Iowa City High 56, Iowa City West 7: The Boot’s on the other foot

IOWA CITY — How good, precisely, is this team?

“We’re better than good, man,” Iowa City High running back Darren Richardson said. “We’re great.”

No argument here. And, presumably, none from their archrival.

Class 5A sixth-ranked City High stung Iowa City West with a 556-yard offensive attack and whipped the Trojans, 56-7, Friday night at Bates Field.

West had won five straight games in this series, including a pair of one-sided victories (56-20 and 35-7) last year.

But Friday, The Boot was most certainly on the other foot.

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“It feels amazing, especially for all of the seniors,” sophomore quarterback Quinton Tran said. “This is all for them.”

A two-win team last year, City High is 5-0 under first-year coach Mitch Moore. And it feels a little like old times.

“It’s a blessing,” Richardson said. “We’ve kept working, and our offensive line was really good tonight.”

“Our offensive line got such good push,” Moore said. “And our tempo was a problem for them.”

City racked up 362 yards of total offense (204 rushing, 158 passing) in the first half alone. It was 28-0 at intermission.

The Little Hawks drove to the West 10-yard line on their first march before turning it over on downs.

Possession No. 2 was short and explosive.

Joey Bouska took a handoff off right tackle and got loose for an 86-yard touchdown jaunt. And the floodgates were wide open.

City’s second scoring drive was more methodical — 54 yards in seven plays. Quinton Tran connected with John Klosterman to convert on fourth-and-3 from the West 47, and the Little Hawks tallied three plays later on Richardson’s 5-yard run.

Tran hooked up with Akili Mattox on a pretty throw on a fly pattern down the right side for a 24-yard TD, then connected with Gable Mitchell for 50 yards to set up the final score of the half, a 4-yard run by Bouska.

Tran, who shares QB duties with Drew Larson, completed 8 of 9 first-half throws for 131 yards.

“Drew and I work well together,” Tran said. “It’s a competition, yeah, but at the end of the day, it’s us together.”

West (1-4) lost its third straight game. The Trojans showed some spark at the start of the second half, getting a 28-yard touchdown pass from Jack Wallace to Nate Gudenkauf to cut the deficit to 28-7, but the momentum didn’t last long.

Richardson, who finished with 220 rushing yards on 23 carries, scored three of his four touchdowns in the second half. Mitchell added a 74-yard interception return for score.

“Coach tells me to run hard and run low,” Richardson said. “That’s what I try to do every time.”

City was coming off a validating win over West Des Moines Dowling last week. There was absolutely no letdown against its archrival.

“The kids come in each week and reset the wheel,” Moore said. “They want to get better every week than the week before.”

City High plays at Davenport North next Thursday; West hosts Davenport Central next Friday.

Iowa City High 56, Iowa City West 7

AT BATES FIELD

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: ICW 12, ICH 21

Rushes-yards: ICW 43-149, ICH 42-387

Passing yards: ICW 71, ICH 169

Passing: ICW 2-15-3, ICH 12-18-1

Total yards: ICW 220, ICH 556

Fumbles-lost: ICW 1-0, ICH 0-0

Punts-average: ICW 8-33.5, ICH 2-32.0

Penalties-yards: ICW 5-37, ICH 9-80

SCORING SUMMARY

Iowa City West 0 0 7 0 — 7

Iowa City High 14 14 21 7 — 56

City — Joey Bouska 86 run (Kongalo Mwenemkamba kick)

City — Darren Richardson 5 run (Mwenemkamba kick)

City — Akili Mattox 24 pass from Quinton Tran (Mwenemkamba kick)

City — Youska 4 run (Mwenemkamba kick)

West — Nate Gudenkauf 28 pass from Jack Wallace (Matt Jetton kick)

City — Richardson 4 run (Mwenemkamba kick)

City — Richardson 30 run (Mwenemkamba kick)

City — Gable Mitchell 74 interception return (Mwenemkamba kick)

City — Richardson 11 run (Mwenemkamba kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

West -- Mason Applegate 28-117, Davontae Morris 8-31, Zach Logsdon 4-15, Jack Wallace 2-(minus 12). City -- Darren Richardson 23-220, Joey Bouska 13-125, Quinton Tran 5-38, Sam Rew 1-4.

Passing

West -- Wallace 2-15-3-71. City -- Tran 9-11-0-142, Drew Larson 3-7-1-27.

Receiving

West -- Nate Gudenkauf 2-71. City -- Gable Mitchell 3-58, Will Larson 3-34, John Klosterman 2-16, Bouska 1-26, Akili Mattox 1-24, Jovan Harris 1-11, Carsen Newton 1-0.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com