Iowa high school football roundup: Week 6 scores, stats and more

Gazette area scores, stats and more from Week 6 of the 2022 Iowa high school football season.

4A No. 10 Cedar Rapids Washington 27, Clear Creek Amana 24

This game went off the rails somewhere along the line. Totally and completely off the rails.

To be specific, it began after Cedar Rapids Washington scored a touchdown early in the third quarter to take what appeared to an insurmountable 21-0 lead.

What followed was ... kinda bonkers.

An ensuing kickoff out of bounds. A backup sophomore quarterback leading Clear Creek Amana up and down the field suddenly, after his team could do very little offensively to that point.

Penalties, were those mentioned? Tons and tons of penalties, several of the unsportsmanlike conduct variety.

When this thing was finally over, Washington held on for a 27-24 victory. Somehow.

“An ugly win is better than a pretty loss,” Washington Coach Maurice Blue said.

“That hits the nail on the head,” said Washington’s Watts McBride. “I think we showed some really good things. If we clean up those mistakes, we could be a really good football team.”

McBride had 147 yards rushing, including back-to-back 5-yard runs with two minutes left to finally salt the game away for Washington (3-3, 1-1 in Class 4A, District 4). He had his team’s first three touchdowns (on runs of 11, 10 and 39 yards, respectively) and added a 2-point conversion run.

It was an out-of-the-blue 85-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Malik Epps-Keller to Montarious Beard late in the third quarter that restored some Warriors order after Clear Creek Amana (3-3, 1-1) rallied for a pair of TDs to make it a 21-14 game.

McBride was tackled in the end zone after Washington stopped a fourth-and-goal CCA run inside the 1 for a safety that made it a 27-16 game. Cale Berry’s 3-yard touchdown run and 2-point pass to Marcus Lang made it 27-24 with 2:10 left.

Washington recovered an onside kick from the Clippers, who had just one timeout left. The McBride first down ended the game.

Sophomore Berry came on in relief of injured starter Jackson Schmidt and had 136 combined yards rushing and passing.

— Jeff Johnson

5A No. 3 Southeast Polk 49, Linn-Mar 27

Running back Abu Sama scored four times while quarterback Connor Moberly threw for three scores and ran for another as the Rams (5-1) dominated from start to finish, racking up nearly 500 yards of total offense. Moberly connected on 15 of 19 passes for 236 yards. Both Sama and Harrison Gibson rushed for more than 100 yards behind a line led by five-star Iowa commit Kadyn Proctor.

“That's a state-championship caliber team,” said Linn-Mar Coach Tim Lovell. “They are at a level that we want to achieve. We simply couldn't get off the field defensively and that put us in a bind.”

Southeast Polk scored on seven of its first eight offensive drives. Ironically, the only time it failed to score came when Proctor, who was in the fullback position, fumbled just short of the goal line and Linn-Mar recovered.

The Lions (3-3) had many positives in the game. After Moberly scored on the opening drive, Linn-Mar answered with a 5-yard run from senior Carter Henderson to tie the score. Sama then scored on two short runs, pushing the Rams’ lead to 21-7.

“Obviously, we wanted to start a little faster,” Lovell said. “Even though we got down, this was a test of our physical and mental resilience.”

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Mike Condon

5A No. 7 Cedar Rapids Prairie 45, Waterloo West 14

The opening drive was indicative of the entire game.

Cedar Rapids Prairie marched down the field with relative ease, covering 85 yards in 10 plays. The Hawks capped the possession with a touchdown run.

No. 7 Prairie’s punishing style racked up 362 rushing yards, including 180 from Makelle Taylor, and 28 first downs as the Hawks rolled over Waterloo West, 45-14, in a Class 5A high school football game Friday night at John Wall Field. Taylor finished with three of the Hawks’ five touchdowns on the ground.

Ground and pound was part of the game plan, according to Taylor.

“Shout out to my line,” Taylor said. “They had blocks and allowed me to use my vision, break tackles and see the end zone.”

» Read more from The Gazette’s K.J. Pilcher

4A No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock 42, Marion 7

Marion hung tough early, but it was diminishing returns as the game wore on.

Class 4A second-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock’s big front lines and big backs wore down the Wolves on their way to a 42-7 win Friday night at Thomas Park.

There was star power on both sidelines. Iowa commit Alex Mota left his mark on both sides of the ball for Marion (2-4, 0-2). Power Five recruit Asa Newsom did the same for Waverly-Shell Rock (6-0, 2-0), but the Go Hawks’ size was too much.

“We just kept pushing, kept going,” Newsom said. “That’s kind of the motto this year. Just continue to swing the ax. Eventually the tree is gonna fall.”

Waverly-Shell Rock finished with 353 yards on the ground, 126 of them coming from McCrae Hagerty. Newsom piled up 163 yards of total offense on just eight touches.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Culley Kline

Ottumwa 54, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 6

The Ottumwa Bulldogs run a crafty option attack.

And Friday night, options were aplenty.

Three different backs crossed the 100-yard plateau, and Ottumwa crunched Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 54-6, in a Class 5A football game at Kingston Stadium.

The Bulldogs (3-3) accumulated 542 yards of offense, including 485 on the ground, and averaged 13.9 yards in their 39 plays from scrimmage.

Quarterback Tanner Schark scored on keepers of 64 and 60 yards and netted 141 yards on just four carries.

Koby Chanthalavanh added 133 yards on nine carries; Abaya Selema tallied 121 yards on eight attempts.

» Read more from The Gazette’s Jeff Linder

1A No. 3 West Branch 49, 1A No. 7 Durant 13

Andy Henson rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns as Class 1A third-ranked West Branch whipped No. 7 Durant, 49-13, Friday in Durant.

The Bears defense held the state's leading rusher, Nolan DeLong, to 105 yards on 21 carries, 73 of which came on his final carry. DeLong passed for one TD and his last carry was the other.

Tye Hughes passed for 136 yards and a TD for West Branch. Jack McCullough hauled in that TD, from 36 yards out.

West Branch (6-0) will return home to face Iowa City Regina next week.

— Jason Miller

4A No. 7 Iowa City Liberty 68, Mount Pleasant 6

Quarterback Graham Beckman and the Lightning offense couldn’t be stopped.

Liberty led 33-0 after one period, thanks to five passing touchdowns. It was 47-0 at halftime, as Liberty scored on six passing touchdowns and a pick-6.

— Andy Krutsinger, Southeast Iowa Union

Western Dubuque 38, Decorah 22

Grant Glauser scored four touchdowns on runs of 46, 9, 7 and 35 yards as the Bobcats won on the road.

Western Dubuque was up 17-3 at halftime, but the Vikings cut the lead to seven points in the third when quarterback Brady Stille scored back-to-back TDs.

Bobcat receiver Caleb Klein then scored on a 53-yard pass from freshman quarterback Brett Harris and Glauser added his fourth TD to seal the win.

— Randy Iverson

3A No. 8 Independence 21, 3A No. 10 Hampton-Dumont-CAL 7

Mitchell Johnson passed for 133 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 158 and another score as the Mustangs won on the road.

Johnson completed 15 of 27 passes, three for 60 yards and a TD to Brady Kurt.

— Matt Shannon

West Delaware 53, South Tama 9

Will Ward rushed for 128 yards and scored three touchdowns on 16 carries as West Delawre rolled to an easy road win.

The Hawks totaled 431 rushing yards.

Brent Yankovic added 110 yards and two TDs on eight carries and Logan Peyton had two TDs and 91 yards on six carries. Julio Weber also scored a rushing TD for West Delaware.

— Bill Logan

Anamosa 35, Tipton 13

Kale Nebergall rushed for three touchdowns as the Raiders rolled on the road.

Nebergall totaled 86 yards on 25 rushes and quarterback Devin Brophy added another 89 yards on 18 carries and a TD. Brophy also completed 10 of 21 passes for 102 yards, hitting Angelo Cudahy on a 14-yard TD.

Tipton quarterback Ian Spangler completed 15 of 30 passes for 181 yards.

— Daryl Schepanski

Cedar Falls 23, 5A No. 5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 16

The Cougars’ undefeated march ended abruptly at the UNI-Dome.

Kennedy was outplayed on both sides of the ball by a feisty Tiger squad and fell to 5-1.

The Cougars’ night began poorly, and things went south from there. Quarterback Vincenzo Gianforte’s second pass on the opening drive was tipped, intercepted and returned to the Kennedy 9. Two plays later, Drake Gelhaus ran in the first of his three first-half scores and the Tigers were off and running.

Cedar Falls, which improved to 4-2, was led by Gelhaus’ 184 yards rushing.

— Sean Hylton, Waterloo Courier

Monticello 48, Camanche 12

The passing combination of Preston Ries to Tate Petersen accounted for 205 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers (4-2, 3-0) won their homecoming game.

In all, Ries completed 22 of 27 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns.

Leading 7-6 early in the first quarter, Monticello scored 31 unanswered points to take a 38-6 lead midway through the third quarter.

Quarterback Bryce Barkley had touchdown passes of 73 yards to Joshua Wiersema and 41 yards to Garrett Schultz for Camanche (2-4, 1-2).

— Pete Temple

Waukon 28, 2A No. 7 Dubuque Wahlert 6

Waukon used a methodical offense to churn up yardage and melt precious minutes off the clock, establishing itself as the Class 2A District 4 favorite.

Noah Hatlan ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as Waukon knocked off Wahlert at the Rock Bowl. Hatlan threw for 173 yards and ran for 80 as the Indians improved to 3-3 overall, 3-0 in 2A District 4.

— Tim O’Neill, Dubuque Telegraph Herald

A No. 10 Wapsie Valley 48, South Winneshiek 24

Traeton Sauerbrei rushed for 217 yards and three touchdowns in a battle of the Warriors.

Braden Knight added 154 rushing yards and three more TDs for the Wapsie Valley Warriors.

The South Winneshiek Warriors were led by Parker Timp with 139 rushing yards and a TD. Keagan Streeter rushed for one TD, scored on a 78-yard kick return and kicked a field goal.

— Darin Svenson

Scoreboard

» Live Gazette area scoreboard

» How the ranked teams fared in Week 6

» Bound statewide scorelist