It’s a playoff homecoming for Morrissey

This is the matchup Mike Morrissey has anticipated for four years.

Morrissey will take his Cedar Rapids Prairie Hawks to Pleasant Valley on Wednesday for a Class 4A football first-round playoff game.

'I've always wanted to go back,” said Morrissey, a 2001 graduate of Pleasant Valley, where he played quarterback for his father, Ed. 'I'll be seeing it in a different light. It will be one of the few times I'll me cheering against those guys.

'More than anything, I'm excited we get to play another game. Everything fell into place, and on a personal level, I'm excited to go back.”

Prairie (4-5) qualified by routing Ottumwa, 48-0, Friday night, earning the fourth bid from Class 4A District 6. Pleasant Valley (6-3) is the District 7 champion.

'We adjusted some things offensively and got in a better rhythm,” Morrissey said. 'I had been a little frustrated; we had just gotten out of sync. We had a tremendous game plan, and we were able to control things up front.”

Morrissey eschewed the Hawks' traditional spread offense Friday in favor of a wing-T attack. It worked wonders.

'We ran a lot of my dad's old offense,” Morrissey said. 'I showed the kids, and they were loving the scheme. I tapped into my best resource, my father.”

Ed is retired now at Pleasant Valley. Mike's folks will be at Wednesday's game. They'll be a wearing orange.

'I don't think my mom would let my dad wear PV clothes to this one,” Morrissey said.

Morrissey is taking his third team to the playoffs in four years at Prairie, and owns a 19-21 mark there. His 2012 squad advanced to the 4A quarterfinals.

WELCOME BACK, STRANGERS

It would have taken two upsets to keep Independence out of the playoffs, and neither of them occurred.

As a result, the Mustangs are in for just the second time; the other appearance was in 1985. They will take a 6-3 record into their Class 3A first-round game at Washington (6-3), last year's state runner-up.

Of the 192 teams in the six-class playoff field, nobody has endured a drought as long as the Mustangs, who closed out the regular season with a 28-0 non-district win at Maquoketa.

A 2A qualifier, Anamosa (7-2) is in the postseason for the first time since 2004. Like Independence, the Raiders are seeking their first playoff win. They'll host New Hampton (6-3).

Edgewood-Colesburg's last appearance was in 2006. It was 2008 for Cedar Rapids Jefferson and North Linn.

JUST LIKE CLOCKWORK

Four-time defending state champion Iowa City Regina and Lisbon have extended their area-best playoff streaks to 11 straight years.

Regina (8-1) will host Alburnett (5-4) in a 1A first-rounder; Lisbon (6-3) will host Lone Tree (6-3) in Class A.

Class 3A qualifier Solon (8-1) in a playoff participant for the 10th straight year.

The longest current streak in the state belongs to West Des Moines Valley; the Tigers are making their 23rd consecutive appearance.

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