The Regals are headed back to the Dome

IOWA CITY — Iowa City Regina is over the hump and back under the roof.

For the first time since its 2020 state title run, the Class 1A No. 3 Regals (11-0) are headed back to the UNI-Dome, advancing to the state semifinals after defeating No. 6 Pleasantville (9-2), 49-7, in Friday’s quarterfinal.

“This was a big one for the guys,” Regina Coach Dustin Elsbury said. “We've been to the quarterfinals the past few years and had a heartbreaker on this field last year, so I can tell the guys are just so happy for the players. I'm just so proud of them, my staff, everybody just playing together and playing team football.”

Regina set the tempo immediately, forcing and recovering a Pleasantville fumble at its 24-yard line on the opening kickoff.

Three plays later, Savion Miller punched in a 4-yard touchdown.

“Before the game, I usually talk about three keys,” Elsbury said. “One of them was special teams. So, it was kind of fitting that we force a fumble on the first play, get the ball right away, punch it in and steal a possession.”

Pleasantville drove it to Regina’s 1 on its first offensive possession, but a botched quarterback-center exchange gave the ball back to the Regals.

Following the turnover, Kyle Tracy capped a 10-play, 99-yard drive with an impressive 37-yard touchdown run, slipping past two defenders near the goal line.

“Our defense just had that never-give-up mentality,” Elsbury said. “When they fumbled down there on the 1 and we got the ball back, that was like the epitome of, never give up… you never know.”

Tracy added his second rushing TD of the game at the 7:13 mark of the second quarter.

Pleasantville quarterback Braylon Bingham, a Division I recruit, answered rolling out right and sprinting to the corner of the end zone for a 16-yard score.

Bingham finished with 143 rushing yards and 126 passing.

“No. 6 (Bingham), he's a great player. Hats off to him,” Elsbury said. “He made a lot of plays, made us miss a lot of tackles, and kept drives alive for them.”

Outside of Bingham’s second-quarter score, Regina’s defense held him mostly in check.

Junior Tate Wallace had three quarterback sacks and another tackle for loss.

“He's a great player — I know him personally,” Wallace said. “He's a great guy. Just got to keep him in the pocket. He made plays all night long. But our goal coming this week was to keep him in the pocket and see what we can do from there.”

Regina responded late in the second quarter as Tracy found Miller wide open for a 61-yard TD, giving the Regals a 28-7 halftime lead.

Wallace bullied his way into the end zone, capping an 11-play, 74-yard with an 11-yard touchdown catch from Tracy to begin the third quarter.

“He's (Wallace) just a great leader, has a great gas tank and motor,” Elsbury said. “He's just going to keep going, keep bringing it.”

Gabriel Hegelheimer then sprinted home for a 10-yard TD, giving Regina a 42-7 lead and triggering the continuous clock rule.

Wallace scored a late 10-yard touchdown on a shovel pass from Tracy to round out the scoring.

Tracy finished with 267 passing yards, 84 rushing yards and five total TDs.

“Kyle's great, man,” Wallace said. “He puts the ball in a good place for us. I mean, he's a great leader, too. I feel like he played amazing tonight.”

It was a second straight spirited win for Regina following the loss of school chaplain Father Guillermo Trevino last week.

“We put a sticker on the front of our helmets,” Elsbury said. “It has praying hands, and says, ‘For Father GT’ on there. We're continuing to honor him kind of the rest of this year, game by game.”

The Regals will face Grundy Center in the semifinals.