Iowa high school football roundup: Week 8 scores, stats and more

Here’s our Week 8 roundup with Iowa high school football scores, stats and complete Gazette-area coverage from Friday, Oct. 13, 2023.

Iowa City High 30, Linn-Mar 0

The first lightning strike delayed the start by about 50 minutes.

Iowa City High provided the second lightning strike that produced a charge that was consistent as the rain that fell over Bates Field.

Bobby Bacon and Jeremiah Madlock struck for a 63-yard touchdown pass in the opening quarter. Miles Parlet added the thunder behind a strong rush attack that complemented a stingy defense. The Little Hawks improved their postseason standing Friday night with a dominant 30-0 victory over Linn-Mar.

“I’m proud of our team effort,” City High Coach Mitch Moore said. “The character and continuity of our team really showed tonight. We’re a team that has been battle-tested all year long. We’ve faced a lot of adversity. We’ve lost four starters on defense that we’ve had to have guys learn on the job, on the fly, during the season, and we have.”

» Read the game story from The Gazette’s K.J. Pilcher

5A No. 8 Bettendorf 35, 5A No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie 8

Not much to say, other than this:

Bettendorf was better.

The Class 5A eighth-ranked Bulldogs ran, defended the run and whipped No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie, 35-8, at rainy John Wall Field on Friday.

Jackson Laver’s fumble recovery in the end zone gave the Bulldogs (7-1) their first touchdown, and the visitors were off and running.

The tale was told on the ground. Bettendorf ran for 298 yards on 43 carries. Matthys netted 138 yards on just five carries, and Barta added 97 yards on 18 attempts. Prairie, on the other hand, rushed for minus-2 yards.

» Read the game story from The Gazette’s Jeff Linder

Marion 38, Mason City 0

So what’s it like to play an entire football game in a veritable downpour?

“Oh, my gosh, it was so much fun,” Kaiden Griffith said.

Yeah, especially when you are winning and winning comfortably, which Griffith and his Marion Wolves did Friday night, 38-0, over Mason City on soggy Senior Night.

“We came out here, and pregame it wasn’t raining,” said Griffith, the standout wide receiver-defensive back-punt returner. “So we weren’t really expecting anything. Then it started raining, and passing the ball was (very difficult). We got used to things, and started running the ball the rest of the game.”

Marion (6-2) changed its plan mid-flight, so to speak, and simply pounded Mason City (2-6), rushing 42 times for 262 yards. That included touchdown scurries by running back Trey Franck (4 yards), quarterback Kaleb Diers (52 yards) and receiver Darius Rouson (16 yards) in that order.

» Read the game story from The Gazette’s Jeff Johnson

4A No. 5 Cedar Rapids Xavier 35, Clear Creek Amana 7

Cedar Rapids Xavier has booked its ticket to the state football playoffs for the 20th time since 2001.

The fifth-ranked Saints (6-2, 4-0) earned the Class 4A District 3 title with a 35-7 victory over Clear Creek Amana (2-6, 2-2) at Clipper Field Friday night, thus making postseason qualification “official.”

“We just told the guys right here after the game that winning one high school football game is hard to do,” Xavier Coach Duane Schulte said. “So for these guys to end up winning enough to be a district champion is a credit to our kids and all the hard work they put in.”

Xavier had 138 rushing yards, 151 passing yards and 12 first downs in the first half as it built a 27-0 lead. Clear Creek Amana had just 12 yards of total offense in the first half.

» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Ryan Pleggenkuhle

North Linn 56, Bellevue 6

North Linn football coach Jared Collum takes pride in his team's ball-hawking ability on defense.

Cael Benesh and his teammates took that ball-hawking to an entire different level during Friday night's game with Bellevue.

The Lynx took the ball away from the visitors nine times, including eight interceptions, rolling to a 56-6 victory on a windy, rainy night on North Linn's field.

In a game where the prize was a Class A playoff berth, the Lynx (6-2, 5-2 in District 4) turned away the Comets at every turn. Benesh led the turnover party with four interceptions, returning a pair for touchdowns. Breckyn Betenbender had three picks of his own while Jake Van Etten returned a fumble for a score.

“I've never seen it, never heard of it,” Collum said of a team having eight picks in one game. “And to have one kid with four and taking two back for touchdowns is even more amazing.”

» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Mike Condon

8P No. 6 Central City 66, Midland 18

Sixth-ranked Central City, district title already in hand, enjoyed a coronation night, slipping and sliding in the rain and dispatching Midland, 66-18.

Quarterback Jayden Hanson accounted for the first five Central City scores, running for three and connecting with Mekhi Benton on two more as the Wildcats seized a 50-6 halftime lead on Midland (2-4, 3-5).

For a program that has produced a 37-57 record over the past decade, it was an experience the Wildcats (6-0, 7-1) thoroughly enjoyed.

“It was fun,” Benton said. “Especially for senior night. We’ve come a long way from not being as successful as in our younger years. Everybody said we should be better as we get older if we stick to it.”

» Read the game story from Gazette correspondent Culley Kline

Cedar Falls 17, 5A No. 3 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 14

Tate Hermansen threw a pair of touchdown passes and the Tigers came up with a pair of huge fourth-quarter defensive stops to knock off the Cougars at the UNI-Dome.

— Jim Nelson, Waterloo Courier

West Delaware 29, 3A No. 9 Independence 21

Brent Yonkovic rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown and Memphis Voelker added 108 and two TDs as the Hawks won at home.

West Delaware stuck to its ground attack, rushing for 269 yards, to improve to 5-3.

E.J. Miller completed 12 of 22 passes for 93 yards for the Mustangs (6-2) with a TD and four interceptions. Brady Kurt caught nine passes for 57 yards and a TD.

— Bill Logan

1A No. 7 Iowa City Regina 35, 1A No. 5 Wilton 0

Gentry Dumont rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another as the seventh-ranked Regals dominated the No. 5 Beavers on the road.

Jackson Naeve scored on a 46-yard run and a 39-yard pass from Dumont.

1A No. 9 West Branch 42, Durant 0

Brennen Dale had three rushing and two passing touchdowns as the Bears rolled at home.

Senior Auron Marsh added 67 yards and a TD and Trenton Schutte recovered three fumbles for West Branch, which will host a Class 1A playoff game next Friday.

— Jason Miller

4A No. 1 Western Dubuque 28, Decorah 7

Grant Glausser rushed for 301 yards and scored three touchdowns as the top-ranked Bobcats rolled at home.

Glausser ran 34 yards for the first score of the game, then added a 3-yard TD run later in the first quarter.

Quarterback Tanner Anderson hit Brock Carpenter on a 26-yard strike with 2:08 left in the first half and Glausser saved his best run for his last carry of the half, scampering 85 yards for the touchdown with just 43 seconds left.

Glausser finished the game with 301 yards on 29 carries.

Decorah scored when quarterback Louis Bucksa found Kaiden Quandahl in the end zone on a 7-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.

— Randy Iverson

2A No. 5 Monticello 57, Tipton 6

The Panthers wrapped up a perfect Class 2A, District 4 record by scoring 43 unanswered first half points on the way to the win at Tipton.

The Panthers (7-1, 5-0) were led by quarterback Preston Ries, who rushed 14 times for 166 yards and four touchdowns and passed for 144 yards and two more scores.

Conner Jordan had two rushing touchdowns as well.

Monticello’s defense held Tipton (4-4, 1-4) to 15 rushing yards and 94 total yards for the game. The Tigers’ lone score was on a halfback pass from Landon Holub to Jacob Boedeker, covering 69 yards.

— Pete Temple

Turkey Valley 14, Riceville 8

Quarterback Logan Busta scored on a 13-yard run with 3:04 left in the third to put the Trojans up for good.

Busta also had a 39-yard TD pass to Caleb Kurtenbach and Oliver Schmitt rushed for 91 yards.

— Darin Svenson

Northeast 12, Anamosa 7

Quarterback Gavin Kramer scored the game-winning touchdown with 5:36 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the host Rebels a come-from-behind win in Goose Lake.

Anamosa’s Austin Scranton rushed for 254 yards and scored the Raiders’ lone TD on a 15-yard run at the 5:15 mark of the first quarter.

Anamosa outgained Northeast 258-61 in total yards.

— Daryl Schepanski

Statewide Week 8 Iowa high school football scores

CLASS 5A

No. 8 Bettendorf 35, No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie 8

Cedar Falls 17, No. 3 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 14

Davenport Central 6, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 3

Davenport West 14, Dubuque Hempstead 8

Dubuque Senior 10, Cedar Rapids Washington 0

Iowa City High 30, Linn-Mar 0

Iowa City Liberty 44, Waterloo West 0

Johnston 21, Urbandale 2

Marshalltown 27, Des Moines Lincoln 14

Muscatine 28, Davenport North 26 (OT)

Ottumwa 52, Des Moines East 32

No. 5 Pleasant Valley 38, Iowa City West 25

No. 1 Southeast Polk 37, No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling 34 (3OT)

Sioux City East 35, Ames 28

Sioux City North 45, Council Bluffs Lincoln 8 (Thursday)

No. 9 Waukee 42, Des Moines Roosevelt 14 (Thursday)

No. 5 Waukee Northwest 17, No. 7 Ankeny Centennial 7

West Des Moines Valley 24, No. 4 Ankeny 23

CLASS 4A DISTRICT 1

Denison-Schleswig 16, No. 9 Le Mars 14

Fort Dodge 48, Sioux City West 6

Spencer 61, Storm Lake 0

CLASS 4A DISTRICT 2

Marion 38, Mason City 0

Waverly-Shell Rock 56, Waterloo East 20

No. 1 Western Dubuque 28, Decorah 7

CLASS 4A DISTRICT 3

Burlington 19, Oskaloosa 13

No. 5 Cedar Rapids Xavier 35, Clear Creek Amana 7

No. 6 North Scott 55, Clinton 0

CLASS 4A DISTRICT 4

Carlisle 51, Des Moines Hoover 6

Newton 21, No. 8 Gilbert 2

Pella 40, No. 3 Bondurant-Farrar 13

CLASS 4A DISTRICT 5

Ballard 55, Des Moines North 6

Indianola 24, No. 1 Adel ADM 0

No. 7 North Polk 42, Boone 8

CLASS 4A DISTRICT 6

No. 4 Council Bluffs Lewis Central 42, No. 10 Norwalk 13

Dallas Center-Grimes 31, Winterset 10

Glenwood 42, Council Bluffs Jefferson 6

CLASS 3A DISTRICT 1

MOC-Floyd Valley 22, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 12

No. 6 Sioux Center 25, Carroll 6

Sioux City Heelan 34, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 14

CLASS 3A DISTRICT 2

Algona 47, Webster City 0

Hampton-Dumont-CAL 46, Charles City 0

Humboldt 34, No. 2 Clear Lake 0

CLASS 3A DISTRICT 3

Maquoketa 12, Center Point-Urbana 2

West Delaware 29, No. 9 Independence 21

Dubuque Wahlert at DeWitt Central, ppd.

CLASS 3A DISTRICT 4

No. 8 Davenport Assumption 48, Keokuk 0

Fort Madison 55, Mount Pleasant 14

No. 4 Mount Vernon 65, Washington 6

CLASS 3A DISTRICT 5

Benton Community 74, South Tama 0

No. 3 Solon 42, Fairfield 6

No. 5 Williamsburg 63, Grinnell 8

CLASS 3A DISTRICT 6

No. 1 Creston 42, No. 7 Nevada 28

No. 10 Harlan 27, Atlantic 6

Perry 17, Knoxville 14

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 1

No. 1 Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 7, No. 3 West Lyon 0

Cherokee 40, Sheldon 21

No. 7 Western Christian 36, Unity Christian 14

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 2

Estherville-Lincoln Central 43, Garner GHV 7

Okoboji 41, Forest City 19

No. 4 Spirit Lake 21, Clarion CGD 0

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 3

Crestwood 14, North Fayette Valley 7 (Thursday)

Osage 52, Oelwein 0

Waukon 28, New Hampton 27 (OT)

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 4

Camanche 54, West Liberty 26

No. 5 Monticello 57, Tipton 6

Northeast 12, Anamosa 7

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 5

Mediapolis 51, Central Lee 7

Mid-Prairie 42, Albia 22

West Burlington/Notre Dame 43, Davis County 30

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 6

Jesup 28, Vinton-Shellsburg 6

No. 7 Monroe PCM 45, Iowa Falls-Alden 6

Union Community 14, West Marshall 6

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 7

No. 10 Clarinda 30, Centerville 8

Clarke 21, Chariton 18

No. 1 Van Meter 47, Interstate 35 3

CLASS 2A DISTRICT 8

No. 6 Carroll Kuemper 28, Southeast Valley 0

Des Moines Christian 34, Greene County 33

No. 9 Roland-Story 49, Saydel 0

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 1

Hinton 26, West Sioux 0

Ida Grove OABCIG 64, Lawton-Bronson 30

Ridge View 45, Mapleton MVAOCOU 6

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 2

East Sac County 13, Sioux Central 6

Emmetsburg 54, Manson-Northwest Webster 6

Pocahontas Area 12, Eagle Grove 0

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 3

No. 8 Dike-New Hartford 14, No. 10 Denver 8

No. 4 MFL MarMac 34, Central Springs 0

No. 3 Sumner-Fredericksburg 27, Aplington-Parkersburg 0

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 4

Alburnett 14, East Marshall 0

No. 1 Grundy Center 28, Hudson 3 (Thursday)

Waterloo Columbus 19, South Hardin 6

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 5

Cascade 8, Dyersville Beckman 7

No. 7 Iowa City Regina 35, No. 5 Wilton 0

No. 9 West Branch 42, Durant 0

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 6

Pella Christian 58, Colfax-Mingo 34

Pleasantville 52, Eldon Cardinal 0

No. 6 Sigourney-Keota 62, Eddyville EBF 12

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 7

Ogden 47, Nodaway Valley 8

South Hamilton 60, Grand View Christian 13

Woodward-Granger 27, West Central Valley 6

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 8

Avoca AHSTW 50, Shenandoah 7

Treynor 59, Missouri Valley 0

No. 2 Underwood 56, Red Oak 0

CLASS A DISTRICT 1

Akron-Westfield 26, South O’Brien 0

Le Mars Gehlen 16, Hartley HMS 8

Marcus MMCRU 25, Alta-Aurelia 0

CLASS A DISTRICT 2

No. 1 Saint Ansgar 31, Lake Mills 6

West Fork 14, Belmond-Klemme 8

No. 3 West Hancock 67, Mason City Newman 13

CLASS A DISTRICT 3

North Butler 6, Ackley AGWSR 0

South Winneshiek 34, Conrad BCLUW 0 (Thursday)

No. 8 Wapsie Valley 32, Nashua-Plainfield 6

CLASS A DISTRICT 4

East Buchanan 68, Postville 0

North Cedar 16, Clayton Ridge 0

North Linn 56, Bellevue 6

No. 9 Starmont 27, Maquoketa Valley 6

CLASS A DISTRICT 5

Columbus Community 63, Danville 18

Highland 28, Wapello 0

No. 5 Lisbon 45, Van Buren County 8

Pekin 61, Louisa-Muscatine 6

CLASS A DISTRICT 6

No. 7 Lynnville-Sully 22, Central Decatur 0

No. 4 Madrid 40, Wayne 14

Mount Ayr 47, Martensdale-St. Marys 12

CLASS A DISTRICT 7

Earlham 52, South Central Calhoun 14

No. 6 Guthrie Center ACGC 41, Southwest Valley 0

Oakland Riverside 62, Panorama 12

CLASS A DISTRICT 8

Kingsley-Pierson/River Valley 14, Tri-Center 6

Sloan Westwood 12, Council Bluffs St. Albert 7

No. 2 Woodbury Central 55, West Monona 0

CLASS A NON-DISTRICT

North Union 19, Sibley-Ocheyedan 18

No. 10 Logan-Magnolia 31, IKM-Manning 21

North Mahaska at North Tama, ppd.

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 1

Boyer Valley 27, Westside Ar-We-Va 20

Newell-Fonda 12, Siouxland Christian 6

No. 4 Remsen St. Mary’s 17, West Harrison/Whiting 0 (forfeit)

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 2

Algona Garrigan 20, Harris-Lake Park 14

North Iowa 33, Ruthven GTRA 26

West Bend-Mallard 78, Rockford 8

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 3

No. 8 Don Bosco 80, Waterloo Christian 0

Turkey Valley 14, Riceville 8

West Central 36, Elkader Central 0

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 4

No. 5 Clarksville 48, Meskwaki 6

Janesville 60, Tripoli 0

No. 7 Gladbrook-Reinbeck 62, Garwin GMG 16

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 5

Calamus-Wheatland 26, Springville 20

No. 6 Central City 66, Midland 18

Lone Tree 58, Easton Valley 0

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 6

English Valleys 52, New London 40

No. 1 Winfield-Mount Union 66, HLV 0

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 7

BGM 43, Moravia 32

Montezuma 64, Twin Cedars 12

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 8

No. 3 Bedford 63, Southeast Warren 0

No. 9 Lenox 56, Lamoni 8

Murray 52, Mormon Trail 14

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 9

Audubon 42, Baxter 26

Coon Rapids-Bayard 34, Colo-Nesco 20

Glidden-Ralston 62, Fort Dodge St. Edmond 16

8-PLAYER DISTRICT 10

No. 2 Anita CAM 42, Stanton/Essex 6

Exira-EHK 48, Griswold 6

Fremont-Mills 56, Sidney 6

8-PLAYER NON-DISTRICT

Collins-Maxwell 22, East Union 16

Edgewood-Colesburg 70, Lansing Kee 50

Iowa Valley 70, Belle Plaine 12

Northwood-Kensett 30, Dunkerton 26

Woodbine 68, East Mills 18