Iowa high school football roundup: Week 2 scores, stats and more

Gazette area scores, stats and more from Week 2 of the Iowa high school football season.

Mount Vernon 17, 3A No. 2 Solon 14

The streak has been snapped.

For the first time in 20 meetings, Mount Vernon has control of Highway 1.

“It feels good,” said Mount Vernon football coach Lance Pedersen. “We’ve been close before, (but) close doesn’t do you any good.

“It’s nice for those kids to get that win. Hopefully it’s one of many for our football team.”

Mount Vernon took a 10-7 lead into the fourth.

With 7:58 left, Joey Rhomberg found Brady Erickson for a 33-yard completion that came on a third-and-10 from Solon’s 49. Four plays later, fullback Clark Younggreen bulldozed his way in from 2 yards out, giving the Mustangs a commanding, 17-7 lead with 3:30 left.

Rhomberg completed 21 of 42 passes for 211 yards and a TD.

Erickson was his favorite target, catching 10 passes for 126 yards and a score.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Ryan Pleggenkuhle

4A No. 8 Iowa City Liberty 25, 5A No. 9 Linn-Mar 14

Student Body Calisthenics.

That’s how the Iowa City Liberty kids celebrated this one.

After the Class 4A eighth-ranked Lightning put the finishing touches on a 25-14 victory over 5A No. 9 Linn-Mar Friday night at Liberty High School, the Bolts gathered at midfield.

Their peers lined the sidelines and the end zones. Jumping jacks ensued. One for each letter.

L! I! B! ... You know the rest.

Also know this: Liberty is legit. That opening-week Kinnick triumph over Iowa City High? Not a fluke.

Junior quarterback Graham Beckman passed for 329 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown on a post-pattern bomb to Lucas Meyer on the third play of the game.

“I thought I overthrew him,” Beckman said. “But he’s a tall target, he can run and he got to the end zone.”

» Read more from The Gazette’s Jeff Linder

4A No. 9 Cedar Rapids Washington 41, Marion 13

He’s got three touchdowns in two games.

And the thing is Cedar Rapids Washington’s Chase Mahoney hasn’t carried the football, hasn’t caught a pass. He hasn’t returned a kickoff or punt.

What gives?

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know,” Mahoney said, after his team beat Marion, 41-13, Friday night at Thomas Park. “I’ve just been at the right place at the right time.”

You could say that.

The senior linebacker had a pick-six in Washington’s season-opening win last week over Cedar Rapids Jefferson. He plopped on a fumble by teammate Alex Taylor in the end zone early in the second quarter here for a TD.

With the Warriors nursing a 20-13 lead late in the third, he intercepted a rollout pass by Marion sophomore quarterback Kaleb Diers and ran it back 70 yards for a touchdown. Washington had taken the second-half kickoff and driven deep inside Wolves territory, only to turn the ball over on downs.

» Read more from The Gazette’s Jeff Johnson

4A No. 4 Cedar Rapids Xavier 44, West Delaware 7

Cedar Rapids Xavier generated a quick-strike offense.

At times, it was lightning quick and West Delaware couldn’t stop the surge.

Xavier scored five times before halftime with the longest scoring drive consisting of just four plays and the Class 4A fourth-ranked Saints handled West Delaware, 44-7, in a non-district football game Friday night at Saints Field.

“I’m glad our guys came ready to play,” Xavier Coach Duane Schulte said. “I’m happy we got the win.”

Michael Cunningham powered the Saints, rushing for 167 yards and three touchdowns. He carried twice for 72 yards, including a 63-yard scoring jaunt on the Saints’ first drive. Cunningham added a nice cutback for a 21-yard TD run, enacting a running clock with 4:10 left in the third.

“The offensive line did a good job of opening up holes all night,” Cunningham said. “It’s good when they get the line of scrimmage moving that way. It’s a lot easier to make cuts.”

» Read more from The Gazette’s K.J. Pilcher

Cedar Rapids Prairie 40, Dubuque Senior 20

It took some time, but eventually the ground game prevailed for Cedar Rapids Prairie.

The Hawks found themselves trailing 20-13 three plays into the second half of Friday night's game with Dubuque Senior at John Wall Field. The dynamic Rams duo of Jack Simon and Walker Tart had just connected for their third scoring pass of the night.

“We just went into the locker room at halftime and cleaned up some key mistakes,” said Prairie senior running back Makelle Taylor. “Once we did that, we were able to shut them out the rest of the way.”

And it didn't hurt that Taylor and his offensive backfield mates were on their games. The Hawks scored the final four touchdowns of the contest en route to a 40-20 victory.

Prairie's creative running attack unofficially racked up 395 yards on 43 carries.

“I'm glad we finally got one,” said an elated Prairie Coach Mark Bliss after his team evened its record at 1-1. “I think in the end we finally wore them down a little bit. Down the stretch we kinda knew how they were lining up against us and we were fortunate enough to take advantage of that.”

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Mike Condon

Iowa City High 77, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 0

Following a difficult night at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City High took out its frustrations at Kingston Stadium.

The Little Hawks used a big-play offense and collected three defensive touchdowns as they ran past Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 77-0, on Friday night.

“We’re always going to have to play with an edge,” City High Coach Mitchell Moore said. “We’re going to be undersized, we’re going to be fast, we’re going to have a little bit of swagger. That’s how we play, that’s how we practice. That’s our style of football.

“I didn’t think we had that last week. We talked about that all week. Getting that confidence back.”

A week after falling to rival Iowa City Liberty, the Little Hawks (1-1) found the scoreboard quickly against the J-Hawks. Quarterback Drew Larson faked a handoff and took it 30 yards up the middle for the game’s opening points, capping a four-play, 50-yard drive 1:16 into the contest. Larson finished his night 11 of 15 for 171 yards with a pair of touchdowns in the air and one on the ground.

» Read more from Gazette correspondent Culley Kline

5A No. 7 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 27, Bettendorf 0

Vincenzo Gianforte has not even celebrated his 15th birthday yet.

“Age is just a number in football,” Gianforte said. “If you’re well-prepared, anybody can play at this high level.”

The Cougars have found their man under center for the next three seasons.

Gianforte completed 11 of 17 throws for 115 yards and a touchdown as the Cougars rolled to a 27-0 win over Bettendorf on Friday at TouVelle Stadium.

Kennedy (2-0) limited Bettendorf to 71 rushing yards on 28 attempts. The Bulldogs threw a pair of interceptions, were penalized eight times and never had the ball inside the Cougar 35-yard line the entire game.

“Extremely mature kid for 14 years old,” Kennedy Coach Brian White said. “His dad has coached him up throughout his life. He’s cool, calm and collected. He commands the huddle well and understands clock management.

“He’s got some weapons and guys around him, but ultimately the kid under center is the one who has to get it done. There’s a lot of pressure on a young kid, but I’m really happy with his progression and his maturity.”

— Matt Coss, Quad City Times

2A No. 3 Williamsburg 18, 1A No. 4 Van Meter 13

Carson Huedepohl’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1:41 left lifted the Raiders to a road win, snapping the Bulldogs’ 61-game regular-season win streak.

1A No. 2 Dyersville Beckman 20, Anamosa 12

Eli Kluesner returned a kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown and Nick Wulfekuhle rushed for 135 yards including a 71-yard TD, as Beckman won in Anamosa.

Beckman's Trent Arens added 30 and 36 yard field goals, the second giving the Blazers a 20-12 lead with 2:56 to play.

Devin Brophy rushed for 51 yards on 18 carries and scored the lone offensive TD for Raiders. He completed 7 of 15 passes for another 51 yards.

Nate Fischer scored Anamosa’s first TD, picking off a pass and racing 45 yards into the end zone.

— Daryl Schepanski

Monticello 43, Maquoketa 7

Preston Ries rushed for 203 yards, including a 97-yard touchdown, and passed for 206 yards and three scores as the Panthers won at home.

The Panthers (1-1) trailed 7-6 early in the second quarter before scoring 37 unanswered points over the last three. Dylan Roher rushed for two touchdowns.

Monticello outgained the Cardinals (1-1), 561 to 193.

— Pete Temple

2A No. 7 North Fayette Valley 13, Sumner-Fredericksburg 0

Decklynn Heins completed 8 of 10 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown as the TigerHawks won on the road.

The NFV defense held the Cougars to 77 yards and five first downs.

— Darin Svenson

1A No. 7 West Branch 34, Waterloo Columbus 13

Tye Hughes and Andy Henson each had a pair of rushing touchdowns as the Bears won on the road.

Henson finished with 112 rushing yards.

West Branch got out to a 21-point first quarter lead, capped by Jack McCullough’s 27-yard fumble return for a TD.

The Bears (2-0) host Maquoketa Valley next week.

— Jason Miller

3A No. 10 Independence 13, 4A No. 10 Clear Creek Amana 7

Mitchell Johnson completed a 51-yard touchdown pass to Josh Beatty with four seconds left to lift the Mustangs at home.

Mitchell completed 7 of 12 passes for 86 yards.

CCA’s Jackson Schmidt rushed for 130 yards and completed 5 of 10 passes, including a TD that tied the game in the third quarter.

Maquoketa Valley 38, South Winneshiek 8

Lance McShane rushed for 251 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Wildcats rolled in Calmar.

McShane, who had 21 carries, also scored on an interception.

Decorah 27, Waukon 24

It was wild a non-district game in Waukon as the Vikings held on.

It all started on the opening kickoff. The Vikings recovered an onside kick on the Waukon 23-yard line and, on the very next play, quarterback Brady Stille connected with Ben Wymer on scoring strike.

The Vikings led 7-0 after only 11 seconds gone.

The Vikings scored on their next possession as Jaden Baker scored on a 1-yard run.

Waukon found the end zone on a Noah Hatlan TD pass to Evan O’Neil from 13 yards.

On the first play of the second quarter, Baker scored again on a 4-yard run and the Vikings led 21-6. Baker scored again with 7:14 to go in the second quarter.

Waukon made it interesting with two scores in the second half, but both 2-point conversions failed.

— Randy Iverson

Scoreboard

» How the ranked teams fared in Week 2

» Bound statewide scorelist