Brinkman breaks out for big game

EDDYVILLE – Iowa City Regina Coach Marv Cook has watched Jake Brinkman play since he competed in fifth-grade flag football.The Regals junior failed to surprise his coach with his latest performance.Brinkman scored four touchdowns leading top-ranked Regina to a 42-12 victory over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in a Class 1A District 6 clash of unbeaten teams Friday night at Ike Ryan Field. The Regals extended its win streak to 46 games, pulling within one win of a tie with West Des Moines Dowling (1966-71) and Anamosa (1937-45) for the state's third longest unbeaten streaks.Brinkman finished with 97 yards and three scores rushing. Cook expected the production with Brinkman in more of a feature role with Riley Dixon sidelined with a sprained ankle.“He's always been a great linebacker for us,” Cook said. “We've known he's always been a dynamic back. He can catch, run and block. He's got great vision when he's running.”Brinkman helped Regina (4-0) break open a game in the second quarter. After Drew Cook hit Payton Raso, who led Regina with 62 receiving yards on four catches, for a 29-yard completion, Brinkman capped the four-play, 46-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to put the Regals up 14-0 with 9:50 left in the first half.Brinkman wasted little time after he helped the Regals force the Rockets (3-1) to punt on a 3-and-out. He bounced round right end, turned the corner and rumbled 42 yards down the sideline, powering through a defender to fall into the end zone.“Adam Demory created a big hole and I saw a cut-back lane,” Brinkman said. “I was going as hard as I can. I saw a guy sprinting at me, and I just thought in my head while running, if I'm going full speed and he dives at my legs I'm going to get tackled. So I just lowered my shoulder and got the touchdown.”The offensive line, especially Demory, received much of the praise from Brinkman.“I can't thank those guys enough,” said Brinkman, adding that Demory is an offensive and defensive leader. “If we don't have a good offense, I don't get those touchdowns.”The Regals notched a continuous clock for the fourth straight week. Brinkman scored on a 2-yard run on the opening possession of the second half, giving Regina a 35-0 lead.EBF finally got in the end zone with 4:37 to play on a Hunter Johnston 1-yard plunge. Brinkman answered in a different way, returning a squibbed kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown, making it 42-6.It was the only thing that surprised Cook. Brinkman hasn't returned kicks much since his freshman season.“Again, nice blocking,” Brinkman said. “I ran hard and scored.”He was not a one-man show. Michael Adam rushed for 75 yards, including a 13-yard TD late in the first to give Regina a 7-0 lead. Drew Cook completed 12 of 14 passes for 154. He hit Bryan Amelon for a 21-yard TD with :25 left to go in the first half for a 28-0 advantage.The Rockets limited Regina to just one possession in the first quarter with an effective run game. They held the ball for 15 plays, including one that resulted in a running into the kicker penalty on 4th and 3 giving the Rockets a new set of downs, and advanced to the Regina 21 without scoring.They threatened a couple times, but only managed the one offensive touchdown. Cook said the Rockets were changing their attack with different plays and formations, trying to keep them off balanced. The Regals made the necessary adjustments.“We kept them out of the end zone until late,” Cooke said. “We are really pleased about that.”The Rockets' Cory Archer ended the scoring, returning a kickoff 90 yards for a score, immediately following Brinkman's run back. Cook said the score was not a good indicator of the competition.“”I think the score is misleading,” Cook said. “I felt they were a good football team, were well coached and played hard. They forced us to make plays. Fortunately, we made more big plays than they did.”

IC Regina 42, Eddyville-B-F 12

AT EDDYVILLE

TEAM STATISTICS

IC Regina

Eddyville-B-F

First downs

14

9

Rushes-yards

25 - 200

42 - 90

Passing yards

154

91

Comp-Att-Int

12 - 14 - 1

4 - 8 - 91

Total yards

354

181

Fumbles-lost

1 - 0

2 - 1

Punts-average

1 - 54.0

5 - 36.2

Penalties-yards

2 - 23

6 - 37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:  IC Regina – Jake Brinkman 7-97 , Michael Adam 5-75 , Drew Cook 2--2 , Nick Phillips 2--5 , Elliot Halsch 4-21 , Eric Bracken 4-11 , Team 1--2 , Cliff Wagner 1-5  Eddy-Blakebg – Cory Archer 12-51 , Treg Van Dorin 5-20 , Hunter Johnston 8-12 , Jeren Glosser 2-7 , Ty Jager 2-4 , Cody Brown 3-9 , Dillon Pigsley 8-1 , Team 1--9 , Blake Marolf 1--5

Passing:  IC Regina – Cook 12-14-1-154  Eddy-Blakebg – Pigsley 4-8-0-91

Receiving:  IC Regina – Payton Raso 4-62 , Bryan Amelon 1-21 , Adam 1-17 , Phillips 2-13 , Brinkman 2--3 , Thomas Nepola 1-44 , Halsch 1-0  Eddy-Blakebg – Marolf 2-41 , Jevin Jensen 1-36 , Van Dorin 1-14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

IC Regina

7

21

7

7

–

42

Eddyville-B-F

12

–

12

SCORING SUMMARY

ICR - M. Adam 13 run (Jacob Adam kick)

ICR - Brinkman 5 run (J. Adam kick)

ICR - Brinkman 42 run (J. Adam kick)

ICR - Amelon 21 pass from Cook (J. Adam kick)

ICR - Brinkman 2 run (J. Adam kick)

EBF - Johnston 1 run (rush failed)

ICR - Brinkman 75 kickoff return (J. Adam kick)

EBF - Archer 90 kickoff return (conversion failed)