By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Summer is supposed to be the highlight of the year for high school kids.

A three-month vacation from school that serves as a carefree break full of relaxation that flies by in the blink of an eye.

Not for Jake Phillips and his Regina teammates.

The summer couldn’t end fastest enough for Phillips and his Regal teammates who spent May, June and July thinking about last year’s Class 1A state title game loss to Western Christian.

“All summer we have thought about it,” Phillips said of the 47-34 loss in the state finals. “That’s what I thought about all summer was how they have the trophy and we lost the streak.”

Western Christian snapped the string of consecutive state titles for Regina at six with its win in the 1A title game last November.

That loss hung with the Regals all winter and spring and into the summer.

It was still fresh in the minds of Regina players when fall camp opened earlier this month, the first time since 2010 the Regals didn’t open practice as defending champs.

“In years past when we’ve won it we haven’t really had a chip on our shoulder like we do now,” Regina senior Steve Sehl said. “That’s going to be huge for us.”

In many programs, an 11-2 record and trip to the state finals would be cause for celebration.

At Regina last season, especially the ending, has served as a steady source of motivation through the offseason.

“I think it pushes everybody on the team a little harder in the weight room, working out and I think it makes everyone a little more motivated,” Phillips said. “It pushes everyone a little bit farther knowing that they are ahead of us right now. We want to prove to the state that we can get back there and compete at that kind of level.”

Regina returns the talent to make good on its goal to return to the top of Class 1A in 2017.

Headlining the list of returning talent is an explosive group of skill position players and an offensive line that returns a trio of starters.

“To me it’s as solid as a nucleus as we have had,” Regina coach Marv Cook said. “The overall numbers may not be big but it’s as a solid as a group as we have had with that core four or five guys.”

The Regina offense should be explosive as ever with the return of all-staters Michael Conlon at quarterback and Isaac Vollstedt at running back along with Phillips a do-everything senior.

A true dual threat, Conlon (5-10, 175) threw for 1,673 yards and 19 touchdowns and ran for 725 yards and 11 scores on his way to third-team all-state honors last season as a junior.

“To have that experience back is huge,” Cook said of Conlon. “Michael was phenomenal last year with his development at quarterback.”

Conlon has plenty of weapons to choose from starting with seniors Vollstedt and Phillips.

A physical runner at 6-foot, and 200 pounds Vollstedt rushed for 1,114 yards and 15 touchdowns despite missing nearly five full games with injuries.

“I feel like the chemistry has just built with everyone since last year,” Vollstedt said. “Michael and I in the backfield have progressively built that chemistry over the last year and its great now.”
Phillips is the wildcard for the Regina offense and a nightmare for opposing defenses.

The 5-10, 200-pound Phillips can line up at receiver or running back and showed that last season rushing for 652 yards and 11 touchdowns and catching 20 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns.

“You have to find ways to get him the ball,” Cook said of Phillips. Jake is an unbelievable route runner, he is quick as heck in and out of breaks and he’s great after the catch so we have to be smart, we have to put him in positions where he can be successful not just in the running back spot but we have to find ways to get him the ball.”

Conlon, Vollstedt and Phillips all have the luxury of running behind an offensive line that returns three starters in Sehl (6-3, 270), Alex Moore (6-1, 240) and Luke Stein (6-2, 230).

All six of Regina’s returning starters on offense will see a key role on the defensive side of the ball as well where the Regals must replace their top seven tacklers from last season.

Phillips is the top returning tackler after making 34.5 stops last year.

“There is no pressure on us, it’s just stepping up,” Phillips said. “This is our season, we are seniors and we are here to lead and it motivates us every day.”