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

It’s hard to top the excitement of opening week, but Week 2 of the Iowa high school football season still had plenty of rivalries, ranked matchups and upsets.

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Rankings: How the 70 teams ranked in this week’s Gazette poll fared Friday

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3A No. 6 Solon 41, 3A No. 9 Mount Vernon 27

The first drive of the second half set the tempo for Solon.

The No. 6 Spartans needed electric third and fourth quarters to take down No. 9 Mount Vernon, 41-27, on Friday evening.

Solon (2-0) began its first possession of the third quarter on its own 5. It took the Spartans just seven plays to march down the field for a touchdown.

The culprits of the efficient second-half start: Quarterback Blake Timmons and running back Sean Stahle.

Read more from Ryan Pleggenkuhle: Solon extends win streak over Mount Vernon to 19 straight

4A No. 6 Cedar Rapids Xavier 23, 3A No. 3 West Delaware 21

Forty-eight minutes evolved into a one-play game.

Three yards for two points. Strength against strength.

And Cedar Rapids Xavier was stronger.

Class 4A sixth-ranked Xavier held on a two-point conversion attempt with 29 seconds left and held off 3A No. 3 West Delaware, 23-21, in a non-district football game Friday night at Brown Field.

Read more from Jeff Linder: Xavier stymies 2-point conversion to hold off West Delaware

5A No. 7 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 28, Bettendorf 7

Look who has a passing game this season.

That’d be Cedar Rapids Kennedy, which showed it off Friday night in a 28-7 win over Bettendorf at Kingston Stadium.

Quarterback Carson Blietz threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns, all to Jaron Senters, as the Class 5A seventh-ranked Cougars won their second game in as many weeks.

Read more from Jeff Johnson: Cedar Rapids Kennedy shows off its passing attack in win over Bettendorf

Linn-Mar 25, Iowa City Liberty 15

Linn-Mar Coach Tim Lovell considers himself an old-fashioned football coach.

He likes a physical game, pounding the rock and a fast, tough defense that hunts for the ball. The Lions gave him just what he likes.

Linn-Mar rushed for three touchdowns, including two in the second quarter, and forced four turnovers in a 25-15 victory over Iowa City Liberty Friday night in a consistent mist at Lions Stadium.

“We preach defense,” Lovell said. “We preach playing fast and physical, playing free without thinking and running the ball,” Lovell said. “That’s just good old-fashioned football.

Read more from K.J. Pilcher: Linn-Mar powers past Iowa City Liberty

Iowa City High 68, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 0

For the first time in years, the Little Hawks are rolling. But how much have they learned about themselves heading into Week 3?

On the heels of a dominant 41-0 win over Iowa City Liberty, Iowa City High took care of a depleted Cedar Rapids Jefferson squad, 68-0, Friday night at Bates Field in Iowa City.

“The story of this team right now is just the energy, and the passion, and the excitement we’re playing the game of football with,” first-year City High Coach Mitch Moore said. “That’s the brand of football we want to play.”

Read more from Culley Kline: Iowa City High overpowers Cedar Rapids Jefferson

5A No. 4 Cedar Rapids Prairie 28, Dubuque Senior 14

Markelle Taylor scored a pair of touchdowns as the Hawks won in Dubuque.

Taylor scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards.

Brandon Vlcko scored on a 62-yard run for the Hawks (2-0) and passed 10 yards to Gabe Burkle for another score.

– Dubuque Telegraph-Herald

Iowa City West 42, Muscatine 7

Mason Applegate’s four first-half rushing touchdowns led a dominating Trojan run game in Muscatine.

The Trojans torched the Muskies for more than 400 yards.

Applegate finished with 217 yards.

The Trojans (1-0) scored 21 points in the second quarter with Applegate scoring on runs of 13, 32 and 6 yards.

Freshman quarterback Jack Wallace finished near 150 yards passing, completing 10 of 15 attempts.

– Ryan Timmerman, Muscatine Journal

3A No. 5 Independence 28, Clear Creek Amana 14

Marcus Beatty rushed for 264 yards and two touchdowns and Mitchell Johnson passed for 116 and two scores as the Mustangs won in Tiffin.

Beatty averaged 7.5 yards per carry and scored on runs of 15 and 16 yards. Johnson completed 8 of 13 passes, including four for 73 yards and a TD to Keegan Schmitt.

Ben Swails passed for 125 yards and rushed for 66 and a TD for the Clippers.

Waukon 15, Decorah 0

A 60-yard run by Waukon’s Pat Hennessy with 3:01 left in the first half broke a scoreless tie and powered the Indians to a road win.

Waukon scored again in the fourth to seal the win on another Hennessy run, this time a 4-yarder with 1:30 left in the game.

Waukon held Decorah to just three fist downs and 61 total yards in the game.

– Randy Iverson, correspondent

Washington 20, Mount Pleasant 0

Ethan Patterson and Jacob Miller hooked up for a pair of touchdows as the Demons rolled at Case Field.

A 14-yard TD reception put Washington on the board with 10 minutes left in the first half. The two hooked up again on an 18-yard reception with nine minutes to go in the third quarter.

Patterson added a 7-yard run late in the game for the final score.

– Doug Brenneman, Southeast Iowa Union

1A No. 9 Dyersville Beckman 38, Anamosa 0

Owen Huehnergarth rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries as the Blazers won at home.

Caden Gassmann completed only 4 of 10 passes, but all went for TDs and 122 yards for Beckman.

Grahm Humpal rushed for 60 yards for Anamosa.

– Daryl Schepanski, correspondent

Waterloo Columbus 17, West Branch 6

Waterloo Columbus quarterback Carter Gallagher racked up 158 of his team's 244 total offensive yards as the Sailors won at the Little Rose Bowl.

It was the first meeting between the two schools.

Gallagher connected for 23 of his 138 passing yards on a third-quarter strike to Caden Hartz.

The lone Bear score came on a 17-yard Connor Boelk scamper.

Both teams are 1-1.

– Jason Miller, correspondent

Monticello 27, Maquoketa 6

Preston Ries passed for 283 yards and three touchdowns and Tate Petersen had 109 receiving yards as Monticello (2-0) won at Maquoketa (0-2).

Gage Guilford blocked a punt and had two TD catches.

The Panther defense held the host Cardinals to 137 yards of total offense.

– Pete Temple, correspondent

4A No. 3 Cedar Rapids Washington 26, Marion 9

Week 2 kicked off Thursday at Kingston Stadium with the first meeting between Cedar Rapids Washington and Marion.

Class 4A third-ranked Washington defeated Marion, 26-9, in a non-district game. The Warriors spoiled Marion’s first game at the Metro facility since the early 1990s.

Read more from K.J. Pilcher: Defense powers Cedar Rapids Washington to victory over Marion

Gazette area scoreboard

Follow every Gazette area game in Week 2 with our live scoreboard, updated all night.

[IHSAA statewide scorelist]