Iowa high school football playoffs: Round of 16 scores, stats and more

Here are the final scores from Friday’s Iowa high school football playoff games — the round of 16 for all seven classes — plus Gazette area highlights and coverage.

Class 5A

Pod A

No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling 35, Davenport West 0

No. 6 Waukee Northwest 9, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0

This was not your typical 5-4 football team.

“This game was a testament to our schedule,” running back Brady Grisham said, after his club knocked off Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 9-0, in a 5A first-rounder at Kingston Stadium that was played in a tad under two hours. “This was a really good team we played, and they came out and punched us in the mouth. It helped. Our schedule has benefited us a lot.”

Grisham rushed 33 times for 215 yards here. Kennedy’s defense did a great job virtually the entire game bottling him and the Northwest offense up, but his 63-yarder on the first play of the second half set up a field goal, and four effective runs after a Kennedy turnover at midfield set up quarterback Sam Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown sneak late in the third quarter.

That was it. Kennedy missed a field goal and turned the football over three times in the second half, including an interception in the end zone early in the fourth quarter.

“Play fast and play hard,” said Kennedy’s Ryker Stelling. “We made some mistakes, and (Grisham) got some big runs. Otherwise, we were able to man up and stop him sometimes. Sometimes we didn’t. I thought we played a hell of a game.”

» Read more from The Gazette’s Jeff Johnson

Pod B

No. 4 Southeast Polk 49, Ames 3

Cedar Rapids Prairie 50, No. 8 Linn-Mar 28

Makelle Taylor had never experienced a sequence like the one he produced in the second quarter.

Two plays. Two touchdowns. Half of his record-setting rush total chalked up in consecutive one-play drives that propelled Cedar Rapids Prairie to a comfortable lead.

“I think it’s just because all our guys bought in on beating these guys and dominating the whole game,” Taylor said. “We were all facing the same guys from last week. We were just locked in.”

Taylor rushed for 335 yards, unofficially, and backup quarterback Will Phillips stepped in to throw four touchdown passes in a 50-28 victory over No. 8 Linn-Mar in a Class 5A first-round playoff football game Friday night, avenging the regular-season finale loss in a rematch at John Wall Field.

“Their focus, demeanor and attitude was unbelievable all week long,” Prairie Coach Mark Bliss said. “I think they wanted to redeem themselves in the utmost way. I’m, just so proud of their effort all across the board.”

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

Pod C

No. 1 Ankeny 17, Sioux City East 0

No. 6 Johnston 38, No. 9 Iowa City High 31 (OT)

Pod D

No. 10 West Des Moines Valley 15, No. 3 Pleasant Valley 10

No. 5 Cedar Falls 14, Ankeny Centennial 10

Class 4A

Pod A

No. 3 Cedar Rapids Xavier 44, Cedar Rapids Washington 7

Thanks to a 28-0 third quarter run, third-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier (10-0) defeated Cedar Rapids Washington, 44-7, in a Class 4A opening-round playoff matchup Friday night at Saints Field.

Heading off the field at halftime, Xavier carried just a 16-7 lead.

“To be honest, we didn’t go into the locker room until about two minutes before we came back out here,” Schulte said. “We walked in and just told them, here are some of the plays we think we’re going to run and you have to execute them.

“That was it. There wasn’t any screaming or yelling or rah-rah stuff.”

Coleton Beasler-Weber returned the opening second half kickoff to Washington’s 18, a 66-yard return. Michael Cunningham ran it in on the next play, extending Xavier’s lead to 23-7 just 20 seconds into the third quarter.

Beasler-Weber punched it in from 9 yards out on Xavier’s next possession.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Ryan Pleggenkuhle

No. 8 Indianola 35, No. 6 Bondurant-Farrar 13

Pod B

No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock 49, Fort Madison 7

No. 7 North Scott 38, No. 9 Western Dubuque 15

Quarterback Kyler Gerardy ran for 187 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another 159 yards and a score as the Lancers ended the Bobcats’ season.

North Scott (8-2) has won three straight over the Bobcats (6-4) and returned the favor after Western Dubuque ended North Scott playoff runs in 2018 and 2019.

Grant Glausser led the Western Dubuque offense with 106 rushing yards — his sixth 100-yard game of the season — on 23 carries, including his 19th rushing touchdown of the season.

— Tim O’Neill, Dubuque Telegraph-Herald

Pod C

No. 1 Lewis Central 57, Le Mars 7

Glenwood 38, No. 10 Spencer 26

Pod D

No. 5 Iowa City Liberty 24, Webster City 14

For the first time in its football program history, Iowa City Liberty is a playoff victor.

The fifth-ranked Lightning fought off a ferocious rushing attack to seize control in the second half, pulling away from No. 10 Webster City, 24-14, in a Class 4A first-round game Friday night at Liberty.

“Making history for the school, it feels surreal,” Liberty defensive back Amari Thigpen said. “I just want to keep it going.”

The game’s most important sequence came early in the third quarter. Facing fourth-and-3 at the Liberty 43, Thigpen broke through the line and dropped Hisler for a 7-yard loss.

“Me and my teammates have been watching film,” Thigpen said. “I just saw how they were lined up. I just went out and made a big play.”

Two plays later, Graham Beckman found Lucas Meyer for a 43-yard touchdown for a 14-7 lead.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Culley Kline

No. 4 Carlisle 48, Newton 28

Class 3A

Pod A

No. 1 Harlan 42, MOC-Floyd Valley 7

No. 8 Nevada 10, Sioux Center 7

Pod B

No. 2 Mount Vernon 23, No. 10 DeWitt Central 9

Joey Rhomberg rushed for 57 yards and a touchdown and passed for 157 yards as the Mustangs won at home.

Clark Younggreen, Henry Ryan and Mikey Cabrera also scored for Mount Vernon (10-0).

No. 5 Solon 42, No. 9 West Delaware 18

Blake Timmons rushed for 162 and scored two touchdowns as Solon opened the Class 3A playoffs with a 42-18 win over West Delaware in Solon.

Timmons scored on a 20-yard interception return in the second quarter and an 80-yard touchdown run in the second half. Brayden Moore, Brett White, Mac McCarty and Brayden Ruskey also scored for Solon, which led 21-0 at halftime.

Brent Yonkovic got the Hawks on the scoreboard with a 3-yard run and later connected with Conrad Smith on a 20-yard TD pass. Yonkovic finished with 122 rushing yards and completed 12 of 24 passes for 162 yards, but was intercepted four times. Logan Peyton also scored for West Delaware.

— Bill Logan

Pod C

No. 6 Humboldt 39, Hampton-Dumont/CAL 0

No. 3 Independence 20, Benton Community 17

Mitchell Johnson rushed for two touchdowns, passed for another then sealed the Mustangs’ playoff win with an interception with 42 seconds left.

Johnson completed 13 of 19 passes for 150 yards, including a 8-yard TD to Brady Kurt. Johnson also rushed for 41 yards and two TDs. Kurt finished with four catches for 88 yards.

Benton’s Carson Bruns rushed for 143 yards on 25 carries and scored a pair of TDs, the last an 18-yarder late in the fourth quarter. Aidan Gally competed 12 of 20 passes for 132 yards.

Pod D

No. 3 Adel ADM 56, Grinnell 0

No. 7 North Polk 52, Creston 20

Class 2A

Pod A

No. 1 Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 42, Clarinda 16

No. 7 West Lyon 43, No. 6 Greene County 7

Pod B

No. 5 Ida Grove OABCIG 34, No. 8 Osage 22

No. 3 Spirit Lake 43, Clear Lake 21

Pod C

Crestwood 20, No. 10 Waukon 18

Dubuque Wahlert 21, No. 4 West Marshall 14

Pod D

Centerville 28, No. 9 Monticello 27

Centerville rallied from a 21-0 first quarter deficit to score 28 unanswered points and hold off the Panthers in Monticello.

All four touchdowns for the Big Reds (8-2) were scored by quarterback Brody Tuttle, who had 35 carries for 168 yards. He scored the eventual game-winner on a 5-yard run with 10:44 to play.

For Monticello (7-3), Preston Ries completed 14 of 25 passes for 353 yards and rushed for three scores. Tate Petersen had eight catches for 172 yards.

— Pete Temple

No. 2 Williamsburg 63, Mid-Prairie 7

Class 1A

Pod A

Western Christian 49, No. 5 Aplington-Parkersburg 27

No. 2 West Sioux 45, No. 6 Carroll Kuemper 7

Pod B

No. 8 MFL MarMac 28, No. 10 Dike-New Hartford 6

No. 3 West Branch 27, Waterloo Columbus 14

Andy Henson rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears rolled at home.

In a very physical game, West Branch led just 13-7 at the half. The Bears scored on a Henson rush and Tye Hughes-to-Carver Boelk pass.

Carter Lockert completed a pass to Myles Gardner to close the gap to 27-14, and that’s where it ended.

— Jason Miller

Pod C

Sigourney-Keota 20, No. 9 Mediapolis 14 (OT)

Cole Clarahan scored two touchdowns, including one in overtime, as the Cobras hung on at home.

Clay Morse scored S-K’s first TD on a 70-yard pass from Sawyer Stout.

— Southeast Iowa Union

No. 1 Van Meter 42, Woodward-Granger 0

Pod D

No. 7 Pella Christian 38, South Hamilton 30

No. 4 Underwood 62, Guthrie Center ACGC 14

Class A

Pod A

No. 7 Hartley HMS 46, Hinton 27

No. 4 Woodbury Central 48, No. 9 Le Mars Gehlen 7

Pod B

No. 6 North Linn 28, Mason City Newman 14

No. 1 West Hancock 16, Wapsie Valley 9

Pod C

No. 8 East Buchanan 57, No. 10 Alburnett 21

No. 8-ranked East Buchanan didn't complete one pass, but ran the ball, unofficially, for 500 yards in an impressive, 57-21, win over the 10th-ranked Pirates before an overflow crowd at Jim Carver Field.

“We're just tough,” said junior running back Tanner Thurn, who rushed for 207 yards and four touchdowns. “They had the momentum and pushed our backs against the wall. We came out and popped a couple of big plays and got things rolling in our favor.”

After Hunter Bowers gave the visitors a lead with an 83-yard scoring run, the Pirates took control. Brody Neighbor took a fumble 59 yards for a score and, after holding the Bucs on downs, Alburnett went up 14-8 on a Mason Neighbor 4-yard scoring pass to Grayson Carolan on the first play of the second quarter.

The Pirates then forced an East Buchanan punt and that is where the game shifted. Alburnett mishandled the punt and East Buchanan recovered. Two plays later, Thurn rambled 29 yards to score. Then, after stopping the Pirates, Thurn rambled 56 yards for a score, followed up a few minutes later by teammate Ryland Cornell going 56 to score.

Thurn scored again from the 1, giving East Buchanan a 36-14 lead.

“We've been so resilient that if something happens, we respond,” East Buc Coach Jerry Alden said. “That was the way it was tonight. (Alburnett) got up on us and we simply responded.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Mike Condon

No. 2 Grundy Center 41, Columbus Community 7

Pod D

No. 5 Avoca AHSTW 35, Southwest Valley 14

No. 3 Lynnville-Sully 62, Mount Ayr 33

8-Player

Pod A

No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s 42, West Bend-Mallard 16

No. 10 Ruthven GTRA 28, No. 7 West Harrison 12

Pod B

No. 4 Lenox 34, Anita CAM 14

Fremont-Mills 30, No. 9 Southeast Warren 28

Pod C

No. 8 Newell-Fonda 35, No. 3 Don Bosco 10

No. 6 Gladbrook-Reinbeck 30, Turkey Valley 28

Isaac Clark completed 10 of 20 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rebels.

Austin Vaverka rushed for 88 yards and a TD and caught three passes for 30 yards and another score.

Oliver Schmitt led Turkey Valley with 73 rushing yards and two TDs. Noah Hanson had 77 rushing yards and a TD and Carson Busta added 68 rushing yards and a TD.

— Darin Svenson

Pod D

Montezuma 60, No. 5 Easton Valley 38

The Braves’ versatile offense needed an answer and quarterback Owen Cook had more than one.

Easton Valley running back Charlie Simpson ran for four touchdowns and 187 yards in the first quarter as the River Hawks raced out to a 30-7 lead.

But Cook started filling the air with footballs — to the tune of six touchdown passes — as Montezuma (9-2) went on a 53-8 rampage over the final three quarters to grab the second round win.

— Keith Brake

No. 2 WACO 48, Central City 12

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