Jeff Johnson

Running back Campbell Janis went over 1,000 yards rushing this season Friday night for the Iowa City West football team. Wide receiver Ethan Headings went over 1,000 yards receiving Friday night for the Iowa City West football team. But the biggest accomplishment in the Class 5A No. 10 Trojans’ 42-14 win Friday night over Linn-Mar was a spot in the state playoffs.

Minnesota’s football team set a school record with nine quarterback sacks last week in a win over Nebraska. Iowa is the Golden Gophers’ opponent Saturday afternoon and knows the importance of keeping QB Mark Gronowski from being under siege.

The Gazette sports writers Jeff Johnson, Jeff Linder and K.J. Pilcher discuss Iowa High School Football Week 8 results, upcoming matchups in Week 9 and games to watch.

What underdogs could bite home teams in postseason openers? Does parity reign in Class 5A? What changes would you like to see in the playoff system and to prevent forfeits?

Defenseman Will Francis was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia shortly after the conclusion of his junior hockey career with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. After treatment brought him into remission, he relapsed twice while playing at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Again cancer free, he is playing his first full professional season in the ECHL with the Tulsa Oilers.

It was a three-in-three weekend for the Iowa Heartlanders this past weekend as the ECHL regular season began. And it was three one-goal games for the Heartlanders, who went 2-1. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders split a pair of USHL games this past weekend.

Jaxon Nelson scored a pair of goals Sunday for the Iowa Heartlanders in their 5-4 loss at Xtream Arena to the Tulsa Oilers. A former captain for the University of Minnesota hockey team didn’t play a ton of minutes last season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, something that won’t be the case this season.

Class 4A No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier scored a touchdown in each quarter and dominated on both sides of the football in a 34-0 win Friday night over No. 9 Decorah at Saints Field. Xavier won the District 2 championship with the victory.

The Gazette sports writers Jeff Johnson, Jeff Linder and K.J. Pilcher discuss Iowa High School Football Week 7 results, upcoming matchups in Week 8, games to watch in Week 7 and the recently rankings.

Penn State fired head football coach James Franklin on Sunday after the Nittany Lions lost their third game in a row, at home to Northwestern. With that and starting quarterback Drew Allar declared done for the season with an injury, it’s anyone’s guess how PSU will react for its game Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels announced Thursday that Sean Brandhorst has been hired as the Midwest League club’s new general manager. Brandhorst replaces Scott Wilson, who recently left the club to take a job outside of baseball.

Colin Whitters is a big (pun intended) reason Iowa City West’s football team is 6-1 going into its game Friday night at Cedar Rapids Prairie. The senior all-state offensive lineman is a Iowa Hawkeyes commit who recently scored a touchdown on a run of all things.

The Iowa Heartlanders begin the 2025-26 ECHL hockey season Friday night at home against the Tulsa Oilers. The three-in-three weekend sees the club play Saturday night at Bloomington and Sunday afternoon back at home against Tulsa. The Heartlanders made the ECHL playoffs for the first time last season and has a new head coach in Chuck Weber.

Small classes are approaching the postseason and big games highlight Week 8. Which team has a championship defense? Is there a high school coach that can transition to be a college head coach. Will program mergers impact CRCSD?

North Linn’s football team moved to 7-0 this season with a 39-7 win Friday night over Midland. The Class A No. 7 Lynx play this coming Friday night at No. 8 Wapsie Valley for the District 4 championship.