Western Christian ends Iowa City Regina’s championship streak

CEDAR FALLS - Guess they can't label Western Christian just a basketball school anymore.

Not after Friday's 47-34 win in the Class 1A state championship football game stopped 'The Streak.” Iowa City Regina's historic title run has come to an end at six consecutive years.

It took just over half that long (13 years) for the Wolfpack to win it all in what had always been a foreign sport. Known for prolific success on the court, someone in the community convinced now retired hoops coach and athletics director Jim Eekhoff in the early 2000s that football might not be a bad thing to try.

That was the right call.

'My hat's off to Coach Eekhoff and now Coach (Bill) Harmsen,” said Western Christian Coach Travis Kooima.

Harmsen has replaced Eekhoff as basketball coach and AD. Eekhoff retired after last school year, with eight state championships on his incredible ledger.

'They knew that football was going to help them more than it was going to hurt them,” Kooima said. 'They bought into the weight-room stuff, bought into, you know, kind of leaving them alone during football and let them focus on stuff. We worked with each other together, and that's why the success happened. We work together, and we both have success. That's cool to see.”

Western (12-1) forced five turnovers, made a huge defensive stop near midfield on a 4th-and-2 play in the fourth quarter and got 180 yards rushing and three touchdowns from running back Ben Granstra to avenge a 35-28 loss to Regina in last year's 1A title game. Granstra's 1-yard scoring plunge with 1:38 left sealed the deal.

That came a play after quarterback Tyson Kooima (the coach's brother) connected with receiver Ben Gesink for 26 yards on 4th-and-7.

'They're a very talented team,” said Regina Coach Marv Cook. 'The quarterback's a great trigger guy. Their skilled guys, they made play after play after play. It was tough to watch, tought to get them off the field. They were really, really sound.”

Granstra's 39 carries set a 1A championship game record, as did wide receiver Jesse Jansma's eight catches. Western Christian finished with 26 first downs, also a record.

The teams combined for the most points ever in a 1A title game.

'We remembered last year's game,” said Granstra. 'It was a real tight one. We kind of came in here with a chip on our shoulder. We thought that was our year last year, and it kind of made us upset to get so close. You really want to come back, and we did that.”

Jack Jensen's interception and 70-yard return set up an Isaac Vollstedt 13-yard TD run, as Regina (11-2) scored first midway through the first quarter. Gesink's 42-yard scoop and scurry after Regina QB Michael Conlon's fumble made it a 7-7 game.

The teams scored 20 points apiece in the second, with Vollstedt running another one in and Conlon running for a touchdown and throwing for one. Vollstedt finished with 189 yards rushing and three scores.

'Obviously this will provide offseason motivation for us,” said Conlon, who finished with 205 yards running and passing. 'We had mistakes all around. I don't think (the end of the streak) has settled in, yet. You don't really ever think about negative outcomes.”

Western went ahead, 34-27, by scoring a TD on the opening possession of the second half. Vollstedt was stuffed for no gain on the aforementioned fourth-down play with 9:48 left, with Western eventually scoring on a 23-yard pass play from Kooima to Gesink to establish a two-touchdown spread.

Vollstedt finished off an ensuing Regina drive with a 2-yard TD run to make it a 41-34 game with 5:07 remaining, but Western chewed clock behind a plethora of tough Granstra runs before scoring and completely putting the game away.

'It's hard to overcome (mistakes) against a great team,” Cook said. 'Man, we made some mistakes we don't normally make, but that's football. Sometimes good teams force you into making poor decisions. Sometimes we out-think ourselves as coaches, too. I told our kids it was one of those games where both teams deserved to win, and only one team was going to. We didn't lose, we just didn't win today.”

To be fair, Regina forced four Western Christian turnovers, so that battled ended about even.

'Each season is uniquely individual,” Cook said. 'It has been itself. This one's been as fun as any. The thing I'm proud of is the way our kids played, competed and prepared all season long. No, we didn't come out on top on the scoreboard, but it was fun to ride along.”

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