City High blanks Washington, runs streak to 20 (VIDEO)

CEDAR RAPIDS -- They're still the champions. And they embrace the crown."I know there's a lot said about some other teams out there," said Iowa City High football coach Dan Sabers. "But we're the defending (state) champions, we're proud of that, and we're here to defend."The third-ranked Little Hawks sure defended Thursday night, blanking No. 6 Cedar Rapids Washington, 31-0, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Kingston Stadium.City High (6-0) wasn't far from perfect in running its winning streak to 20 games."Our (offensive) line kicked butt all night, and our backs ran north and south through the holes," said City High quarterback Andrew McNulty."And our defense ... "Ah, that defense.Washington's Alex Carr ran for 198 yards on 33 carries, but the Warriors (5-1) never advanced beyond the City 24-yard line."Man, it didn't feel like 200 yards," Carr said. "I felt like I had to work hard for every one. (City) played really good. They had a good game plan."And they were the superior team in the trenches."They're better than we are," conceded Washington Coach Tony Lombardi. "They controlled the line of scrimmage, and football is such a momentum game."We've got to go back and find out what we've got to fix."City High led after the first drive of the game, and never surrendered the upper hand. It was 17-0 at halftime, then the Little Hawks delivered two dagger drives in the second half.The first one was a 13-play, 84-yard march that ate up nearly 7 minutes. McNulty hooked up with Jasper Washington for a 6-yard touchdown that made it 24-0.The next one was a 7 1/2-minute march that featured 15 plays and netted 67 yards. Ronald Thompson ended it with a 2-yard plunge with 3:19 to go.That made it 31-0. And that was that."Those two drives were a lot of fun," McNulty said. "We just pounded the ball off tackle. The line was fantastic. To eat up time and finish it in the end zone, that topped everything off."Thompson rushed for 114 yards. McNulty completed his first five passes and finished 7-for-10 for 73 yards and ran for 95 more.City enjoyed a 344-210 advantage in total yards.The dominance began immediately. After a long kickoff return, the Little Hawks drove 51 yards for a TD in a nine-play march on the game's first possession. McNulty hit Washington for a 16-yard touchdown to cap it.The teams traded punts, then City took advantage of a fumble recovery at the Washington 19, scoring on a 10-yard McNulty run.A 36-yard line-drive field goal by Drew Cornwell made it 17-0 at intermission.Carr's 198-yard output gave him 1,104 yards this season."He played as hard tonight as I've seen a kid play," Lombardi said.