Iowa City Regina pulls away from pesky Columbus, 47-21

IOWA CITY - While Iowa City Regina's district dominance continued, the Regals were pushed, if only briefly. Speedy Columbus Community disrupted the blueprint early on, but the Regals' physicality eventually won out. Regina (6-0, 6-2) blew past the Wildcats 47-21 Friday night at Regina.

Accustomed to short fields and three and four-play drives, Regina had to take the scenic route in this one. Columbus quarterback Abel Mena ran hard and angry. The Wildcats were able to move the ball enough early, and Jaime Villegas ripped off a pair of 50-plus yard punts later on to continually pin the Regals back.

The result was 51 first half offensive snaps for the Regals. 418 yards and 21 first downs later, the Regals entered the break with a familiar 41-7 lead.

'It's definitely good for our offense to get extra reps,” Regina quarterback Michael Conlon said. 'We're trying to perfect and maximize our offense.”

Regina scored on its opening possession. Mena promptly led the Wildcats (1-5, 2-6) straight down the field with 42 yards from his legs and another 20 with his arm. Facing 4th-and-1 at the Regina 2, the Regals held up when it counted, dropping Mena behind the line of scrimmage.

The Regals countered with an eight-play, 97-yard drive, highlighted by a screen pass to Isaac Vollstedt that went for 37 yards down to the Wildcats 4.

Chancellor Colby took the ensuing kickoff back to the house from 88 yards out, trimming the margin to 14-7.

The Regals answered the challenge once again. Conlon connected with Vollstedt on another screen, this time going untouched for a 59-yard score.

The Regals' defensive front plugged the holes from there as the offense continued to pile on plays, and yards.

'We did a better job with gap recognition,” Regina coach Marv Cook said of the tightening defense. 'They ran a little veer, a little option. It was kind of causing us some problems. (Mena) was on the edge so fast.”

Conlon finished the half with 272 yards of offense, attempting 25 throws. He added his third touchdown pass early in the third.