Jeff Johnson

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.

Defenseman Nolan Orzeck began his professional hockey career in the 2022-23 season with the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders. After almost three years in Texas and Finland, the 24-year-old Calgary native is back in the Corridor.

Iowa Valley’s football team takes a 9-0 record and No. 4 ranking into its Class Eight-Player second-round playoff game Friday night at home against Janesville. The Tigers have the ability to reach the UNI-Dome and the semifinals for the first time in 25 years.

The Gazette sports writers Jeff Johnson, Jeff Linder and K.J. Pilcher discuss Iowa High School Football Week 9 results, upcoming playoff matchups in Week 10 and games to watch.

The hay is in the barn and all classes have reached the postseason. See what Jeff Linder, Jeff Johnson, K.J. Pilcher and Scott Unash have to say about high school football in our last 4 Downs.

Justin Graf of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders has had a fine start to his United States Hockey League acreer, picking up six goals and 11 points in his first 11 games. The promising forward wants to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Collin, a forward for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.