Perfect start propels Regina to easy win

IOWA CITY - Imagine everything in the first 14 minutes of a high-school football game going your way. Everything.

That's where second-ranked Iowa City Regina found itself Friday night in its homecoming game against Highland. The Regals scored four touchdowns before 5 minutes had elapsed en route to a 49-14 victory over the Huskies.

'No,” Regals Coach Marv Cook said when asked if he'd ever seen a 14-minute tsunami like that. 'And to do it offensively, defensively and with special teams ...”

The Regals (4-1, 3-0), or course, won the toss. Then Jake Brinkman ran the opening kickoff back 91 yards for a touchdown.

'It was actually kind of fun,” Brinkman said. 'Coach (Ed) Hinkel, I asked what the first play was going to be and he said, ‘There ain't going to be a first play. You're going to take it to the house.'

'It was return middle. I saw a hole and made one cut and went as fast as I could. It was good blocking.”

The defense stopped the Huskies (3-2, 2-1) cold, and the Regals marched 55 yards in five plays for a second touchdown.

Regina then recovered a fumbled snap on Highland's first play from scrimmage and two plays later quarterback Drew Cook ran 9 yards for the TD. Highland fumbled again on its second play from scrimmage, and Michael Adam scooped it up and ran 11 yards for the fourth touchdown with 7:23 left in the first quarter.

Regina added a fifth TD on a four-play, 76-yard drive capped by a Brinkman 3-yard run. This was still the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Regal defense didn't up a first down until the score was 35-0.

'It's not really a surprise when you have a coaching staff that puts you in a position to win,” Brinkman said.

An interception by Cliff Wagner set up the seventh TD as Cook hit Nathan Stenger and he tight-roped the sideline 24 yards for the score 10 seconds into the second quarter.

'I never have been in a game like that,” Drew Cook said. 'We had guys make big plays early and that racked up points for us early.”

Regina's starters were gone after that, but the Regals still scored on a four-play (all runs), 84-yard drive to bump the lead to 49-0 with 8:47 left in the half. After that the bench emptied.

The Huskies barely had positive yardage while the Regal's first-team defense was on the field and finished with just 38 yards and three first downs in the first half. The offensive line blew open huge holes and the defense tackled crisply.