Iowa City High hands No. 2 Bettendorf first loss in Class 5A regular-season finale

IOWA CITY — Iowa City High got the signature win it needed.

The Little Hawks — clinging to the possibility of inclusion in the Class 5A playoffs — closed the regular season with a game that would make or break their resume.

Dawson Kahl provided the punch that just may have extended City High’s season.

“The whole team had to come together,” Kahl said after running for 129 yards and four touchdowns in the Little Hawks’ 42-23 upset of 5A No. 2 Bettendorf Friday night at Bates Field. “Everything was perfectly executed. … I think we are a really solid team. We have great character. Everyone is just strong people. We have been working on this all week. We knew we were going to come in here and upset this team and we made it happen.”

This was the third meeting between the schools in City High’s last 11 games. The Little Hawks closed the 2023 regular season with a win at Bettendorf, but were upended a week later by the Bulldogs in the opening round of the 5A playoffs.

After handing Bettendorf (8-1) its first loss this season, City High (6-3) now awaits the release of the 5A playoff pairings.

“It tells everybody in our locker room and gives us confidence that, ‘Hey, we belong in this top echelon of teams,’” fourth-year City High Coach Mitchell Moore said. “There are a lot of good teams. There is a lot of parity out there right now in 5A football. And if this was the No. 1 team and the 8-0 team, we certainly belong on the field with them.”

City High broke the game open with three touchdowns in the second quarter. Facing a fourth down and goal to go at the Bettendorf 3-yard-line and just nine seconds until halftime, Moore elected to try for the touchdown. City High senior quarterback Bobby Bacon threw to senior tight end Parker Sutherland, who used every inch of his 6-foot-7 frame to stretch the ball across the goal line for a 28-10 halftime lead.

“Just rolling into the flat and I knew Bobby would put it on me,” Sutherland said. “I just had to beat one guy and make a play. That is how we drew it up.”

Bacon threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns, including a 49-yard strike to sophomore Chayse Newton. Kahl helped put the game away with touchdown runs of 23 and 6 yards in the fourth quarter.

“Dawson is a heck of a player and we are extremely lucky to have him,” said Bacon, a Division-II Pittsburg State (Kan.) commit. “Just a sophomore, he can get really good. He just did a phenomenal job sticking with the O-line. The O-line was opening great holes. All credit to them and all credit to Dawson, too, because he is a heck of a player.”

Sutherland caught six passes for 89 yards, while 5-foot-6 tailback Gabe Egeland added 83 rushing yards.

City High defensive linemen Kane Willey and Raphael Etuma each registered sacks and Peter Pufall and Iyon Harris both collected interceptions for the Little Hawks’ defense, which yielded just nine first downs and 227 total yards to the Bettendorf offense.

“The story of the game was probably the defense,” Moore said. “You never know how it's going to matriculate, but man, I just couldn't be more proud of this program. For a program win, our defense stepped up, our offense did what they do. Got a bunch of unselfish kids on this football team and a coaching staff that is humble enough to know that we got to keep getting better to keep these guys and give them a chance.”

Iowa City High 42, Bettendorf 23

AT BATES FIELD

BETT ICH

First Downs 9 24

Rushes-yards 27-116 42-231

Comp-Att-Int 7-18-2 16-20-2

Passing yards 111 260

Total yards 227 491

Punts-avg. 2-41.5 1-10.0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 7-55 7-70

Bettendorf 10 0 6 7—23

Iowa City High 7 21 0 14—42

ICH — Dawson Kahl 1 run (Jackson Nichols-Lindsey kick)

BETT — Jackson Laver 28 run (Cam Scupham kick)

BETT — FG Cam Scupham 30

ICH — Chayse Newton 49 pass from Bobby Bacon (Jackson Nichols-Lindsey kick)

ICH — Dawson Kahl 5 run (Jackson Nichols-Lindsey kick)

ICH — Parker Sutherland 3 pass from Bobby Bacon (Jackson Nichols-Lindsey kick)

BETT — Hayden Morrison 6 pass from Jackson Laver (pass failed)

ICH — Dawson Kahl 23 run (Jackson Nichols-Lindsey kick)

BETT — Jacob Whipple 45 pass from Jackson Laver (Cam Scupham kick)

ICH — Dawson Kahl 6 run (Jackson Nichols-Lindsey kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — Bettendorf: Jackson Laver 9-34, Jack Wessel 3-22, Jacob Whipple 14-56, Hayden Morrison 1-4; Iowa City High: Dominic Salibi 2-3, Bobby Bacon 3-16, Gabe Egeland 14-83, Dawson Kahl 23-129.

PASSING — Bettendorf: Jackson Laver 7-17-2-111, Cam Scupham 0-1-0-0; Iowa City High: Bobby Bacon 16-20-2-260.

RECEIVING — Bettendorf: Jacob Whipple 5-97, Hayden Morrison 2-14; Iowa City High: Dominic Salibi 2-28, Jack Lampe 0-0, Chayse Newton 2-58, Iyon Harris 0-0, Connor Cross 2-22, Gabe Egeland 3-45, Adan Carbajal 0-0, Parker Sutherland 6-89, Dawson Kahl 1-18.