Iowa high school football roundup: Gazette area Week 9, Round of 32 playoff scores, stats and more

The naming of this week of the Iowa high school football season is where things might get confusing — Week 9 of the regular season for some teams, the first round of the playoffs for others.

The simple math is this: teams are battling for spots in the round of 16 in each of the seven classes.

You can find all the postseason information here.

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5A No. 6 Cedar Rapids Prairie 36, 5A No. 9 Linn-Mar 20

A 22-point cushion had melted to a mere two points.

Cedar Rapids Prairie needed to re-establish a line of scrimmage it had dominated so much early. It needed a productive drive.

The Hawks got it.

Class 5A sixth-ranked Prairie embarked on a 16-play scoring drive, eating 7 1/2 minutes and getting the Hawks out of danger. Prairie topped No. 9 Linn-Mar, 36-20, Friday night at Linn-Mar Stadium.

“When we’re on, we’re fun to watch,” Prairie Coach Mark Bliss said. “When we’re off, we’re ugly.”

Read more from Jeff Linder: Key drive helps Cedar Rapids Prairie hold off Linn-Mar

Cedar Rapids Washington 23, Pella 21

The numbers crunchers on the coaching staff believed postgame that their team was in the Class 4A playoffs.

Which turned out to officially be true about an hour and a half later. And quite a story these Cedar Rapids Washington Warriors wrote.

Watts McBride rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown, and Michael Blank had a game-clinching interception with 29 seconds left, as Washington outlasted Pella, 23-21, in a terrific prep football regular-season finale at Kingston Stadium.

Washington won its final three games to go 5-4 and create a three-way tie for second place behind Cedar Rapids Xavier in Class 4A District 4, with Pella and Clear Creek Amana. Washington beat Pella, which beat CCA, which beat Washington ...

Which brought the state’s RPI ratings into play as a tiebreaker. Clear Creek Amana ended with the higher of the three, thus gaining second place.

Washington still got into the playoffs as one of four ‘wildcard’ teams. Pella (4-5) was the odd team out all the way around.

Read more from Jeff Johnson: Cedar Rapids Washington holds off Pella to earn Class 4A playoff spot

1A playoffs: No. 3 Iowa City Regina 41, Cascade 19

Iowa City Regina just keeps winning.

The No. 3 Regals (9-0) continued their undefeated season and extended their active win streak to 20 games, defeating Cascade (4-5), 41-19, in a Class 1A first-round playoff matchup Friday night at home.

Regina holds the second longest active winning streak in Iowa, trailing just North Scott, which extended its streak to 21 Friday night.

“We’ve been there before, we were here in the middle of a 50-some win streak,” Regina Coach Jason Dumont said. “We really don’t talk about it. We tell the kids, ‘we’re zero-and-zero every week.’”

Read more from Ryan Pleggenkuhle: Iowa City Regina wins home playoff game, extends winning streak to 20

A playoffs: No. 4 Lisbon 30, Bellevue 27

With four seconds remaining and the ball at the Lisbon 17, Bellevue’s Cole Heim received the shotgun snap, and let it fly. As the ball sailed through the air, each sideline was keenly aware that its ultimate destination would decide the fate of two teams.

“Go to the ground or intercept it,” Lisbon Coach Phil Whitman said. “Knock it down.”

Whitman’s wish was granted. Kaden Caspers batted the ball down and sent the Lisbon sideline into a frenzy.

In a game that saw five lead changes, the last one belonged to Lisbon (8-1). The Class A No. 4 Lions hung on tight to beat Bellevue, 30-27, Friday night at Lisbon in a first-round Class A playoff game.

“It’s mind-boggling,” Lisbon running back Max Kohl said. “It’s an adrenaline rush. We couldn’t do it without the atmosphere we had tonight.”

Read more from Culley Kline: Bellevue takes Lisbon down to final play in Class A football playoff opener

A playoffs: No. 7 East Buchanan 44, Mason City Newman 29

East Buchanan clung to a one-point lead at halftime.

After the break, the Buccaneers clenched control and didn’t unleash.

Seventh-ranked East Buchanan erupted for 30 second-half points and rolled to a 44-29 Class A first-round football playoff victory over Mason City Newman Friday night at home. It was the first first-round playoff win in 13 years.

Coaches were slightly emotional after the marquee win.

“This was a program win,” East Buchanan Coach Jerry Alden said. “The kids played great.”

“It was just a great win.”

Read more from K.J. Pilcher: Second-half outburst helps East Buchanan pull away from Mason City Newman in first round of Class A football playoffs

5A No. 1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 33, Dubuque Hempstead 25

The Class 5A No. 1-ranked Cougars had just enough answers to deny the Mustangs a berth in the postseason with a victory on at Dalzell Field.

Jazan Williams ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns, and Carson Blietz threw for 139 yards with one passing and one rushing touchdown as Kennedy (9-0) became the only team in Class 5A to complete an undefeated regular season.

— Tim O’Neill, Dubuque Telegraph-Herald

2A playoffs: Monticello 41, Union Community 35

Sophomore quarterback Preston Ries rushed for 242 yards and three touchdowns, and passed for 262 yards and two more scores, as the Panthers (7-2) held on to win at home.

Union (3-6) got within six points with 40 seconds left, but Monticello recovered an onside kick attempt.

Monticello's Caleb Sauser had 13 catches for 212 yards and two scores. The Panthers had four interceptions, two by Tate Petersen.

Knights quarterback Grant Behrens had three rushing TDs and passed for 203 yards. Michael Niebergall had nine catches for 115 yards, and returned a Panther kickoff 88 yards for a score.

— Pete Temple, correspondent

8-Player playoffs: No. 6 Turkey Valley 54, Springville 14

Marcus Herold rushed for 123 yards and scored four touchdowns, and also had a 59-yard TD reception, as Trojans improved to 9-0.

Dylan Reicks added 127 rushing yards and one TD and Noah Hanson scored on a rush and a 49-yard punt return.

Luke Menster led the Orioles (4-5) with nine receptions for 122 yards and two TDs.

— Darin Svenson, correspondent

1A playoffs: West Branch 35, Cardinal 6

Carver Boelk scored three rushing touchdowns and Andy Henson rushed for 187 yards and two TDs at the Bears moved into the second round of the playoffs.

The Bears (7-2) took a 35-0 lead with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Griffin Greiner tallied 150 total yards for the Comets (5-4), including a 72-yard TD run with 3:33 left.

— Jason Miller, correspondent

3A No. 4 West Delaware 58, Charles City 14

Kyle Cole rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more, completing all nine of his passes, as the Hawks finished the regular season at 8-1.

Cole passed for 208 yards, connecting with Jaxson Woellert from 40 yards out and Will Ward from 32 for TDs. He scored on runs of 4, 37 and 8.

Wyatt Voelker rushed for 104 yards on 16 carries and scored on a 4-yard run. Will Halverson and Julio Weber also scored TDs for the Hawks, who had 463 yards of offense.

— Bill Logan, correspondent

3A No. 6 Independence 40, Center Point-Urbana 14

Marcus Beatty rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns and Mitchell Johnson passed for 184 and three scores as the Mustangs won in Center Point.

Brady McDonald caught three passes for 131 yards and two TDs and Sawyer Wendling also had three receptions for 61 yards.

Jarret Koppendryer passed for two TDS for the Stormin’ Pointers.

1A playoffs: No. 5 Sigourney-Keota 34, Durant 8

Cade Molyneux and Colten Clarahan both scored a pair of touchdowns as the Cobras rolled to a first-round playoff win.

The game was tight until Sigourney-Keota kicked its offense into gear and Karson Weber returned an interception 75 yards for a score.

Lineman Zack Smithart said Cobras do not get worried.

“We stay level-headed and do our job,” he said.

Molyneux finished with 150 rushing yards, Clarahan 110.

— Doug Brenneman, Southeast Iowa Union

4A No. 5 Waverly-Shell Rock 26, 4A No. 8 Decorah 7

Grant Halverson passed for two touchdowns as the Go-Hawks won at home.

WSR controlled the game in the first half, holding the Vikings to 29 total yards of offense. Asa Newsome scored on a 20-yard run and Halverson hit Simon Ott on a 21-yard pass with 2:15 left in the first quarter to make it 14-0.

Halverson hit Will Soesbe from 23 yards out in the second half.

Decorah’s lone score came in the fourth on a 2-yard pass from Keenan Tyler to Noah Storts. The Vikings finished with 104 yards of offense.

— Randy Iverson, correspondent

8-Player playoffs: No. 7 WACO 39, Edgewood-Colesburg 36

Junior Simeon Reichenbach hit a 28-yard field goal in the last 15 seconds as the seventh-ranked Warriors won an 8-player playoff opener.

Edgewood-Colesburg quarterback Cael Funk ran for four touchdowns and threw for one in the loss.

WACO moves on with a 9-0 record. Edgewood-Colesburg ends the year at 5-4.

— Andy Krutsinger, Southeast Iowa Union

2A playoffs: No. 10 North Fayette Valley 29, New Hampton 28

Taylor Luzum kicked a 32-yard field goal in the final three minutes and Bryce Elsbernd intercepted a pass to seal the playoff win.

5A No. 8 Iowa City High 63, Davenport Central 7 (Thursday)

City High’s no-huddle offense shredded Central all night and its defense never let the Devils get going in a 63-7 rout in the final regular-season game for both teams at Brady Street Stadium.

The Little Hawks, ranked eighth in Class 5A, rolled up more than 400 yards of offense while taking a 50-7 halftime lead and put the running clock into effect in the middle of the second quarter.

Central (3-6) finished with only 48 yards of total offense as it lost yardage on 16 of its 26 running plays.

The Little Hawks alternated two sophomore quarterbacks, and both of them were extremely efficient. Larson completed his first eight passes and finished 12 for 15 for 197 yards. Quinton Tran connected on his first 11 attempts, finishing 11 for 12 for 178 yards.

— Don Doxsie, Quad-City Times

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