Iowa high school football playoffs: State quarterfinal scores, stats and more

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

Class 5A

No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling 41, No. 6 Waukee Northwest 7

No. 4 Southeast Polk 41, Cedar Rapids Prairie 0

Southeast Polk scored its first touchdown off of a blocked punt and never relented en route to a 41-0 win over Prairie in the Class 5A playoff quarterfinals.

The Hawks (7-4) also lost two fumbles — including one that led to another touchdown — and totaled just 124 yards of offense against the fourth-ranked and defending state champion Rams (10-1).

Senior Prairie running back Makelle Taylor rushed for 78 yards on 23 carries and junior receiver Apollo Payne caught two passes for 14 yards in the loss.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Rob Gray

No. 6 Johnston 23, No. 1 Ankeny 13

No. 10 West Des Moines Valley 27, No. 5 Cedar Falls 13

Class 4A

No. 3 Cedar Rapids Xavier 23, No. 8 Indianola 6

Michael Cunningham insisted he liked playing in the cold and rain.

His reactions contradicted his words, standing in the middle of the field with arms shivering, teeth chattering and breath puffing through his facemask as large, chilly drops fell.

“I love it,” Cunningham said. “I remember when we were kids, this group of seniors played in the rain all the time. This is just fitting.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s play proved he was right. The third-ranked Saints scored on their first two drives and closed with two late scores, surviving the conditions and a hard-fought challenge from No. 8 Indianola for a 23-6 win in the Class 4A state football quarterfinals Friday night at Saints Field.

“It was awesome,” Xavier Coach Duane Schulte said. “The hardest one sometimes is the one to get to the Dome. Not saying the ones at the Dome aren’t, but it’s hard to just get there. It was a good win.”

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

No. 7 North Scott 20, No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock 10

No. 1 Lewis Central 47, Glenwood 24

No. 4 Carlisle 56, No. 5 Iowa City Liberty 28

It wasn’t the ending Liberty had hoped for.

Nevertheless, setting a school record for wins in a single season (9) and advancing to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history are feats for the 2022 Lightning football team to be proud of.

Fourth-ranked Carlisle (10-1) ended No. 5 Liberty’s (9-2) season Friday night defeating the Lightning 56-28 in a 4A state quarterfinal matchup at Liberty.

Carlisle demonstrated why it was the top-ranked rushing team in 4A, running for 530 yards and eight touchdowns.

Jes Krcil carried the ball 34 times for 265 yards and three touchdowns, while Jack Laughlin ran it 35 times for 264 yards and had five scores for the Wildcats.

Liberty trailed 35-7 at halftime but battled back, cutting the lead to a 14 with 5:39 in the third. That’s as close as it would get.

Liberty’s Graham Beckman completed 19 of 34 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Garret Gregoire lead Liberty’s receivers with seven receptions for 132 yards and a TD.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Ryan Pleggenkuhle

Class 3A

No. 1 Harlan 55, No. 8 Nevada 7

No. 2 Mount Vernon 17, No. 5 Solon 0

Jensen Meeker’s strip-sack in the final minutes turned out the lights for good Friday night, clinching No. 2 Mount Vernon’s 17-0 Class 3A quarterfinal victory over No. 5 Solon at First Street Field.

“A lot of the seniors encouraged me to go out,” said Meeker, who ran cross country for two years and is listed at 140 pounds. “They’ve really supported me. I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Here’s what’s fun: Beating your archrival for the second time this season.

Here’s what else is fun: Mount Vernon (11-0) will be playing in a semifinal at the UNI-Dome at 7 p.m. next Saturday, against No. 6 Humboldt (10-1).

“Everybody ... the players, the coaches ... had a narrow focus all week long,” Evan Brase said.

Mount Vernon scored on its first possession, then turned it over to a punishing, ball-hawking defense. The Mustangs forced four turnovers, and held Solon (8-3) to 2 yards of offense in the second half, 114 all game.

“To shut that team out, it’s an amazing accomplishment by these guys,” Pedersen said.

» Read more from The Gazette’s Jeff Linder

No. 6 Humboldt 34, No. 3 Independence 26

Sixth-ranked Humboldt (10-1) ended Independence’s nine-game win streak and booked a spot in the state semifinals for the second straight year.

Humboldt’s Will Orness completed 8 of 11 passes, three of which went for touchdowns and Lance Coon rushed for 184 yards.

Humboldt scored the first 14 points of the game via the big play — Orness’ 46-yard touchdown pass to Corey Dettmann and a 70-yard Coon TD run — but Independence was in it the rest of the way.

Mitchell Johnson’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Hoover got the Mustangs within 20-18 with 6:46 left, but the ensuing 2-point conversion run failed. Orness then hit Dettmann for a 54-yard touchdown to put the Wildcats up nine.

Independence got one last shot after a safety made it 34-26 with 21 seconds left, but Orness came up with an interception to seal the Wildcats’ win.

Johnson completed 19 of 32 passes for 262 yards and two TDs and ran for 127 yards and another score.

No. 3 Adel ADM 68, No. 7 North Polk 42

Class 2A

No. 1 Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 42, No. 7 West Lyon 7

No. 5 Ida Grove OABCIG 19, No. 3 Spirit Lake 0

Dubuque Wahlert 41, Crestwood 6

No. 2 Williamsburg 35, Centerville 0

For the third time in four years, Williamsburg is headed to the Dome. The Raiders mastered the elements and the line of scrimmage on their way to a 35-0 win over Centerville Friday night at Williamsburg.

“It’s been an amazing ride,” Williamsburg Coach Curt Ritchie said. “These guys have looked up to a lot of amazing teams. They’ve had high expectations since Day 1.”

With passing moot in the adverse conditions, winning the line of scrimmage and limiting mistakes was key. The Raiders did both. No. 2 Williamsburg (11-0) won the turnover battle 5 to 1, shut down the Big Reds rushing attack, and converted short fields into touchdowns.

The Raiders used a pair of short fields to take a 14-0 lead after the first quarter on two touchdown runs from quarterback Carson Huedepohl.

Williamsburg put the game away in the second quarter. Kyle Goodell pounced on two Centerville (8-3) fumbles inside the Big Reds’ 25. Both were converted into touchdowns. Huedepohl ran in his third TD from 11 yards out and lobbed a jump pass to Derek Weisskopf for another 11-yard score.

The Raiders outgained Centerville 213-58, holding the Big Reds to just four first downs. Huedepohl led the way with 102 rushing yards and an interception.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Culley Kline

Class 1A

No. 2 West Sioux 49, Western Christian 20

No. 3 West Branch 27, No. 8 MFL MarMac 24

You couldn’t see his face because he was wearing a preventative mask. But there must have been a smile there for Butch Pedersen.

Had to be.

His third-ranked West Branch football team scored 14 points in a span of just under three minutes late in the fourth quarter to overcome No. 8 MFL MarMac, 27-24, in a Class 1A state playoff quarterfinal Friday night at the Little Rose Bowl.

“Hell of a comeback,” Pedersen said from the press box, where he and his wife, Jenny, shared an isolated room.

The legendary 71-year-old head coach is battling myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood cancer. He began chemotherapy early last week, which has prevented him, obviously, from doing what he loves to do and has done for four decades — lead his Bears into battle.

“He has started his battle, right now we’re fighting a battle. We’re all fighting together,” said West Branch quarterback Tye Hughes. “We’re fighting for him. The courage he has just reflects on us.”

Hughes took a read option keeper 33 yards for the winning touchdown with 3:47 left. His 11-yard run on a similar play brought West Branch (11-0) within 24-19 with 6:30 to go, then the Bears got a safety on the ensuing series when MFL MarMac got pinned inside its 10 and decided to run out of the end zone on fourth down instead of trying to punt in a heavy rain and on a rapidly deteriorating field.

» Read more from The Gazette’s Jeff Johnson

No. 1 Van Meter 45, Sigourney-Keota 0

Van Meter showed why it’s the top-ranked team in Class 1A.

The Bulldogs (10-1) will be heading back to the UNI Dome for the eighth year in a row after putting together a dominating performance, cruising to a 45-0 victory.

It didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to click on both sides of the ball.

After a three-and-out by the Cobras (8-3) to start the game, the Bulldogs took the punt return to the house to open the scoring.

One defensive stop and an offensive drive later, Van Meter made it 14-0 on a Ben Gordon 4-yard run.

Gordon had himself a night on the ground, finishing with 168 yards and four touchdowns.

Van Meter found the end zone once more in the first quarter to make it 21-0, and it didn’t let up in the second quarter.

Sigourney-Keota struggled to get through the tough Van Meter defense, as it didn’t get a first down until midway through the second quarter.

The Bulldogs continued to hammer away offensively as well.

Gordon scored his second of the night on a 9-yard touchdown to make it 28-0. He found pay dirt again with 1:01 to go in the first half to make it 35-0.

To start the second, Gordon put the finishing touches on his night with a 70-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage.

The Bulldogs’ Ben Gilliland threw just four times in the win, completing three passes for one touchdown to Aydn Netten.

— Hunter Moeller, Southeast Iowa Union

No. 4 Underwood 47, No. 7 Pella Christian 28

Class A

No. 4 Woodbury Central 27, No. 7 Hartley HMS 24

No. 1 West Hancock 52, No. 6 North Linn 21

Jared Collum said it best.

Class A sixth-ranked North Linn ran into a buzz saw that was top-ranked West Hancock on Friday night.

“We would have had to play perfect,” the Lynx head coach said. “When you get this far, you have to play perfect.”

They played far from perfect and the score was one-sided for much of the second half.

The defending state champion Eagles came away with four turnovers and scored six of their eight touchdowns on the ground in a 52-21 rout of North Linn in the quarterfinals at Bob Sanger Field.

“They exploited where we were weak, on the edge,” Collum said. “We got out-manned for a bit. Their d-line played a lot faster than they did on tape; kind of shocked our guys.”

For just the second time in school history, the Lynx were on the doorstep of a berth to the UNI-Dome. They trailed by two scores, then cut it in half.

Quarterback Tate Haughenbury returned from a two-game absence due to mononucleosis and fired a 33-yard TD pass to Jake Van Etten in the back corner of the end zone.

On the ensuing kickoff, West Hancock's Jaxen Peterson darted 75 yards to the house to bring the lead back to double figures. It was the start of 26 unanswered points by the Eagles.

“Seemed like anytime we got anything rolling, came back and kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Haughenbury said.

The 6-foot-5 senior ran for his life on several occasions. He found openings in some, but not all. He fumbled twice and threw an interceptions early in the opening quarter.

Still, he scored two final TD's on runs of 15 and 1 to cap his prep football career.

“Nothing like a Friday night with your friends,” Haughenbury said.

Mason Bechen was bottled up to 37 yards on just 11 carries. Cael Bridgewater recorded nine catches for 66 yards and Landen Helmrich finished with 49 yards on the ground.

— Zach Martin, Mason City Globe Gazette

No. 2 Grundy Center 20, No. 8 East Buchanan 6

No. 3 Lynnville-Sully 20, No. 5 Avoca AHSTW 0

8-Player

From Thursday night

No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s 63, No. 10 Ruthven GTRA 14

No. 4 Lenox 32, Fremont-Mills 8

No. 8 Newell-Fonda 46, No. 6 Gladbrook-Reinbeck 36

No. 2 WACO 52, Montezuma 7

One year after falling short in the state quarterfinals, No. 2 WACO scored 52 unanswered points and smashed Montezuma, ending the Braves’ season and earning a spot in Cedar Falls.

“This is big,” WACO coach Chad Edeker said. “We were four points short last year, and we were not going to be short this year.”

Simeon Reichenbach only needed 13 carries to rack up 264 yards and four touchdowns to lead the offense. Louden Huisenga finished with 19 yards and a score, to go along with a receiving touchdown.

Isaac Oswald completed three passes for 37 yards and one touchdown and returned an interception 26 yards for a score.

“This night feels pretty special,” Oswald said. “After last year, coming one game short, it feels good to be on top this time.”

The Warriors gave up just 213 yards all night. On the ground, they let Montezuma rush for just 2, stuffing attempt after attempt from the Braves’ ground game.

Colton Leichty led the way with seven tackles, including three sacks and four tackles for loss.

The win is WACO’s 12th win of the year. That ties a school record. The Warriors haven’t lost since the 2021 quarterfinals.

» Read more from The Southeast Iowa Union’s Andy Krutsinger

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Iowa high school state football semifinal matchups and kickoff times