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Iowa high school football playoffs 2024: Round of 16 scores, stats and more
8 teams remain in each class after Friday night’s games
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The Gazette’s roundup of Friday, Nov. 2 Iowa high school football playoff games with statewide scores and complete area coverage.
This was the first round of the postseason for Class 5A, 4A and 3A teams and the second round in 2A, 1A, A and 8-Player. Winners advance to next week’s state quarterfinals.
Rankings listed are via The Gazette poll.
Class 5A Iowa high school football playoffs
Pod A
No. 5 Iowa City Liberty 31, Waukee 14
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 top-seeded Lightning (9-1) eliminated Waukee.
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.
Liberty led 17-14 at halftime.
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.
» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Douglas Miles
No. 8 Ankeny 47, No. 9 Linn-Mar 21
Pod B
No. 1 West Des Moines Dowling 41, Cedar Falls 21
No. 2 Ankeny Centennial 52, No. 9 Iowa City High 28
Pod C
Iowa City West 21, No. 6 Bettendorf 16
The Bulldogs were 8-0 against their first eight opponents, but 0-2 against Iowa City teams.
A week after City High knocked Bettendorf from the ranks of unbeatens, the Trojans scored a Round of 16 win on the road behind Julian Manson’s three touchdowns.
No. 9 Southeast Polk 24, No. 7 Pleasant Valley 21
Pod D
No. 3 West Des Moines Valley 31, Sioux City East 28
No. 4 Johnston 49, Waterloo West 14
Class 4A Iowa high school football playoffs
Pod A
No. 1 North Polk 36, Fort Dodge 6
No. 9 Cedar Rapids Xavier 35, No. 8 Norwalk 14
Cash Parks passed for 148 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to power the Saints on the road.
Parks completed 9 of 11 passes for 148 yds.
Carter Hoffman rushed for 170 yards on 30 carries and scored a TD and Dustin Cook caught three passes for 64 yards and two TDs
— Scott Unash
Pod B
No. 2 Decorah 15, Newton 14
A fake PAT attempt lifted the Vikings to a comeback win in Decorah.
Tanner Cadell scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and goal with 58.2 seconds left to pull the Vikings within 14-13, then Caleb Kreig threw a 2-point conversion pass to Tommy Sexton on a fake for the win.
Decorah trailed 14-7 at the half. The Vikings defense made a huge goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter as Newton ran three plays from the 1-yard line and couldn’t score.
— Randy Iverson
No. 7 North Scott 26, No. 9 Western Dubuque 7
Pod C
No. 5 Pella 34, Clear Creek Amana 7
No. 3 Gilbert 21, Waverly-Shell Rock 14
Pod D
No. 4 Lewis Central 28, Ballard 10
No. 6 Adel ADM 43, Spencer 13
Class 3A Iowa high school football playoffs
Pod A
No. 3 Humboldt 13, Clear Lake 10
No. 9 Solon 34, No. 5 Benton Community 27
Solon Coach Lucas Stanton took a picture of the scoreboard after the Spartans’ 21-20 loss to Benton Community on Oct. 4.
He had a feeling his team would see the Bobcats again.
It proved to be an effective tactic.
Solon’s Eddie Johnson finished with 90 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. He capped a 13-play, 61-yard drive that took 5:14 off the clock with a game-sealing 3-yard TD.
“Benton’s one of the best teams in the state,” Stanton said. “So for us to come back and respond the way we did, that’s a sign that we’re young but we’re growing up.”
» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Ryan Pleggenkuhle
Pod B
No. 1 Sergeant Bluff-Luton 35, MOC-Floyd Valley 17
No. 10 Nevada 21, Sioux City Heelan 14
Pod C
No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert 41, Davenport Assumption 0
No. 8 Independence 21, No. 7 Williamsburg 14
Bryce Christian hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from E.J. Miller with 21 seconds left to cap a huge fourth-quarter comeback that gave Independence a 21-14 win over Williamsburg in a Class 3A state football playoff first-round game Friday night at Lyle Leinbaugh Field.
Eighth-ranked Indee (8-2) was down 14-0 going to the fourth quarter but scored three TDs to ensure there will be a new 3A state champion. Seventh-ranked Williamsburg (7-3) was ranked No. 1 by The Gazette just two weeks ago but lost its regular-season finale last week to Benton Community and then this one.
“This is awesome, but we’re not done, yet,” Miller said. “We’re not finished, we want to keep going obviously ... Celebrate this and then on to next week.”
Independence finished with 201 yards rushing, 169 in the second half.
» Read the game story from The Gazette’s Jeff Johnson
Pod D
No. 6 Algona 49, Harlan 6
No. 4 Mount Vernon 42, Carroll 6
Mount Vernon quarterback Kellen Haverback passed for a touchdown, ran for three more and his brilliant “coffin corner” punt at the 1-yard line led to a fumble and eventually his final rushing score.
“He has done an unbelievable job,” Mount Vernon Coach Brad Meester said. “Obviously, just his progress throughout the year has been exceptional, and he's really gotten to a point now where he leads this offense.”
Haverback had plenty of help, including a dominant defensive performance and a workmanlike effort from running back Cooper Hird in the fourth-ranked Mustangs’ 42-6 thrashing of Carroll.
Hird was a workhorse for the Mustangs. He pounded the ball against the Tigers, amassing 126 yards on 26 carries. He scored twice, adding a 9-yard scoring run with 2:29 left to play.
» Read the game story from The Gazette’s K.J. Pilcher
Class 2A Iowa high school football playoffs
Pod A
No. 1 West Lyon 42, Western Christian 7
No. 5 Carroll Kuemper 24, Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 14
Pod B
No. 2 Monroe PCM 48, Greene County 6
No. 10 Mid-Prairie 35, Mediapolis 14
Pod C
No. 3 Spirit Lake 42, Osage 14
No. 6 North Fayette Valley 28, Crestwood 6
Pod D
No. 4 Van Meter 47, West Marshall 0
No. 9 Anamosa 48, West Burlington/Notre Dame 20
The Blue Raiders advanced to the Class 2A state quarterfinal round for just the second time in program history and first since 2015 with an impressive rout at Downing Field.
Austin Scranton rushed for 246 yards on 27 carries, scoring three touchdowns, and Vince Diers completed 11 of 16 passes for 156 yards and three more scores.
— Daryl Schepanski
Class 1A Iowa high school football playoffs
Pod A
No. 1 Grundy Center 42, West Branch 7
Judd Jirovsky scored five touchdowns (three rush, two pass) to lead the Spartans.
Both passing TDs were to the Class 1A leader in the category, Tiernen Vokes.
The Bears’ lone score came on a 73-yard Ethan Miller pick-6 in the fourth quarter.
— Jason Miller
Sumner-Fredericksburg 14, Manson-Northwest Webster 0
Pod B
No. 2 Dike-New Hartford 55, South Hamilton 22
No. 3 South Hardin 27, No. 9 Emmetsburg 20
Pod C
No. 6 Hinton 21, Ida Grove OABCIG 14
Underwood 21, No. 5 Treynor 20
Pod D
No. 8 Iowa City Regina 35, Woodward-Granger 14
The Regals improved to 9- 1 with the road win and will host Wilton in a Class 1A quarterfinal next Friday.
No. 7 Wilton 40, MFL MarMac 14
Class A Iowa high school football playoffs
Pod A
No. 1 West Hancock 28, Marcus MMCRU 21
Woodbury Central 21, No. 6 Le Mars Gehlen 19
Pod B
No. 2 Guthrie Center ACGC 41, Mount Ayr 14
No. 5 Tri-Center 58, No. 8 Oakland Riverside 13
Pod C
No. 3 Saint Ansgar 18, Wapsie Valley 0
No. 7 Maquoketa Valley 38, Nashua-Plainfield 13
Pod D
No. 4 Lisbon 56, Bellevue 12
At Lisbon, Tiernan Boots ran for 242 yards on 18 carries and scored four touchdowns as the Lions rolled into the Class A quarterfinals.
Lisbon (10-0) also had interception returns for scores from Daylin Schaefer (21 yards) and Gage Holub (85 yards).
For Bellevue (7-3) Cal Bonifas threw for 242 yards. Keenan Kilburg had 17 catches for 148 yards and a score.
» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Mike Condon
No. 10 Madrid 33, No. 9 Pekin 0
8-Player Iowa high school football playoffs
Pod A
No. 4 Lenox 41, Ar-We-Va 6
Montezuma 32, No. 7 Bedford 28
Pod B
No. 2 Algona Garrigan 47, Riceville 12
No. 8 Edgewood-Colesburg 70, No. 10 Janesville 48
Pryce Rochford rushed for six touchdowns, passed for three more and accounted for 526 yards of offense as the Vikings rolled at home.
Rochford rushed for 345 yards and completed all eight of his passes for 181 more. He also scored four 2-points conversions.
Janesville QB Dane Appleby rushed for 171 yards and passed for 240 and five TDs.
— Bill Logan
Pod C
No. 3 Don Bosco 48, WACO 7
No. 6 Gladbrook-Reinbeck 57, Iowa Valley 32
Drew Eilers rushed for 138 yards and five touchdowns, passed for one TD and returned an interception for another score to lead the Rebels.
Nolan Kriegel rushed for 255 yards for the Tigers, scoring five TD (four rushing and one receiving).
— Ben Lamparek
Pod D
No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s 42, Anita CAM 6
No. 5 Audubon 42, No. 9 Woodbine 18
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