-Xavier Washpun 4 run (Cornwell kick)

CRK-Jacobus 45 kickoff return (Schulz kick)