Jeff Johnson

The Cedar Rapids Kernels have the best team in all of minor league baseball at 80-46 overall. That .635 winning percentage is fourth all-time in the club’s modern history. They wrapped up their home schedule Sunday with a 9-0 win over Lake County.

Western Dubuque doesn’t have its intended quarterback so far this season, but Tanner Anderson has stepped in and led the Bobcats to back-to-back comfortable victories to begin. Running back Grant Glausser and a good offensive line also have been key for Class 4A’s No. 6 team.

Linn-Mar’s football team lost three players to injuries in its game Friday night at Kingston Stadium against Cedar Rapids Washington. That includes its starting quarterback and standout tight end. Still the Class 5A No. 6 Lions were able to pull away for a 49-7 win, those points coming from an unstoppable run game.

Sam Adams graduated from Mount Vernon High School and decided to stay home to play his college football. The junior cornerback was Cornell College’s MVP last season, as voted on by players, and he’s an important guy for a program that seeks to continue improvement.

The Iowa football team’s season-opening opponent Saturday morning at Kinnick Stadium is Utah State. The Aggies have six new assistant coaches and 59 new players from last season.

Maquoketa Valley senior Lance McShane ran for 278 yards and four touchdowns in his team’s season-opening win last week over Cascade. He also caught a pass, led the team in tackles, intercepted two passes, ran in a two-point conversion and kicked an extra point.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels host Lake County this week, a six-game series that began Tuesday night. The club entered with a 75-45 overall record, a .625 winning percentage that ranks fourth-best in team history since 1949.

Jeff Linder, Jeff Johnson, K.J. Pilcher and Nathan Ford kick off a season of high school football questions. Read our takes on Week 1 heroes, Week 2 contests and reasonable expectations of a first-year program.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy played a see-what-you’ve-got prep football opening game Saturday night against West Des Moines Dowling at Kingston Stadium. What the Cougars found is they’ve got a good team, despite falling 38-21.

He has the perfect name for a University of Iowa football player. Hayden Large is from Michigan and really didn’t know much of anything about the Hawkeyes and former legendary coach Hayden Fry before going to college at Dordt in Sioux Center. He is a graduate transfer walk-on for Iowa who hopes to see playing time at the fullback position this season.

Ashton Honore scored on a 5-yard run with 1:52 left, then Adrian DeWaard intercepted a pass with 20 seconds left as Iowa City West beat Iowa City Liberty, 35-28, in a back-and-forth thriller Friday night at West.

Xavier Nwankpa was a big-time recruit out of Southeast Polk High School two years ago, a five-star safety. He picked Iowa over Ohio State and Notre Dame but didn’t see major playing time for the Hawkeyes last season until recording a Pick-6 interception in the Music City Bowl. He seeks to make a huge impact this season.

There are plenty of standout Iowa high school football games Friday night (and Saturday) that we preview in the first Prep Football Huddle podcast of the season. Plus, a look at our preseason rankings and storylines to watch.

Nick Brooks grew up in Cedar Rapids and attended middle school here. He went to Georgia for a couple of years and became a big-time college recruit. He’s back now in Cedar Rapids for his junior year, and the 6-foot-8, 385-pound offensive lineman is eager to help Cedar Rapids Kennedy win a lot of football games.

Outfielder Kala’i Rosario of the Cedar Rapids Kernels can’t believe the destruction wildfires have done in Maui. He’s from the Big Island in Hawaii, which is 100 miles from the destroyed island.