Regina faces final regular-season test before title trek starts

Iowa City Regina has a playoff berth in hand already. Now, they have a grasp on the Class 1A District 6 title.

The Regals (8-0, 5-0 1A 6) will begin their trek for a fourth straight title, including a second straight 1A crown, when the postseason begins. Sigourney-Keota awaits before the playoffs, hosting Regina for a Week 9 game. All that is really at stake is the mammoth win streak that reached 50 straight games after a 49-0 win over Wapello on Oct. 18.

Can you say trap game? It has all the trimmings and wrappings, including a nice little bow, of one.

Sigourney-Keota (5-3, 2-3) was expecting another playoff berth, going 4-5 last season and losing a first-round playoff game to Maquoketa Valley, which later lost to Regina in the quarterfinals.

S-K needs to derail Regina, something many aren't considering, and have an extremely unlikely Cardinal win over West Branch to reach the postseason. Throw in the unique "spinner back" offense that is hard to prepare for, and things get interesting.

"Be ready for anything," Regina Coach Marv Cook said to his team during the coldest and most overcast practice of the season so far.

They have plenty of experience against S-K. Cook reminded the Regals that S-K changed their offense up, went back to the spinner back offense and whipped a favored team. He closed his point, emphasizing the team needed to be ready for everything and anything from S-K.

Of course, let's not kid ourselves. A chance to make history is a good motivator also. The players and coaches down play the streak, but being within arm's reach of one of the most hallowed team records in the state will push players. They know they can't relax. Every team will play their best, wanting to snap the streak. Players of three other teams have a stake in each Regina game. They helped build the second-longest win streak, trailing Waterloo East, who won 55 straight games and went 56 straight games unbeaten from 1965-71.

The fact that the Regals seem pretty healthy is a good sign for them and maybe bad news for their opponents.

Cook had an added message to his seniors, who are playing in their final regular season game of their prep careers. A game that Riley Dixon, Elliot Halsch, Mike Sehl, Adam Demory, Bryan Amelon, Casey Beaver, Jared Geraets, Adam Ries and others will never experience again.

"It went pretty damn fast," Cook said. "Didn't it?"A good message to the team that a "let up" is unacceptable. It will be one of those games they will always remember. Make it a good memory.

As fast as this season - and the last four for the seniors - has gone, the next few weeks will seem even quicker. The playoffs will start with three games in 10 days and the 1A championship less than a month away from the Sigourney-Keota game.

Cook told the team the quick turn around leads to a heavy work load with a shorter break between contests. More work to do in a shorter period of time, I guess.

He closed letting the team know that 3 in 7 players are done after Friday. The Regals should be happy that they are among those contending for a state title and not watching from the stands next Wednesday, letting them know the expected lifting schedule during the next week and asking Sehl to break the team down to end it.

"You earned the right to play on," Cook said. "Enjoy the opportunity to play football."