Playoff contender Cedar Rapids Jefferson topples Waterloo East, 42-12

CEDAR RAPIDS — After a Waterloo sweep, you've got to ask this question. Why not them?

The answer is no, there doesn't seem to be any reason the Cedar Rapids Jefferson J-Hawks can't make the Class 4A football playoffs at this point. Excuse the triple negative there.

Jefferson threw District 5 into a bit of a tizzy a week ago by upsetting Waterloo West on the road. It expectedly took care of business Thursday night at Kingston Stadium, brushing past pesky Waterloo East, 42-12.

With two games left in the regular season, the J-Hawks are 3-4 overall but 2-1 in district play. Right now, that's good for second place in the district and a postseason spot.

Sixth-ranked Cedar Falls is 2-0 and appears to easily be the class of the district. It plays Friday night against West and next week against Jefferson.

Cedar Rapids Washington and Mason City are both 1-1 in the district and play each other Friday night. It's totally feasible you could see some sort of multiple-team tie at the end of this thing.

Who knows the survivor, but why not Jefferson?

'We have put ourselves in position to make the playoffs,' said Jefferson Coach Brian Webb. 'We were a little sluggish tonight, but kind of turned it on when we had to. Just really proud of our kids.'

Sophomore running back Ezeki Leggins, promoted to the varsity last week, rushed for a pair of touchdowns to help put the J-Hawks up, 14-0, early in the second quarter. Leggins finished with 104 rushing, part of a 377-yard night on the ground for his team.

Wide receiver Kyler Bell, crowned homecoming king before the game, caught a 40-yard TD pass from Noah Vawter off a jump ball late in the second quarter to give Jefferson a 21-6 lead at halftime. East's touchdown came on an 89-yard kickoff return from Jacee Clark.

He hauled in a 49-yard touchdown on a pump-and-go pass from sophomore backup quarterback Tanner Cronan to bring East within 21-12 with 5:38 left in the third. But Jefferson assumed total control from there, even though Vawter didn't play in the second half due to injury.

His replacement, Matthew Moore, ended up rushing for two second-half touchdowns and throwing for another. He also ran in a two-point conversion.

'This was a good team win,' Moore said. 'It was hard not having our starting quarterback there, but I had to step up and bring the team to a victory today.'

'Without the depth, it's just about staying healthy each week,' Webb said. 'We have changed our practice habits this year to basically NFL. We barely touch each other during the week because we have to stay healthy. So it's kind of been a new adjustment for me and the players. We have short practices, and don't really hit each other too much.'

East (2-5, 0-3) had to forfeit its final game last season because of low numbers and has no sophomore team. Several 10th graders play on the Trojans varsity, which ended a five-year losing streak with a season-opening win over Des Moines North..

It also won a non-district game against Marshalltown.

'That is a much-improved Waterloo East team,' Webb said. 'Much better coached, the whole shebang. He (Coach Xavier Leonard) are doing great things up there, they should be very proud, the community should be very proud of their efforts. Night and day from what they have been in the last couple of years.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com