Iowa high school football Week 4 roundup: Final scores, stats and more

There were quarantines, cancellations and last-minute schedule changes again this week in Iowa high school football, but most teams took the field Friday night for Week 4 of the regular season.

Find complete area coverage, scores and more here.

Dubuque Senior 31, 4A No. 9 Cedar Rapids Washington 0

A long week for Dubuque Senior led to an even longer ride home for Cedar Rapids Washington.

Senior thoroughly dominated the previously unbeaten and No. 9-ranked Warriors in a 31-0 blanking Friday night at Dalzell Field.

The Rams came in hoping to shake the sting of a heartbreaking loss to crosstown rival Hempstead a week ago.

Washington, meanwhile, had barely broken a sweat all year, shutting out two of its previous three opponents this season.

Cain McWilliams had another 100-yard night on the ground, with a pair of touchdowns, and Jack Gilligan threw for one score and ran for another as Senior evened its record at 2-2.

Senior forced three-and-outs on each of Washington's first three possessions. With that, the Rams got excellent field position for their first-quarter possessions.

The Rams drew first blood late in the first quarter. McWilliams accounted for 29 of the 43 yards the Rams needed to grab a 7-0 lead. Gilligan connected with Walker Tart on a pivotal third-and-11 conversion. The 14-yard hookup, along with a 6-yard Gilligan keeper, set up McWilliams for a 4-yard TD with 4:13 left.

Exactly three minutes later, Senior went up 14-0 on another McWilliams run. His 1-yard TD capped a six-play, 72-yard drive that had big play after big play, with gains of 21, 36 and 11 yards.

Washington didn't get a first down until the final 30 seconds of the quarter. The Warriors' best chance to score in the half came when Henry Clymer completed a 47-yard pass to Zaren Ross-Carr. But Washington's Seth Moore missed a 31-yard field goal, bouncing off the left upright.

Senior opened the second half with a brilliant pair of plays. McWilliams took a direct snap for 8 yards. Then Gilligan faked a pitch to the star running back and kept it himself, racing for a 56-yard touchdown. Most of the Warriors' defenders followed McWilliams, and rightfully so, as Gilligan subtly scampered down the sidelines for a quick score and Senior led 21-0.

— Tom Gregory, for Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Waterloo West 45, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 14

An early lead didn't result in a win Friday night for Cedar Rapids Jefferson. Waterloo West scored 45 unanswered points to win, 45-14, at Kingston Stadium.

Jefferson took a 7-0 lead with 8:25 left in the first quarter after junior Dkhai Pope took a direct snap from center for a 6-yard touchdown run. The J-Hawks increased their lead to 14-0 when Brayden Kindhart broke off a 39-yard run.

Waterloo West was able to convert on 10 of 13 third downs while Jefferson was 3 for 11, helping the Wahawks score on seven of their final 10 possessions including three straight in the second period.

Senior back Nate Ewell had a 69-yard run and a 59-yard reception that catapulted the Wahawks from a two-score deficit to a 25-14 halftime lead.

The Wahawks (3-2) were able to gain a total of 327 yards through the air with Carter Schulte going 13 of 25 with two touchdowns and no interceptions while Michael Robinson Jr. had over 100 yards on the ground with two scores.

The J-Hawks were led by junior quarterback Carson Blietz who was 7 of 17 with 83 yards and zero interceptions.

— Justin Webster

3A No. 3 Cedar Rapids Xavier 45, Newton 20

Cedar Rapids Xavier's Jaxon Rexroth helped Jack Breitbach return to football.

Well, apparently, Rexroth's mother was a bit more convincing when it came to Breitbach ending his two-year hiatus from the sport he played through middle school.

'She was a big part of it,' Breitbach said with a laugh. 'A lot of these guys are my good friends, so it was them talking me into it. Just having a good time with these coaches and this team. They got me into it.'

Regardless of who persuaded him to take the field again, Rexroth and Breitbach make a pretty good passing tandem. The senior duo connected on three touchdown passes and helped third-ranked Xavier trounce winless Newton, 45-20, in a Class 3A District 6 prep football game Friday night at Saints Field.

Rexroth passed for 192 yards and four scores, connecting with Breitbach five times for 110 yards.

» Read the full story from The Gazette's K.J. Pilcher

Rolling to 4-0 September 19, 2020

Rolling to 4-0 @CRXavierFB handles Newton to stay undefeated#iahsfb pic.twitter.com/lLRWsMNoeo

— Iowa Prep Sports (@iowaprepsports)

2A No. 7 Mount Vernon 21, Vinton-Shellsburg 13

On paper, Vinton-Shellsburg's defensive blueprint was sound: Contain one of Class 2A's top passing tandems.

The problem is, that blueprint didn't include instructions on how to stop Trenton Pitlik.

'Vinton-Shellsburg came in and had a very good game plan,' Mount Vernon Coach Lance Pedersen said.

'They caused us to do some things that we didn't want to have to do on the offensive side.'

Mount Vernon entered Friday night's contest second in Class 2A with 577 passing yards. The quarterback-receiver combination of Brady Ketchum and Colin Swantz has proved to be one of Class 2A's most potent.

But Friday night the rushing attack, led by Trenton Pitlik, stole the show.

Pitlik rushed the ball 20 times for 175 yards and had all three of Mount Vernon's TDs as the Class 2A seventh-ranked Mustangs (4-0, 2-0) held off a scrappy Vinton-Shellsburg (1-3, 0-2) team, 21-13, at Ash Park Stadium.

» Read the full story from Gazette correspondent Ryan Pleggenkuhle

Another MV W September 19, 2020

Another MV W @MustangFB1 beats Vinton-Shellsburg to improve to 4-0#iahsfb pic.twitter.com/UyWtxfLZJi

— Iowa Prep Sports (@iowaprepsports)

A No. 2 Iowa City Regina 43, Wapello 16

Both offenses moved the ball up and down the field. Iowa City Regina capitalized on its opportunities and kept Wapello from doing the same, and Alec Wick had a strong influence on both, as the Regals used a big second quarter to gain control, rolling over the Indians, 43-16, Friday night at Regina.

Wapello (1-2, 0-1) found some success with plenty of chunk plays, but 177 yards of first-half offense led to a lone field goal.

'We were scrappy,' Regina head coach Marv Cook said. 'Wapello has some good players. They have five, six, seven guys who could play on a lot of teams in the state of Iowa.'

What the Regals (3-1, 2-0) lacked in explosive plays, they made up for with a sustained offensive attack and a nose for the end zone.

Regina marched downfield on a six-play 55-yard drive, capped by a Theo Kolie 22-yard burst up the middle to seize a 7-0 lead with 7:42 to play in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Ashton Cook found Wick with an 18-yard dart on third-and-14 to set Regina up at the Wapello 21. Cook found Wick on a quick-hitter from 3 yards out for a 14-0 lead.

Wapello's Tade Parsons found Caden Thomas over the middle all alone. Racing toward the end zone, Wick chased him down at the 3. On third-and-goal, Wick read a pitch to Gustison and dropped him for a 5-yard loss as Wapello settled for three.

'We watch their film, we knew what they were doing,' Wick said. 'I just knew on that play, if they run that toss, I got it.'

'He's amazing,' Coach Cook said of Wick. 'He's one of the best players I've seen in 14 years of coaching football. He does it offensively, defensively, special teams. He's just an incredibly instinctive player.'

The Regals took control on two more touchdown runs from Kolie as Regina entered the break up 29-3.

For good measure, Wick added a one-handed 28-yard touchdown catch in the fourth.

Kolie finished with four rushing touchdowns to give him nine for the season.

— Culley Kline

8P No. 6 Easton Valley 65, 8P No. 7 Springville 48

Easton Valley lost quite a bit from a nine-win team in 2019.

Turns out, the River Hawks returned plenty, too.

Kolton Murphy rushed for five touchdowns Friday night, and sixth-ranked Easton Valley erupted for 36 second-quarter points in a 65-48 8-Player District 3 football victory over Springville at Allison Field.

'They're aggressive,' Springville Coach Joe Martin said. 'You can see it on film, but you can't simulate it.'

» Read the full story from The Gazette's Jeff Linder

BARNBURNER September 19, 2020

BARNBURNER @EastonValleyCSD beats Springville in a battle of 8-player unbeatens#iahsfb pic.twitter.com/3n53XuZbSK

— Iowa Prep Sports (@iowaprepsports)

Marion 46, Clinton 0

Scoring on its first possession to ignite a 24-point first quarter, Marion did not look back and rolled to a 46-0 prep football win over Clinton Friday night at Coan Field.

Fueled by senior running back Lucas Unsen's 181-yard, three-touchdown night, the Indians (2-1, 1-1) were able to culminate what they felt was a productive week of practice after their one-sided setback to Davenport Assumption last week.

'We had to put that behind us, we knew this was a game we could get,' said Unsen, who scored on runs of 56 and 42 yards and added an 81-yard punt return for his other touchdown.

— Terrence Duckett, Quad City Times

3A No. 9 Decorah 45, Waterloo East 8

Briggs Duwe passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as Class 3A No. 9 Decorah (4-0) won in Waterloo.

Joe Bockman scored two TDs, one on a 54-yard pass from Duwe and the other on a 67-yard strike from Keenan Tyler.

— Randy Iverson

West Delaware 56, Charles City 0

Kyle Cole rushed for two touchdowns and caught a 12-yard pass from Jared Voss for another as the Hawks won at home.

Cole scored on runs of 10 and 25 yards, Voss added TD runs of 2 and 3 yards, and Jaydn Peyton (1 yard), Will Halverson (2) and Connor Funk (59) also scored rushing TDs.

West Delaware rushed for 259 yards.

— Bill Logan

West Liberty 14, A No. 8 Lisbon 12

Jahsiah Galvan's 74-yard touchdown pass to Sam Gingerich with 7:38 left held up as the Comets won at home.

Lisbon led 12-7 heading into the fourth quarter of a game that was scheduled Friday afternoon.

West Branch 43, Wilton 8

Gavin Hierseman threw four touchdown passes to lead the Bears to a road victory.

Simon Palmer and Carver Boelk each had a pair of touchdown receptions. Andy Hensen added an 87-yard run for a score.

As of now, the Bears have an open date next Friday.

— Jason Miller

Western Dubuque 28, Waverly-Shell Rock 9

Garrett Baumhover completed 21 of 37 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns — two to Dakota Lau — as the Bobcats won at home.

— Tim O'Neill, Telegraph Herald

A No. 5 South Winneshiek 55, Postville 0

Sam Conway rushed for 109 yards and three touchdowns, and also caught a TD pass, as the Warriors won at home.

Jacob Herold added 106 rushing yards and two TDs.

— Darin Svenson

Clear Creek Amana 49, Benton Community 3

Ryan Navara passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Clippers (2-2, 1-1) won at home.

3A No. 5 Washington 41, Mount Pleasant 27

Quarterback Trashaun Willis threw for three scores and ran for three to lead the Demons.

Washington moved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in district play.

— Andy Krutsinger, Southeast Iowa Union

Camanche 42, Anamosa 0

Jordan Lawrence caught four touchdown passes from Michael Delzell in win at Anamosa.

The four TDs covered 23, 30, 63 and 22 yards. Camanche passed for 294 yards.

Anamosa QB Grahm Humpal completed 12 of 24 passes for 115 yards.

— Daryl Schepanski

How the ranked teams fared

Southeast Polk handled its first test as the new No. 1 team in Class 4A, beating No. 5 West Des Moines Valley, 34-7.

Meanwhile, No. 3 West Des Moines Dowling bounced back with a 37-34 win over No. 4 Waukee and No. 2 Urbandale survived an upset bid from Indianola, 28-27.

Here's how all the teams ranked in this week's Gazette/KGYM poll fared Friday.

Gazette area scoreboard

CLASS 4A

Dubuque Hempstead 20, Cedar Falls 13

Dubuque Senior 31, No. 9 Cedar Rapids Washington 0

Waterloo West 45, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 14

CLASS 3A

District 3

No. 9 Decorah 45, Waterloo East 8

West Delaware 56, Charles City 0

Western Dubuque 28, Waverly-Shell Rock 9

District 4

No. 6 Davenport Assumption 31, DeWitt Central 6

Marion 46, Clinton 0

District 5

Burlington 16, Fairfield 15

Fort Madison 21, Keokuk 14

No. 5 Washington 41, Mount Pleasant 27

District 6

No. 3 Cedar Rapids Xavier 45, Newton 20

Clear Creek Amana 49, Benton Community 3

No. 7 Grinnell 80, Oskaloosa 32

CLASS 2A

District 4

North Fayette Valley 28, New Hampton 27

No. 5 Waukon 58, Oelwein 12

District 5

Camanche 42, Anamosa 0

West Liberty 14, A No. 8 Lisbon 12

District 6

Center Point-Urbana 40, Union Community 14

No. 7 Mount Vernon 21, Vinton-Shellsburg 13

Solon 42, South Tama 7

District 7

Mid-Prairie 55, Eddyville EBF 0

Williamsburg 34, West Burlington 14

Davis County 33, Central Lee 14

CLASS 1A

District 4

Denver 21, Jesup 6

Osage 22, Sumner-Fredericksburg 13

Waterloo Columbus 42, Central Springs 0

District 5

Dyersville Beckman 28, Cascade 19

West Branch 43, Wilton 8

District 6

Cardinal 43, Louisa-Muscatine 8

No. 5 Sigourney-Keota 48, Van Buren 13

CLASS A

District 4

No. 9 MFL MarMac 32, Clayton Ridge 14

No. 5 South Winneshiek 55, Postville 0

No. 4 Wapsie Valley 28, Starmont 8

District 5

No. 6 Edgewood-Colesburg 26, East Buchanan 14

North Linn 39, Maquoketa Valley 36

District 6

Columbus Community 49, Highland 27

No. 2 Iowa City Regina 43, Wapello 16

West Liberty 14, No. 8 Lisbon 12

District 7

Belle Plaine 20, Conrad BCLUW 7

No. 1 Grundy Center 65, Lynnville-Sully 14

North Tama 29, North Mahaska 12

8-PLAYER

District 2

Janesville 62, Clarksville 6

No. 8 Newell-Fonda 41, Ackley AGWSR 6

Rockford 32, Dunkerton 28

Turkey Valley 60, Northwood-Kensett 50

Tripoli 52, Riceville 8

District 3

No. 6 Easton Valley 65, No. 7 Springville 48

Lansing Kee 30, Central City 0

Midland 62, West Central 14

Rockford 32, Dunkerton 28

District 4

No. 8 Montezuma 49, English Valleys 12

New London 54, Lone Tree 26

Tri-County 42, Twin Cedars 28

WACO 44, Moravia 13

Winfield-Mount Union 28, Iowa Valley 12

District 5

BGM 42, Garwin GMG 0

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 8, Collins-Maxwell 6

HLV 64, Baxter 58

Meskwaki 32, Colo-Nesco 27

Winfield-Mount Union 28, Iowa Valley 12

[IHSAA statewide scorelist]

Lisbon and West Liberty schedule last-minute game

Lisbon was supposed to play a Class A district game at North Cedar on Friday. West Liberty was scheduled to travel to Tipton in a Class 2A district contest. But because of COVID-19 protocols, both North Cedar and Tipton were forced to cancel.

Instead of sitting the night out, Lisbon and West Liberty pulled together a last-minute schedule change that will see the eighth-ranked Lions (3-0) face the Comets (2-1) in West Liberty.

The schools announced the game just after 2 p.m. It kicks off at 7 p.m.

Other schedule changes in the area this week have 4A No. 9 Cedar Rapids Washington visiting Dubuque Senior and Dubuque Hempstead traveling to Cedar Falls. Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Linn-Mar remain in quarantine and are idle. Iowa City High, Iowa City Liberty and Iowa City West are off due to online classes. Canceled games Friday include Dubuque Wahlert at North Scott in Class 3A, Crestwood at Independence in Class 2A, Durant at Northeast in Class 1A and Alburnett at Bellevue in Class A.

Meanwhile, Maquoketa will host 2A No. 9 Monticello on Saturday.

Iowa City schools can resume activities Sept. 26

The Iowa City Community School District will shift from online to a hybrid learning model Sept. 28.

The district was also granted permission from the Department of Education to begin in-person co-curricular and athletic activities starting Saturday, Sept. 26. This includes practices and previously scheduled competitions.

The district started in an online learning model on Sept. 8, after receiving a two-week waiver from the Iowa Department of Education to start online. The waiver was granted as COVID-19 numbers climbed in Iowa City when students returned to the University of Iowa in August.

The district received a second two-week waiver for virtual instruction from the state last week. However, with the county's 14-day positivity rate dropping to 8.2 percent as of Friday, the district announced it felt comfortable transitioning into a hybrid learning model, which also allows it to resume sports.

» Read more from The Gazette's Grace King

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