Miller rushes for 181 yards in Regals victory over Bears

IOWA CITY — Savion Miller is a legitimate home run threat whenever he has the football.

On the first play of Friday’s night’s non-district high school football game against Class 2A No. 10 West Branch, the 5-foot-10, 200-pound junior tailback from 1A No. 3 Iowa City Regina set the tone with a dazzling 62-yard touchdown run.

Fourteen seconds into the game, Regina had a lead it never relinquished.

“I saw two guys rush down and like, ‘I have got to do something,’” Miller said after the Regals overwhelmed the Bears, 28-16, at Regal Field. “Made both of them miss. Another dude came down, broke that tackle. I saw there was a gap on the outside, bounced it and ran for the touchdown.”

Miller’s scoring sprint along the home team sideline sent the Regals’ bench into a raucous state of celebration as the members of Regina’s starting defense scrambled for their helmets and prepared to take the field.

“That was huge,” Regina Coach Dustin Elsbury said. “Huge kickstart to the game to get the guys rolling. Give them some energy.”

Miller posted 158 of his game-high 181 rushing yards by halftime.

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“My O-line was blocking amazingly and that helped me a lot,” Miller said. “And then I also was able to make multiple defenders miss every time I run the ball, so that really helps, too.”

Miller already has scholarship offers from Iowa State, Miami (Fla.), Missouri and Toledo. He hopes to have a decision made in May.

On response to Miller’s early heroics, the Regina bowed up as senior defensive back Drew Greve turned the Bears away after just five plays with the first of his two first half interceptions.

“We noticed a flaw in what they do every time they boot(leg),” Greve said. “I read it, the coaches got me ready and I was just sitting there ready for the ball.”

The turnover led to a second Regina touchdown late in the first quarter. Facing a fourth down and 12 yards to go at the West Branch 27-yard line, Regina senior quarterback Kyle Tracy scrambled away from the pursuit of the Bears’ defense in order to give receiver Trey Streb enough time to get open in the back of the end zone for a long scoring toss for a 14-0 Regals’ advantage.

“I actually got the playcall wrong,” Tracy said. “So I rolled out and I missed my first read. Our line played excellent tonight. They gave us a lot of time, so I rolled back out and I saw Trey in the back of the end zone. So I just threw it up and he made a play.”

On offense, Greve collected four receptions for 51 yards while Tate Wallace added three for 36. Tracy and sophomore tailback Gabriel Hegelheimer each posted second-half touchdown runs for Regina (2-0), which hosts Alburnett next Friday.

Quarterback Brennen Dale threw two touchdown passes for West Branch (1-1), which faces Camanche next.

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