Iowa City West Flitz’s the script, beats C.R. Prairie, 38-21

CEDAR RAPIDS — The roster says he's 6-foot-1, but there ain't no way Evan Flitz is that tall. The Iowa City West quarterback has got to be under 6-foot, for sure.

Not that his height matters. It doesn't at all.

When you're poised, have a good arm and know how to get the football to your playmakers, that's the important thing. Flitz did that latter thing a lot Friday night, throwing for 329 yards and five touchdowns as West beat Cedar Rapids Prairie, 38-21, in a Class 4A playoff quarterfinal at John Wall Field.

'He's got some good weapons,' West Coach Garrett Hartwig said. 'Credit first goes to the O-line, the guys up front ... and his receivers made plays. Evan never does anything out of his own system. He's calm and cool and let's his guys do the work. He'll be the first one to tell you that.'

This was virtually an exact flip of the regular-season meeting between the teams, which also came here. Prairie won that one in late September, 39-20.

West (9-2) did a much better job defensively this time against Prairie's single-wing offense, holding the Hawks (9-2) to 169 yards rushing. Combine that with an offense that just wasn't stopped, and there's your difference.

'We studied a lot of film from the first game. We really felt we hurt ourselves a lot, so we kind of went back to what we did well that game,' Flitz said. 'We saw that they were going to move their safeties around, and we were going to attack the open gaps in the field. We did that effectively tonight.'

Flitz completed 22 of 28 passes, a virtuoso performance capped in the final minute when he faked a handoff and threw to a wide-open Dillon Doyle for a 19-yard touchdown. Doyle had two TD receptions in the game.

Austin West's 26-yard touchdown grab capped off a successful opening drive for the Trojans, who never trailed. Traevis Buchanan's 43-yard TD grab late in the first quarter put West up for good.

Oliver Martin hasn't been talked about, yet. The senior star caught 10 balls for 156 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown bomb with six minutes to go.

Seven different guys had catches, including Flitz. He caught a halfback pass from Devontae Lane for 4 yards.

'With the talent that they've got, they should never lose a game,' said Prairie Coach Mark Bliss. 'They've got some incredible talent. Just tip your hat to them and wish them the best of luck next week.'

Next week are the 4A semifinals, and West plays Cedar Rapids Washington (10-1) in a 7:05 p.m. kickoff Friday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. It's the school's first semifinal appearance since 2002.

'Prairie took it to us the first time,' Hartwig said. 'It was a gutcheck for us. I have a lot of respect for those (Prairie) kids. They play hard, they're tough to tackle, and they do what they're coached to do. Coach Bliss has a very good system that he coaches well. We got the opportunity to see them a second time, and that made a bit of a difference. In the end, our kids just stepped up.'

Prairie came in averaging 44.7 points per game but wasn't at full strength, with running back Zach Ganske at what Bliss termed about half-speed with an ankle injury. A near 1,000-yard rusher, he got only three carries and seven yards.

Joe Meyer, a 1,400-yard rusher, was limited to 92 yards on 20 tough carries, scoring a pair of TDs: one rushing and one receiving. QB Dalton Rayner completed 7 of 13 passes for 142 yards, including a 67-yard TD bomb to Levi Usher in the first quarter.

Prairie's quarterback in the regular-season meeting was Dakota Simonsen, who blew out his knee two games later.

'We really just worked on the little things this week,' said West's defensive lineman Dalton Shephard. 'We knew what they were going to do from the last time. We just prepared well for it. Just seeing it before (helped).'

'(They did) their job,' Hartwig said. 'Guys were in position. It was simple. We told them 'If you want to take it from Prairie, you've got to be 11 savages on the field.''

Prairie was seeking its first semifinals appearance since 1981. The loss should not diminish everything that was accomplished.

They blew past what were rather modest preseason expectations from most.

'They poured their heart and soul into this season,' Bliss said. 'I feel sorry for them, feel bad for them. I can't say enough how much I appreciate their efforts and what they've done for us.'

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