The Boot stays in Iowa City High’s possession with 23-8 win over Iowa City West

IOWA CITY — His name is Miles. His game is yards.

Lots of yards.

Miles Parlet rushed for 220 of them on 36 carries, including a back-breaking, Boot-clinching 63-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, and Iowa City High outplayed Iowa City West, 23-8, Friday night at Bates Field.

The Little Hawks (2-2) keep The Boot on the east side of town for the third consecutive year.

“Adversity is an opportunity to grow,” Parlet said. “We started 0-2, we looked at that as motivation, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Parlet spent his first two years of high school at Cedar Rapids Washington, his junior year in Hawaii.

“This program is a blessing,” he said. “Tonight, I just followed my line.”

City dominated the action for much of the game, outgaining West (2-2) by a yardage margin of 445-227 and claiming four takeaways.

But the Little Hawks were stymied in the red zone on multiple occasions, and when the Trojans got an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jack Wallace to Nick Caylor (and a two-point run by Santana Miller), it was a one-possession game at 16-8 with 11:11 to go.

The teams traded punts, then Parlet broke loose.

“They went back to a four-man front, and we gashed ‘em,” City Coach Mitchell Moore said. “We weren’t pretty on offense tonight, but we stuck with it.”

City got inside the 10-yard line on its first two possessions, but got only three points out of it, a 24-yard field goal by Drew DeBerg.

Parlet’s 1-yard TD run midway through the second period made it 9-0. A diving 35-yard catch by Connor Cross got the Little Hawks to the doorstep.

Bobby Bacon’s 31-yard pass to Jeremiah Madlock extended the margin to 16-0 with 5:18 left in the third quarter.

Bacon took over the quarterback role after Drew Larson suffered a broken thumb earlier this season. Bacon completed 16 of 21 passes for 259 yards, with one interception.

“He did well,” said Larson, who had one of the Little Hawks’ four takeaways, a fumble recovery (his 75-yard return for touchdown was wiped out by a penalty). “The last few years, our quarterback room has been pretty good.”

Madlock caught five passes for 134 yards. Carsen Newton had seven receptions for 77.

As Moore attested, there was some ugly in this one. The teams combined for 19 penalties (12 by the Little Hawks), and tempers frayed at times.

City welcomes Cedar Rapids Kennedy next week; West hosts Ankeny.

Iowa City High 23, Iowa City West 8

At Bates Field

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: West 12, City 18

Rushes-yards: West 27-77, City 41-186

Passing yards: West 150, City 259

Passing: West 12-23-2, City 16-23-1

Total yards: West 227, City 445

Fumbles-lost: West 4-2, City 2-0

Punts-average: West 6-37.3, City 3-37.3

Penalties-yards: West 7-53, City 12-121

SCORING SUMMARY

Iowa City West 0 0 0 8 — 8

Iowa City High 3 6 7 7 — 23

ICH — FG Drew DeBerg 24

ICH — Miles Parlet 1 run (kick failed)

ICH — Jeremiah Madlock 31 pass from Bobby Bacon (DeBerg kick)

ICW — Nick Caylor 8 pass from Jack Wallace (Santana Miller run)

ICH — Miles Parlet 63 run (DeBerg kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

West — Jack Wallace 12-28, Marquise Rose 4-24, Todd Rent 8-20, Ashton Honore 2-4, Butali Butali 1-1. City — Miles Parlet 36-220, Dominic Salibi 1-(minus 1), Bobby Bacon 1-(minus 11), Team 3-(minus 22).

Passing

West — Wallace 12-23-2-150. City — Bacon 16-21-1-259, Jake Mitchell 0-2-0-0.

Receiving

West — Mason Woods 4-60, Nick Caylor 3-17, Izaiah Loveless 2-49, Rent 1-26, Julian Manson 1-1, Mason Goering 1-(minus 3). City — Carsen Newton 7-77, Jeremiah Madlock 5-134, Parlet 2-9, Connor Cross 1-35, Parker Sutherland 1-4.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com