By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – It took Brady Bigley a few games to get back on the field after injuring his shoulder injury in the season opener against Cedar Rapids Xavier.

When he returned to the field it took the Regina senior a little while to get back to normal.

The last two weeks Bigley has gotten back to making big plays for the Regals.

Bigley intercepted two passes on Friday to help Class 1A top-ranked Regina clinch the District 4 title with a 42-7 win over Columbus.

“I’m comfortable now,” Bigley said. “It was hard getting back at first just trusting my shoulder and trusting that I could make a tackle and not get hurt again, once I got past that I’ve been fine.”

Bigley started the season with a bang.

The 6-0, 195-pound senior had three solo tackles and scored on a 69-yard touchdown run in the season-opening loss to the Saints.

A shoulder injury sustained in the Xavier game caused Bigley to miss the next two games.

He returned against Sigourney-Keota and has been making plays for Regina ever since.

Despite missing two games Bigley has 14 solo tackles and is tied for the team lead with four interceptions.

Bigley has returned an interception for a touchdown in back-to-back games after his 85-yard return for a score on Friday against Columbus.

“It was hard missing those games so I’m just trying to make plays whenever I can,” Bigley said. “It’s been fun to be able to help the team out.”

Bigley returned an interception 26 yards for a score in a 56-8 win over Van Buren in week 7.

Locked In: Three area teams are locked into their playoff spots heading into the final week of the regular season.

Solon (7-1) has clinched the Class 3A, District 5 title and Regina (7-1) has secured the top spot in 1A, District 4.

City High (6-2) is locked into the second spot in Class 4A, District 7.

Mr. Efficient: Another week, another efficient passing performance by Solon senior quarterback Blayze Griffis.

Griffis completed 10-of-15 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-0 win over West Burlington/Notre Dame.

Griffis completed passes to four different players and added a 35-yard touchdown run as Solon eclipsed 400 yards of total offense for the third time this season.

“Blayze did a nice job of orchestrating our offense and putting us in position to be successful,” Solon coach Kevin Miller said. “He distributed to the football good to a number of playmakers.”

Griffis has passed for 142 yards or more in four straight games and has nine touchdown passes and no interceptions during that stretch.

Welcome back: If there was any concern about West High quarterback Evan Flitz showing some rust in his return from a knee injury it didn’t last long.

Flitz was nearly perfect in his first game action in three weeks, completing 10-of-12 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns in a 50-7 win over Linn-Mar.

Flitz sustained the injury in the second half of a 39-20 loss to Cedar Rapids Prairie on Sept. 23 and missed the last two games.

On Friday he threw touchdown passes of 28 and 5 yards in the first half as West High rolled up 343 yards of total offense.

Offensive player of the week: Graeson Dall showed his versatility on Friday.

The Solon senior caught four passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns and added 24 yards rushing and a score in a 42-0 win over West Burlington/Notre Dame.

Dall had touchdown catches of 29 and 15 yards and scored on a 13-yard run. He also had an interception as Solon clinched the Class 3A, District 5 title.

Runner-up: West Branch senior running back Luke Lenoch rushed for 194 yards on 31 carries and had three second-half touchdowns in a 28-14 win over Tipton.

Defensive player of the week: West High senior linebacker Max Brown gets the nod this week but the rest of his teammates deserve a mention as well.

Brown had a team-high 4.5 tackles and a sack and got plenty of help as West High held Linn-Mar to 12 yards rushing and 104 total yards in a 50-7 win.

Runner-up: Solon senior defensive end Jacob Coons spearheaded another dominating Spartan defensive effort in a 42-0 win over West Burlington/Notre Dame.

Coons has a team-high 3.5 tackles and a sack as Solon forced four turnovers and held the Falcons to 123 yards of total offense.