Jeff Johnson

Carver Blietz-Bentien was MFL MarMac’s starting quarterback as a sophomore, then got moved to a starting fullback position last year. He was forced back to QB this season and has led the Bulldogs to Thursday’s Class 1A state championship game against Grundy Center.

Shortstop Noah Miller of the Cedar Rapids Kernels was named Tuesday a recipient of a Rawlings Gold Glove for the minor leagues as the best defensive player at his position at any level of the minors.

Defenseman Joel Kjellberg of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders played all last season with the club but didn’t have a goal. He already has six of them in 16 games this season.

Here’s a closer look at Iowa’s 22-0 shutout Saturday of Rutgers at Kinnick Stadium.

A pair of huge forced second-half turnovers produced a pair of huge second-half touchdowns that created separation and helped fourth-ranked MFL MarMac past No. 2 Underwood, 41-28, Friday afternoon in a Class 1A state football playoff semifinal game. A gaudy 408 yards rushing didn’t hurt, either.

Rutgers junior running back Kyle Monangai leads the Big Ten Conference with 903 yards rushing. He came to the school as an unheralded recruit but has developed into a legitimate player.

After three seasons as head coach and 17 years in the program, Jason Dumont is retiring from football after an outstanding run at Iowa City Regina.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders had one of those rough three-games-in-as-many-days weekends, all in three different cities. But they won twice and lost in a shootout, picking up five of six possible standings points.

Here’s a look at Iowa’s 27-24 defeat Monday afternoon to Missouri in the Music City Bowl. The Hawkeyes scored 3 points in the second half, lose 10-point lead.

MFL MarMac’s football team lost in the state playoff quarterfinals the previous four years, but the fifth time was the charm, as the Bulldogs beat Iowa City Regina, 22-7, to make it to the Class 1A semifinals next week.

Who will advance to the UNI-Dome? Those 28 state semifinal spots will be determined this week. We preview the Iowa high school state football quarterfinals on this episode of the Prep Football Huddle podcast.

David Braun was just months into his job as defensive coordinator of the Northwestern football team when a hazing scandal broke out that cost head coach Pat Fitzgerald his job. The 33-year-old Braun was named interim head coach partly because he wasn’t at the school during the scandal. Despite a seemingly impossible situation, Braun has led the Wildcats to four wins, three more than last season.

Winger Pavel Novak was promoted last week to the AHL’s Iowa Wild. He returned to the ice after a season away two weeks ago with the Iowa Heartlanders, scoring a pair of goals in two games, his first after recovering from treatment for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

MFL MarMac’s football team lost in last season’s Class 1A state playoff quarterfinals to West Branch, 27-24, blowing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter. That made Friday night’s 21-0 win in a 1A second-round game extra special.

Defenseman Ryan Philbrick was a 12th-round pick of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in last year’s United States Hockey Leaue Phase I Draft. He didn’t make the team, but the Riders liked him so much they drafted him again this past spring in the seventh round.