Regina junior Isaac Vollstedt runs against Pella Christian. Jeff Yoder/For Your Prep Sports.By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

The regular season didn’t go exactly the way Isaac Vollstedt imagined.

An elbow injury sidelined Vollstedt for four games during the regular season, including each of the final three contests. 

So far the postseason has been more what Vollstedt envisioned.

Vollstedt rushed for a career-high 199 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries on Friday in a 45-43 win over second-ranked Pella Christian.

“It’s nice getting back out there,” Vollstedt said. “It’s a great feeling to be back especially a win like this.”

Vollstedt showed how effective he can be this season with three straight 100-yard rushing performances midway through the season.

The 6-foot-2, 200-yard tailback sat out the final three games of the regular season to let an elbow injury heal up for a playoff run.

Vollstedt looked healthy and fresh on Friday.

He carried 28 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as Regina built a 28-14 lead.

“28 carries in the first half is amazing,” Cook said. “When they told me that stat I was like ‘oh my goodness’ but he is a man. He’s a tough kid and a phenomenal football player so we are going to lean on him when we have to.”

Vollstedt scored on touchdown runs of 1, 2 and 28 yards to record his third game this season with multiple touchdowns.

The 41 carries were also a career-high for Vollstedt who has rushed for 816 yards and 11 touchdowns this season despite missing four games.

“We knew it was going to be tough getting yards, we knew it wasn’t going to be one of those games where we could get chunks at a time,” Vollstedt said. “We knew we had to pound the ball and pound the ball to get yards.”

The performance by Vollstedt helped Regina rush for more than 300 yards for the third time this season, finishing with 343 yards on the ground.

Vollstedt has rushed for 314 yards and five touchdowns in two playoff games and has now rushed for more than 100 yards and scored a touchdown in five straight games in which has played.

“Isaac is a game changer,” Regina junior quarterback Michael Conlon said. “He’s athletic, he’s fast, he’s big, he’s strong, he will put his head down and run people over. He’s a big part of our offense, it changes the game when he’s out there.”

Returning to the Dome: Regina extended its semifinal streak to seven straight seasons with its win over Pella Christian while West High earned its first trip to the UNI-Dome since 2002 with a 38-21 win over Cedar Rapids Prairie.

West High won state titles in 1998 and 1999 and reached the 2002 semifinals but hadn’t been back to the Dome since, losing three consecutive quarterfinals before Friday’s win.

Regina is chasing its seventh consecutive state title and has won 32 straight postseason games.

1,000×2: With a 10-catch, 155-yard performance in West High’s win over Cedar Rapids Prairie on Friday senior Oliver Martin eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in receiving for the second straight season.

Martin has 75 catches on the year for

Martin has caught a career single-season best 75 passes for 1,128 yards and 12 touchdowns this season and now has 229 receptions for 3,305 yards in his career.

Friday was the 7th 100-yard receiving game of the season for Martin and the 17th of his career.

With his touchdown on Friday, Martin now has a TD grab in six straight games and has caught a scoring pass in 16 of his last 18 games dating back to last season.

Offensive player of the week: West High junior quarterback Evan Flitz couldn’t have picked a better time for his best game of the season.

Flitz completed 22-of-28 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-21 win over Cedar Rapids Prairie. Flitz hooked up with four different receivers on touchdown passes on Friday throwing two scoring strikes to junior Dillon Doyle.

Oliver Martin, Traevis Buchanan and Austin West all grabbed touchdown passes from Flitz who also rushed for 25 yards.

Runner-up: City High junior receiver Zach Jones caught nine passes for 143 yards in a 30-14 loss to fourth-ranked Cedar Rapids Washington. Jones also had an interception in the game.

Defensive player of the week: Regina senior defensive back Jack Jensen had three of the Regals’ five interceptions in a 45-43 win over No. 2 Pella Christian including the game-clinching pick with under a minute to play.

Runner-up: West High senior linebacker Max Brown had 8.5 tackles as West High limited Cedar Rapids Prairie to 165 yards rushing and 310 total yards in a 38-21 win.