HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: A look at tonight's City High game

IOWA CITY HIGH (3-1) vs. Dubuque Hempstead (3-1)

AT CITY HIGH

When: 7:15 PM

Where: Frank Bates Field

The rundown: The Little Hawks are gearing up to face Dubuque Hempstead after defeating Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 35-10, last Friday.City High faces the Mustangs for its homecoming game tonight. City beat the Mustangs last year. 21-25. The Mustangs have won their last three games, with their only loss coming from the season opener, 35-7, against C.R. Xavier. Hempstead's junior tailback, Matt Zenner, rushed for 210 yards against Waterloo East, giving him 653 yards in four games.Little Hawks offensive tackle Jake Keil, a senior, knows the challenge the Mustangs present.“They have a really big line on both offense and defense," he said. "They are definitely a good team and they run a lot of trick plays on offense, like traps, counters, and boots."City will have to make good use of its training in anticipation of Hempstead's techniques.“Pulling guards will lead us to the ball and on defense their line likes to slant and penetrate hard, with backers blitzing from the outside or straight through the center,” he said.Keil expects the best from his teammates.“We need to be better on defense," he said, "tackle better, play lower and faster, and cover better."Consistency on the line is key for City High tonight.“With a back like Xavier (tailback Xavier Washpun) a quarterback like Mitch Wieland and great receivers like Jake, Jason and Corey, the o-line needs to keep on rolling,” Keil said.City will bring its strengths to the game.“Defense has been good to us, especially with its back to the wall in the redzone, and with forcing turnovers. We just need to play well to

  give everyone the chance to make plays,” he said.

- Dominic Balestrieri-Fox, City High sophomore

 Follow the live stream of tonight's game at:

http://thelittlehawk.com/city-high-vs-dubuque-hempstead-live-stream/