Iowa City High pulls away from Ames to keep Little Cy-Hawk Trophy

IOWA CITY — The Little Cy-Hawk Trophy will remain in Iowa City for at least another year.

The 10th-ranked Iowa City High Little Hawks defeated Ames, 55-19, Friday night at Bates Field in a non-district matchup.

With the win, City High (2-1) retains the Little Cy-Hawk Trophy, which it’s held since Sept. 13, 2019.

“It’s really good to be home,” said Iowa City High Coach Mitchell Moore. “Bates is an iconic place to play Iowa high school football.

“That was the message I talked to the team about. It’s about representing this community, this historic field. There’s a buzz about this place when you play good football.”

Friday’s matchup featured two of the top aerial attacks in Class 5A.

Ames (2-1) and City High entered the contest tied atop Class 5A with seven passing TDs. The Little Cyclones ranked second in passing yards with 752, while the Little Hawks came in third with 589.

“Offensively I think you saw that we are more talented than we were last year,” said Moore. “We can stretch the field deep. We’ve got two quarterbacks that really know what they’re doing.”

One of those quarterbacks, Drew Larson, completed 16 of 19 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns.

“I think people need to start taking note of Drew Larson,” said Moore. “He’s a special talent.”

Both teams showed why their offenses were highly ranked in Class 5A in the first half.

City High got on the board early as Larson capped an opening nine-play, 66-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown.

Later in the first, Larson found Jeremiah Madlock for a 12-yard score, giving the Little Hawks a 13-0 lead with 5:44 to go in the first.

Ames answered back as Dallas Sauser found Jalen Lueth, 5A’s leading receiver in touchdowns, for a 2-yard TD.

Sauser and Lueth connected again early in the second for a 5-yard TD, getting the Little Cyclones to within one at 13-12.

Thirteen seconds later, City High’s Ronnie Major broke loose for a 67-yard score.

Major again found paydirt on City High’s next drive, this time from 18 yards out, giving City High a 27-12 lead.

“He’s electric,” Moore said. “He’s smooth, he’s fast, he has good hands. He can split a defense and really dial it up.”

Sauser found Lueth for a third score from 21 yards out with 3:22 to get it back to a one-score game at 27-19.

Lueth finished with 12 catches for 224 yards and three TDs.

From there, the Little Hawks went on a 28-0 run to close the game.

With 2:34 left in the second, Larson found Sam Rew for a 41-yard TD.

The Little Hawks then got the ball back quickly, and Major added his third TD of the half, on a 1-yard score with 23 seconds left, as City High took a 41-19 lead into the locker room.

Major rushed for 94 yards in the first half on seven carries, three of which went for TDs.

“I just had to go out and compete,” Major said. “I just wanted to give the home crowd something to watch.”

Larson threw two third-quarter touchdowns, one to Akili Mattox and the other to Rew.

Both teams were scoreless in the fourth. City High punted just twice in the game.

“I’m just really proud of our guys’ willingness to embrace the growth,” Moore said. “I think there’s a lot of good football left in this football team. We’ve got the biggest challenge of the year next in (West Des Moines) Dowling.”

City High will travel to No. 4 Dowling next Friday. Ames will host Des Moines East.