Iowa City Liberty pulls away from Waukee in Class 5A first-round playoff game

NORTH LIBERTY — A play-making quarterback and a clutch defense has Iowa City Liberty moving on in Class 5A.

Junior quarterback Reece Rettig ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, while the Liberty defense pitched a second-half shutout as the fifth-ranked Lightning (9-1) eliminated Waukee, 31-14, in the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday night at Liberty High School.

“I was really happy with our defense,” first-year Liberty coach Scott Chandler said. “Obviously those guys were banged up a little bit, but they have got a physical offensive line and some really good backs. We came out and we hit them.”

Waukee (6-4) was playing without starting quarterback Beckett Bakker due to injury, so the Warriors opened the game with an offensive attack that featured standout tailback Grant Gammell taking direct snaps from center. After running eight times for 41 yards, Gammell left the game with an injury of his own and did not return.

A hampered Waukee gave the Liberty defense — which has improved greatly since the beginning of the season — a chance to exert its will.

“We have been working really hard all week and I feel like this week, we were really built for this moment,” Liberty sophomore defensive back Pryor Reiners. “We just came out and played. We were hitting hard.”

With Liberty up at halftime, 17-14, the Lightning offense turned the ball over twice in the third quarter. The first led to a Waukee missed field goal, while the second resulted in a turnover on downs.

“That just gave us a lot of trust in our defense,” Rettig said. “Made us trust and made us really comfortable playing. We knew we had guys all around us, so we turned it on, we locked in and that is what we needed to do.”

Rettig directed two scoring drives in the final frame. The first resulted in his second short touchdown run of the game, while his 26-yard scoring strike to senior receiver Dallas Miller provided the dagger with 6:23 to go.

“They were going to come down and try to stop the run,” Rettig said. “Credit to our O-line. They have done a great job all year. They made them come down, they had to be in the box so we could take a shot over the top. We have got dudes everywhere. They can’t stop us.”

Rettig finished with 139 passing yards and 97 on the ground. Senior tailback Owen Drapeaux had an early touchdown run, while senior Collin Decker caught seven passes for 69 yards. The Liberty defense allowed just 209 total yards.

Liberty will face No. 8 Ankeny in the quarterfinal round next Friday. The Lightning defeated Ankeny at home, 28-20, last month.

“We have a great, competitive spirit,” Rettig said. “We want to win and I think that is what has carried us all year. It is not going to go away. We have got a target on our back. All the rankings ... putting everybody in front of us, so we have got that hunger, we have got that desire to go and chase them.”

Class 5A No. 5 Iowa City Liberty 31, Waukee 14

AT IOWA CITY LIBERTY

WAU ICL

First Downs 10 21

Rushes-yards 34-122 36-204

Comp-Att-Int 10-18-1 17-24-1

Passing yards 87 164

Total yards 209 368

Punts-avg. 1-60.0 1-21.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-65 2-10

Waukee 7 7 0 0—14

Iowa City Liberty 7 10 0 14—31

WAU – Ben Case Haub 5 run (Magnus Bruening kick)

ICL – Owen Drapeaux 2 run (Collin Weis kick)

ICL – Reece Rettig 1 run (Collin Weis kick)

WAU – Drake Lambertsen 4 run (Magnus Bruening kick)

ICL – FG Collin Weis 31

ICL – Reece Rettig 2 run (Collin Weis kick)

ICL – Dallas Miller 26 pass from Reece Rettig (Collin Weis kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Waukee: Grant Gammell 8-41, Carter Johnson 2-5, Ben Case Haub 13-62, Drake Lambertsen 10-17, Maverick Inman 1-(-3); Iowa City Liberty: Sutton Koller 7-56, Owen Drapeaux 13-34, Reece Rettig 14-97, Dallas Miller 1-15, Charles Roberts 1-2.

PASSING – Waukee: Grant Gammell 1-1-0-8, Carter Johnson 8-16-1-72, Will Rivenburgh 1-1-0-7; Iowa City Liberty: Reece Rettig 14-21-1-139, Sutton Koller 2-2-0-(-2), Dallas Miller 1-1-0-27.

RECEIVING – Waukee: Maverick Inman 7-65, Evan Jacobson 1-8, Xavyer Gutierrez 2-14; Iowa City Liberty: Collin Decker 7-69, Dallas Miller 4-48, Sutton Koller 2-13, Jordan Schroeder 1-9, Logan Laubenthal 1-27, Reece Rettig 2-(-2).