HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: Another big night for Wildcats, Parmely

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By Diane Temple, Maquoketa Valley newspaper adviser

DELHI - Despite not having some key players last Friday, Maquoketa Valley made the most with what it had in a 34-3 football win over Durant at home.

'We were pretty sluggish on Friday,' Coach Wes Wilson said. 'There were a lot of factors that played into it. Mainly we got hit by sickness last week. Steve Huber missed the game and six or seven others were also under the weather during the game.'

But that sluggish play didn't hold the Wildcats back much.

'We were able to do what we needed to do to get the win,' Wilson said. 'We played good defense when we needed to and made some big stops and our offense was able to capitalize when we got some turnovers.'

After a scoreless first quarter, Tyler Yonkovic found his way into the end zone on a 3-yard carry in the second quarter. Later in the quarter, Ryan Parmely intercepted a Durant pass and took it 55 yards for a touchdown. Rob Bockenstedt made good on the PAT. Less than 30 game seconds later, Parmely found his way back into the end zone on a 5-yard run that was followed by a successful extra point kick by Bockenstedt. With 14 second left in the half, Durant made a 34-yard field goal to end the half 20-3.

The third quarter didn't see any scoring, but the fans sure got a lightning show. The game had to be delayed.

The Wildcats came back strong in the fourth quarter as Parmely and Bockenstedt put points on the board twice fairly early in the quarter. Less than two minutes into the quarter, Parmely rushed 95 yards to score,and less than a minute later, he was back in the end zone.

Parmely rushed for  214 yards on 22 carries while quarterback Ben Dzaboff ran for 24 yards. Dzaboff was 7  for 13 passing for a 105  yards.

Defensively, John Tanner Hargrafen has 12 tackles, Parmely 11 and Zach Salow 10.

The 'Cats travel to Bellevue tonight.