Jeff Johnson

The Iowa City Liberty football team put together three 80-yard scoring drives, had more than a two-to-one advantage in time of possession and beat Waukee Northwest, 31-15, in a Friday night Class 5A Iowa playoff football semifinal. Liberty is the first school not from a Des Moines suburban school to make it to a biggest-school class championship game since 2018.

Newton converted a turnover early in the third quarter of Thursday night’s Class 4A Iowa state football playoff semifinal into a touchdown and a 17-3 lead on top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier. But the Saints rallied, scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 3:26 left that gave them a 31-24 win at the UNI-Dome.

King Miller and his twin brother, Kaylon, accepted a preferred walk-on offer from Southern California, their dream school, when they were seniors in high school. A red-shirt freshman, King has became the the Trojans’ top running back this season.

Gazette sports writers Jeff Johnson Jeff Linder and K.J. Pilcher discuss Iowa High School Football playoffs on the Triple Option Podcast November 12, 2025

Cedar Rapids Xavier junior quarterback Cash Parks has been an integral part of a football team that is undefeated and top ranked in Class 4A going into Thursday night’s state playoff semifinal against Newton. A year ago, he was involved in a head-on auto collision that he realizes could have turned out much worse than it did.

The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders had a tough three-in-three weekend road trip over the weekend. The club lost Friday night at Cincinnati but rebounded to win there Saturday and Sunday at Toledo, despite posting just nine shots on goal.

Atticus Sappington’s 39-yard field goal with three seconds left gave Oregon an 18-16 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in a dramatic Big Ten Conference thriller Saturday afternoon at Kinnick Stadium.

A 15-yard touchdown pass from Reece Rettig to Pryor Reiners with 1:30 left gave Iowa City Liberty a 31-28 win over four-time defending state champion Southeast Polk in a thrilling Class 5A quarterfinal Friday night. Liberty gets Waukee Northwest in next week’s semifinals.

Quarterback Trevor Mathern, running back Treyvon Herron and wide receiver Hudson Clark accounted for almost 400 offensive yards and eight touchdowns in third-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s 54-18 win over No. 6 Ed-Co in an Eight-Player football quarterfinal playoff game Thursday night.

Here’s another edition of Corridor Cross Checks. Forward Jason Musa of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders is a point-per-game player thus far in his second season in the United States Hockey League.

Inside linebacker Bryce Boettcher leads the University of Oregon football team in tackles, as he did last season when he was awarded the Burlsworth Trophy for best college football player who began his career as a walk-on. The senior hometown boy began his Ducks athletics career as a baseball player, one whom the MLB’s Houston Astros drafted and signed in 2024.

Gazette sports writers Jeff Johnson and K.J. Pilcher discuss Iowa High School Football playoffs on the Triple Option Podcast November 5, 2025

Kyle DeBarge played shortstop, left field and center field for the Cedar Rapids Kernels during the 2025 season. But his exceptional defensive play at second base has earned the Minnesota Twins prospect a Rawlings Gold Glove, one of nine in Minor League Baseball to get one.

North Linn’s football team limited Pekin to 45 total yards Friday night, and Will Sommerfelt threw three touchdown passes in a 21-3 road win in a Class A playoff second-rounder. That moves NL to the quarterfinals for only the fourth time in school history, with a trip to the UNI-Dome and the semifinals for the first time ever on the line this coming Friday night against top-ranked Saint Ansgar.

It didn’t look great for Iowa City Liberty’s football team when star quarterback Reece Rettig had to come out of the game with a leg injury in the second quarter of its Class 5A playoff football first-rounder Friday night against Waukee. But Rettig returned, and the Lightning rambled to a 34-20 win. Next up is Southeast Polk, which Liberty beat in the regular season but is the four-time defending 5A champion.