Iowa high school football roundup: Week 2 scores, stats and more (Sept. 6, 2024)

The Gazette’s Week 2 Iowa high school football roundup with Friday night’s statewide scores and complete coverage from Gazette-area games.

4A No. 7 Cedar Rapids Xavier 29, 3A No. 1 Williamsburg 27

A Duane Schulte-coached team that airs it out offensively? Belive it.

Cash Parks completed 27 of 42 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns as Cedar Rapids Xavier outscored Williamsburg, 29-27, in a beauty of a prep football game.

Man, you hope these traditionally strong programs can find a way to play each other again next season when the next two-year scheduling cyclone comes. Williamsburg won last year’s game at Xavier, 21-20, and now this.

In just his second varsity game, sophomore Parks was brilliant. So were his receivers.

A 26-yard touchdown pass to Will Forman turned out to be the difference. That came early in the fourth quarter and gave Xavier a 29-21 lead.

Williamsburg came right back on the next possession to give itself a chance to tie. Quarterback Grant Hocker connected with John Eichhorn on a 14-yard touchdown pass.

The two-point pass play, however, was incomplete with just under five minutes left. The Raiders never got the ball back, as Xavier picked up a pair of first downs on huge third-down completions by Parks.

Ryan Kelly had nine catches for 150 yards and a touchdown for Xavier (2-0). That included a 21-yarder on third-and-11 that essentially sealed the game.

Aiden Miller had eight grabs for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Hocker was tremendous for Williamsburg (1-1), as well. He completed 15 of 26 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns.

The Raiders got a pair of Nile Sinn TD runs in the third quarter to take a 21-16 lead after being behind at halftime, 16-7.

» Read the game story from The Gazette’s Jeff Johnson

Pleasant Valley 35, 5A No. 8 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 20

Against a team like Pleasant Valley, Brian White said, there is “zero margin for error ... and we had errors in all three phases of the game.”

Pleasant Valley scored the final 21 points and knocked off Class 5A eighth-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 35-20, in high school football Friday night at Kingston Stadium.

Harrison Fierce passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more as Pleasant Valley (1-1) prevailed despite the Cougars’ 459-343 advantage in yards.

“Our special teams were awful. We turned the ball over. And we didn’t get stops in critical third downs,” said White, the Cougars’ coach, after Kennedy slid to 0-2.

“(The Spartans) are what they are. You’ve got to stop the fullback option. They are well-coached, and their offensive line comes at you hard.”

And they did nothing Friday to beat themselves.

Kennedy had first-half leads of 6-0, 13-7 and 20-14, but Pleasant Valley answered each time.

The Spartans bookended the halftime break with touchdowns on both sides of it. A 2-yard dive by Joey Van Wetzinga put Pleasant Valley up 21-20 with 0:48 left in the first half, then the Spartans took the second-half kickoff and drove 69 yards in five plays.

Fierce’s 42-yard TD pass to Camryn LeMoine made it 28-20, and the Cougars were fighting uphill the rest of the way.

» Read the game story from The Gazette’s Jeff Linder

5A No. 10 Linn-Mar 41, Cedar Rapids Washington 10

  Buy Photo

Three first-half turnovers usually spells doom for a football team.

That was not the case for Linn-Mar on Friday night.

The Lions, ranked No. 10 in The Gazette’s Class 5A rankings, lost a pair of fumbles and had a pass picked off early against Cedar Rapids Washington at Linn-Mar Stadium.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot the first couple of drives,” said Linn-Mar Co-Head Coach Ben Martens. “We weren't playing clean football, just not playing Linn-Mar football. When we decided to fix it up, we got it rolling.”

All the visiting Warriors could muster out of the turnovers was a 23-yard field goal from sophomore Logan Barton and from that point on, it was pretty much all Lions. Linn-Mar scored three times in a five-minute span in the second quarter and went on to a 41-10 triumph.

After the slow start, the Lions (2-0) made a change at quarterback, bringing on senior Austin Waller to replace starter Stone Morgan. Waller provided an instant spark, connecting with Landon Sorg on a 60-yard scoring strike to give the Lions a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter.

“Wash always plays us tough at the beginning of games,” Sorg said. “I think we were in better condition and wore them down a little bit.”

Tyree Alons followed up with a 3-yard TD run and Dylan Muszynski capped the second-quarter surge with a 32-yard scoring run. Waller completed 8 of 13 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns, both going to Sorg, who hauled in a 28-yard scoring strike in the third quarter.

» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Mike Condon

Iowa City Liberty 49, Iowa City High 20

  Buy Photo

Sutton Koller may still be running free with a football in his hands.

Iowa City Liberty (2-0), powered by Koller’s five touchdowns, kept possession of the Battle for Zeus Trophy following a 49-20 win over Iowa City High (0-2) at Bates Field on Friday in a Class 5A high school football game.

“I think what you see is Sutton’s a guy that can play all over the field,” first-year Liberty Coach Scott Chandler said. “I can put him in just about any position on our offense and he knows what to do. And on defense, he’s a ball hawk.”

Koller scored on screen passes of 65, 34 and 38 yards as Liberty took a 28-14 halftime lead. He tallied a rushing TD early in the fourth and returned an interception 70 yards for another score.

“I love that all his work pays off, the things he does for this program,” Koller said of Chandler. “The things he’s brought in, it’s unbelievable. He’s the best coach in the state. He could be up in the pros doing something else, but he chose to be here. He loves these guys.”

» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Ryan Pleggenkuhle

Iowa City West 34, Urbandale 28

Iowa City West found its defense when it needed it most.

A week after surrendering 56 points and 565 yards in a season-opening loss at Iowa City Liberty, the Trojans bowed up in the second half Friday night.

“I’m just happy for the boys,” West Coach Garrett Hartwig said after the Trojans got the best of Urbandale, 34-28, in a Class 5A high school football game at Trojan Field. “Football is such a strange sport. You work so hard and you never really know (what you have) until Week 1.

“I’ll credit the team we lost to, but I’ll also say we didn’t do a lot of things right. The biggest improvement a team will make is from Week 1 to Week 2. It was far from perfect tonight again, but we dug in when we needed to and got stops when we needed to. We’re on the right track, but there is a lot of season left. We have got to keep rolling.”

The West defense forced two turnovers, stuffed Urbandale twice on fourth down and blocked a field goal on the final play of the first half.

On the offensive side of the ball, Julian Manson was a lethal deep threat from the wide receiver position, catching seven passes for 135 yards and touchdowns of 39, 21 and 50 yards.

Jack Wallace threw for 320 yards, the three touchdowns to Manson and ran for a fourth score. West senior Mason Woods collected 10 receptions for 100 yards.

» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Douglas Miles

Benton Community 41, Marion 13

Benton Community had two rushers surpass 100 yards and the Bobcats ran roughshod over Marion.

Brenden Heying rushed for 165 yards on 18 carries and Dylan LeFebvere added 151 on 18 attempts.

Each scored two rushing touchdowns and Benton rolled to a 41-13 victory against the host Wolves in a non-district high school football game Friday night at Marion Stadium. The Bobcats improved to 2-0.

Benton built a 20-0 lead in the first half. Heying scored on a 17-yard TD to cap the opening drive. He also hit Dawson Rozek on a play-action pass for a 34-yard scoring strike in the second quarter.

Heying added a 1-yard QB sneak for a score in the third and finished with 89 yards on 3-of-6 passing.

Elijah Kupka connected on field goals of 22 and 31 yards in the first half for Benton.

LeFebvere scored on a 7-yard TD on the first drive of the second half. He also scored on a 2-yard TD run to close the scoring with 2:09 remaining in the game.

» Read the game story from The Gazette’s K.J. Pilcher

4A No. 9 Decorah 31, 3A No. 6 West Delaware 25

Trevor Kuennen rushed for a pair of touchdowns and Louis Bucksa passed for two more scores as Decorah held off West Delaware in Manchester.

The Vikings (2-0) led 24-7 at halftime and were up 31-13 late in the third before the Hawks rallied behind quarterback Brent Yonkovic, who rushed for 221 yards and three TDs and passed for 131 yards, hitting on 15 of 25 attempts.

Kuennen, who totaled 80 yards on the ground, scored on 50 and 13-yard runs and Bucksa connected with Noah Millburn and Peyton Webb from 5 and 43 yards, respectively, for TDs. He finished 12-of-17 for 225 yards.

— Bill Logan and Randy Iverson

Cedar Rapids Prairie 41, Dubuque Senior 21

Wyatt Eash passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more as the Hawks won in Dubuque.

Eash scored on on a pair of 1-yard runs and hit David Fason from 10, 16 and 34 yards outs for TDs.

— Dubuque Telegraph-Herald

1A No. 10 Iowa City Regina 28, Mid-Prairie 17

Sophomore running back Savion Miller led the Regals with a pair of rushing touchdowns and junior quarterback Kyle Tracey passed for two scores in Wellman.

Miller scored from 1 and 10 yards out.

— Kyle Prondzinki

3A No. 7 Independence 41, Crestwood 27

EJ Miller completed 15 of 21 passes for 287 yards and four touchdowns as the Mustangs won in Cresco.

Bryce Christian, Zeke Symonds, Cameron Roth and Brady Kurt all caught TD passes from Miller. Kurt had seven receptions for 123 yards.

3A No. 3 Mount Vernon 43, Union Community 6

Jase Jaspers had a pick-6, an 87-yard punt return and a touchdown catch as Mount Vernon won at Martha Parsons Activity Complex.

The Mustangs held the Knights to just 10 yards of offense in the first half and had 11 tackles for loss.

— Ryan Suchomel

Anamosa 33, Center Point-Urbana 30

After leading 21-8 at the half, Anamosa held on for a thrilling win at home.

The Stormin’ Pointers made a late push with three second-half touchdowns.

Anamosa’s Hudson Scranton rushed for 111 yards, including an 80-yard third-quarter touchdown run that gave the Raiders a 33-24 lead.

— Daryl Schepanski

3A No. 2 Solon 42, Clear Creek Amana 14

Scoring five of the Spartans’ six touchdowns, senior running back Eddie Johnson escorted Solon to its second victory of the season.

Johnson and the Spartans asserted dominance against Clear Creek Amana with two touchdowns in the first quarter, foreshadowing the rest of the game’s outcome.

– Elise Gan

Dyersville Beckman 21, Monticello 0

Held scoreless for nearly three full quarters, Beckman erupted for 21 points in the final 13 minutes to win in Dyersville.

A pass from Dylan Recker to Tanner Ostwinkle became a 28-yard touchdown to break the scoreless tie with 40.2 seconds left in the third quarter. The Trailblazers (2-0) then added to the lead in the final period with two touchdowns from Recker, on a 15-yard run and a 29-yard punt return.

The Beckman defense held the Panthers (0-2) to just 87 total yards.

— Pete Temple

South Winneshiek 35, North Butler 14

Kyle Kuboushek rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns as the Warriors rolled on the road.

Braiden Todd passed for 107 yards and one score and added 107 rushing yards and another TD. Carson Streeter caught five passes for 54 yards and a TD and also had an interception.

— Darin Svenson

1A No. 5 Dike-New Hartford 27, West Branch 0

Colin Meester rushed for two scores and passed for two more to power the hosts past the Bears.

Meester began the scoring with a 2-yard sneak. He then found Devon Lotts and Carson Costello, respectively, before finishing off the scoring with a 20 yard scramble.

— Jason Miller

Dubuque Wahlert 28, 4A No. 3 Western Dubuque 16

The Bobcats’ Drew Bergfeld broke an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, but Tom Scherr scored a pair of his own as the Golden Eagles improved to 2-0 and beat Western Dubuque for just the second time in program history.

Scherr rushed eight times for 85 yards and caught two passes for 27 yards to go along with a sack on defense. He scored on a 15-yard reception in the first half and ran for a 63-yard score in the second.

— Tim O’Neill

Statewide Week 2 Iowa high school football scores

Adel ADM 31, Winterset 9

Albia 18, Interstate 35 0

Alburnett 34, Camanche 7

Algona 61, Forest City 36

Anamosa 33, Center Point-Urbana 30

Ankeny Centennial 55, Ames 14

Atlantic 35, Glenwood 34 (OT)

Avoca AHSTW 42, Oakland Riverside 22

Benton Community 41, Marion 13

Bettendorf 42, Davenport West 8

Boone 48, Storm Lake 6

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 28, West Sioux 9

Carroll Kuemper 49, Underwood 28

Cedar Falls 37, Johnston 34 (3OT)

Cedar Rapids Jefferson 28, Marshalltown 7

Cedar Rapids Prairie 41, Dubuque Senior 21

Cedar Rapids Xavier 29, Williamsburg 27

Central Decatur 22, Nodaway Valley 6

Central Lee 47, Eldon Cardinal 0

Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 27, MOC-Floyd Valley 14

Central Springs 46, Lake Mills 6

Chariton 51, Eddyville EBF 12

Charles City 22, South Tama 14

Cherokee 31, Sioux Central 12

Clarinda 46, Red Oak 0

Clear Lake 56, New Hampton 7

Clinton 13, Maquoketa 7

Davenport North 28, Davenport Assumption 19

Davis County 56, Centerville 33

Decorah 31, West Delaware 25

Des Moines East 40, Des Moines Lincoln 14

Dike-New Hartford 27, West Branch 0

Dubuque Wahlert 28, Western Dubuque 16

Durant 12, Waterloo Columbus 7

Dyersville Beckman 21, Monticello 0

East Marshall 40, Saydel 21

Emmetsburg 34, Estherville-Lincoln Central 0

Fairfield 55, Fort Madison 15

Fort Dodge 35, Mason City 17

Gilbert 36, Carroll 18

Grand View Christian 28, Colfax-Mingo 7

Greene County 36, Perry 7

Grinnell 17, Bondurant-Farrar 14

Grundy Center 43, Aplington-Parkersburg 7

Hampton-Dumont-CAL 35, Clarion CGD 7

Harlan 49, Denison-Schleswig 7

Hinton 33, Western Christian 14

Hudson 28, Cascade 7

Humboldt 21, Ballard 18

Ida Grove OABCIG 48, East Sac County 14

Independence 41, Crestwood 27

Indianola 28, Norwalk 3

Iowa City Liberty 49, Iowa City High 20

Iowa City Regina 28, Mid-Prairie 17

Iowa City West 34, Urbandale 28

Jesup 49, Oelwein 12

Knoxville 58, Clarke 7

Le Mars 28, Sioux City North 8 (Thursday)

Lewis Central 44, Creston 8

Linn-Mar 41, Cedar Rapids Washington 10

Manson-Northwest Webster 20, Ogden 8

Mapleton MVAOCOU 49, Missouri Valley 13

Monroe PCM 59, Pella Christian 7

Mount Vernon 43, Union Community 6

Muscatine 21, Davenport Central 19

Nevada 20, Roland-Story 14

Newton 28, Dallas Center-Grimes 7

North Fayette Valley 42, Sumner-Fredericksburg 24

North Polk 41, Carlisle 27

North Scott 38, Waverly-Shell Rock 24

Northeast 44, Central DeWitt 8

Okoboji 41, Pocahontas Area 6

Osage 7, Garner GHV 0

Oskaloosa 33, Des Moines Hoover 20

Ottumwa 50, Des Moines Roosevelt 28 (Thursday)

Pella 40, Keokuk 13

Pleasant Valley 35, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 20

Pleasantville 42, Woodward-Granger 30

Ridge View 16, Unity Christian 8

Sergeant Bluff-Luton 21, Sioux City East 10

Sheldon 45, South O’Brien 21

Sigourney-Keota 23, Mediapolis 7

Sioux City Heelan 40, Council Bluffs Lincoln 16

Solon 42, Clear Creek Amana 14

South Hardin 27, Iowa Falls-Alden 0

South Sioux City (Neb.) 49, Sioux City West 26

Southeast Polk 21, Ankeny 13

Southeast Valley 64, Eagle Grove 0

Spencer 24, Webster City 14

Spirit Lake 45, Sioux Center 6

Tipton 53, Vinton-Shellsburg 6

Tri-Center 27, Treynor 21

Van Meter 24, Des Moines Christian 0

Wapsie Valley 35, Denver 12

Washington 14, Burlington 6

Waterloo East 19, Des Moines North 12

Waterloo West 26, Dubuque Hempstead 7

Waukee 40, Waukee Northwest 29

Waukon 28, MFL MarMac 12

West Burlington/Notre Dame 31, Mount Pleasant 10

West Central Valley 46, Shenandoah 42

West Des Moines Dowling 26, West Des Moines Valley 23 (OT)

West Lyon 49, Lawton-Bronson 7

West Marshall 56, South Hamilton 6

Wilton 36, West Liberty 7

CLASS A DISTRICT 1

Hartley HMS 36, Alta-Aurelia 14

Le Mars Gehlen 34, Marcus MMCRU 6

Sibley-Ocheyedan 35, Akron-Westfield 33

CLASS A DISTRICT 2

Mason City Newman 20, West Fork 15

Saint Ansgar 48, North Union 7

West Hancock 59, Belmond-Klemme 21

CLASS A DISTRICT 3

Ackley AGWSR 14, Conrad BCLUW 13

Nashua-Plainfield 27, North Tama 6

South Winneshiek 35, North Butler 14

CLASS A DISTRICT 4

Bellevue 14, East Buchanan 6

Maquoketa Valley 49, North Cedar 0

North Linn 56, Postville 6

Starmont 53, Clayton Ridge 6

CLASS A DISTRICT 5

Columbus Community 51, Wapello 14

Danville 14, Highland 7

Lisbon 48, Louisa-Muscatine 0

Pekin 54, Van Buren County 0

CLASS A DISTRICT 6

Lynnville-Sully 30, North Mahaska 22

Madrid 48, Martensdale-St. Marys 0

Mount Ayr 27, Wayne 6

CLASS A DISTRICT 7

Guthrie Center ACGC 28, Earlham 21

IKM-Manning 20, Panorama 0

South Central Calhoun 43, Southwest Valley 6

CLASS A DISTRICT 8

Council Bluffs St. Albert 41, West Monona 20

Kingsley-Pierson 30, Logan-Magnolia 22

Woodbury Central 41, Westwood 0

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 1

Newell-Fonda 64, West Harrison/Whiting 8

Remsen St. Mary’s 48, Siouxland Christian 6

Woodbine 48, Boyer Valley 12

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 2

Algona Garrigan 41, West Bend-Mallard 6

Harris-Lake Park 58, Rockford 6

Ruthven GTRA 62, Northwood-Kensett 13

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 3

Don Bosco 65, Elkader Central 0

Lansing Kee 58, Turkey Valley 28

Waterloo Christian 40, West Central 24

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 4 (Thursday games)

Clarksville 58, Dunkerton 6

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 70, Tripoli 12

Janesville 76, Garwin GMG 12

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 5

Calamus-Wheatland 34, Midland 13

Central City 44, Springville 14

Edgewood-Colesburg 76, Easton Valley 34

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 6

English Valleys 44, HLV 26

Iowa Valley 56, WACO 34

Winfield-Mount Union 68, New London 32

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 7

Belle Plaine 86, Melcher-Dallas 12

BGM 70, Twin Cedars 0

Montezuma 80, Moravia 8

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 8

Bedford 60, Murray 0

Lamoni 35, East Union 34

Southeast Warren 76, Mormon Trail 0

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 9

Audubon 44, Colo-Nesco 8

Coon Rapids-Bayard 28, Baxter 20

Fort Dodge St. Edmond 70, Collins-Maxwell 14

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 10

Anita CAM 58, Griswold 14

East Mills 44, Sidney 24

Exira-EHK 30, Stanton 22

8-PLAYER NON-DISTRICT

Glidden-Ralston 34, Ar-We-Va 15

Lenox 41, Fremont-Mills 0

Lone Tree 50, Meskwaki Settlement 6

Riceville 47, North Iowa 14

Recommended Reading

How the ranked Iowa high school football teams fared Friday night