Iowa City Regina uses all 3 phases for a win over Mediapolis

IOWA CITY — A combination of steady offense, turnover-inducing defense and a little trickery proved to be the winning formula for Iowa City Regina on Friday.

The Regals (3-0), powered by quarterback Kyle Tracy’s 249 passing yards and the defense’s four forced turnovers, defeated Mediapolis, 31-21, in a non-district home football game.

Tracy got things started for Regina, capping an opening 11-play, 73-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. He also went 4-for-4 for 58 passing yards on the first march.

“Kyle, with his feet, being a dual-threat, it’s so nice having a quarterback that can sling it, but also scramble and pick up yards on his own,” first-year Regina Coach Dustin Elsbury said.

“My job’s easy because I love the guys around me,” Tracy said. “I just have to go out there and do my job, and I know everyone else around me is going to do theirs.”

Two minutes after Tracy’s first score, Leren Fernandez jumped on a Mediapolis (1-2) fumble at its 27.

Tate Wallace scored two plays later, taking a Tracy screen pass 22 yards to give Regina an early 14-0 lead.

“We can put the ball in multiple guys’ hands,” Elsbury said. “It makes it fun as a coach when you have guys like that and can spread the wealth.”

Mediapolis got in the scoring column with 22 seconds left in the first half as Noah Schmidgall broke through a hole and sprinted 36 yards to the end zone.

Schmidgall then capped a short 42-yard drive to begin the third quarter with a 2-yard TD to tie at 14-all.

“No. 4 (Schmidgall), he’s tough to bring down,” Elsbury said. “He’s a heck of a player. Hats off to Mediapolis.”

The Regals drove to the 11 on its next possession, setting up a 28-yard Gabriel Hegelheimer field goal to put them back on top.

Following the score, Hegelheimer put the ball right where it needed to be on an onside kick — Regina recovered at Mediapolis’ 43.

“We saw something on film and we wanted to take advantage of it right after the score,” Elsbury said. “We have a freshman kicker out there, but he’s got ice in his veins and we have some speed on the inside.”

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Photos: Mediapolis at Iowa City Regina high school football

On the next play, Tracy found Drew Greve streaking down the field on a reverse pass for a 43-yard score.

“That was a trick play,” Tracy said. “We just got the turnover and wanted to capitalize on that. Our offensive coordinator (Ed Hinkel) drew up a great play. I got the snap, handed it off, got it back and my receiver was wide open.”

The Regals scored 10 points in 13 seconds.

“Coach Hinkel is such a great mentor for me,” Elsbury said. “He’s like, ‘let’s take a shot right away.’ The guys, they were all for it.”

Mediapolis wasn’t done.

With 2:25 remaining in the third, Schmidgall added his third TD, a 6-yarder to cut Regina’s lead to 3.

After both teams traded fumbles deep in Mediapolis territory early in the fourth, Wallace bulldozed his way into the end zone for a 1-yard score.

Aaron Honore intercepted a Bulldogs pass late in the fourth to seal the victory for Regina.

With the win, Elsbury moved to 3-0 to begin his Regals head coaching tenure.

“I have great assistant coach and my players, they play their heart out and give great effort,” Elsbury said. “It all started with weightlifting over the summer. We bought in and worked out together. It really started growing that culture.”

“Everyone on our team wants to go out there and do everything they can for him because of how good of a coach he is and the culture he’s established,” Tracy said.

Mediapolis will travel to Albia next Friday, while Regina heads to Durant.

Iowa City Regina 31, Mediapolis 21

AT IOWA CITY REGINA FOOTBALL FIELD

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: ICR 21, MD S 16

Passing yards: ICR 249, MDS 49

Rushing yards: ICR 111, MDS 183

Comp-att-int: ICR 14-17-0, MDS 7-14-2

Fumbles-lost: ICR 1-1, MDS 2-2

Total yards: ICR 360, MDS 232

Punts-average: ICR 2-29, MDS 0-0

Penalties-yards: ICR 3-35, MDS 2-25

SCORING SUMMARY

Mediapolis 0 7 14 0 — 21

Iowa City Regina 14 0 10 7 — 31

Iowa City Regina — Kyle Tracy 4 run (Hegelheimer kick)

Iowa City Regina — Tate Wallace 22 pass from Kyle Tracy (Hegelheimer kick)

Mediapolis — Noah Schmidgall 36 run (Braeden Oliver kick)

Mediapolis — Noah Schmidgall 2 run (Braeden Oliver kick)

Iowa City Regina — Gabriel Hegelheimer 28 field goal

Iowa City Regina — Drew Greve 43 pass from Kyle Tracy (Hegelheimer kick)

Mediapolis — Noah Schmidgall 6 run (Braeden Oliver kick)

Iowa City Regina — Tate Wallace 1 run (Hegelheimer kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing — Mediapolis: Reese Campbell 2-4, Noah Schmidgall 27-145, Nathan Schmidgall 1-(minus 1), Gannon Gunn 1-19, Alton Wonderlich 6-16. Iowa City Regina: Savion Miller 16-54, Kyle Tracy 15-62, Tate Wallace 3-3, Misc. 1-(minus 8).

Passing — Mediapolis Reese Campbell 7-14-49-0. Iowa City Regina: Kyle Tracy 14-17-249-0.

Receiving — Mediapolis: Noah Schmidgall 4-28, Alton Wonderlich 1-0, Parker Holsteen 1-8, Gannon Gunn 1-13. Iowa City Regina: Tate Wallace 6-80, Will Aitchison 2-32, Trey Streb 1-4, Drew Greve 3-79, Savion Miller 1-15, Edwin Gangba 1-39.