By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The first varsity game at quarterback for Bryce Hunger got off to an inauspicious start.

Playing in front of an overflow crowd and with a rush of nervous energy Hunger fumbled on the first snap of his first ever start under center.

The start was a little shaky but there was nothing wrong with the way Hunger finished.

Hunger bounced back from his first-play blunder to pass for 229 yards and a touchdown in his quarterbacking debut in a 26-13 win over Linn-Mar.

“The first series, the first play I fumbled and I picked it up and I said ‘o.k. I need to get it together’,” Hunger said. “That’s really all it took for me.”

Hunger was 16-of-29 passing with a touchdown and an interception and also ran for 20 yards in the win.

The performance by Hunger helped City High win its season opener for the second straight season and just the second time in six seasons.

“He is phenomenal,” City High senior center Witt Harberts said. “He is good at making plays out of the pocket, he’s smart, he knows what he needs to do.”

Hunger was one of only three returning starters for City High this season but found himself switching positions during the offseason.

The 6-foot-2, 191-pound Hunger was a defensive starter last season, making 27.5 tackles at safety.

Other than his adventurous first play Hunger didn’t show too much rust on Tuesday after spending a year away from quarterback.

“Bryce did a hell of a job and he’s been doing a hell of a job at practice and doing all the things we ask him to do,” City High coach Dan Sabers said. “We expect him to just get better and better and we’ll give him more responsibility as it goes and I think he’s very capable.

Hunger helped City High jump to a 13-0 lead, directing a pair of first-half scoring drives.

“I was a little nervous but I was confident about what we could do, we got up on them early and our confidence grew,” Hunger said. “I think that was important for us.”

Linn-Mar rallied to tie the game 13-13 at halftime but Hunger and senior receiver Zach Jones helped put things away in the second half.

Jones returned a punt 65 yards for a score to break the 13-all tie and Hunger hit Jones with a 27-yard scoring strike that made it 26-13.

“I thought he did very, very well,” Sabers said. “His composure was great. We got up 13-0 and they came back and tied it up and he hung in there and led us as a team.”

Jones provided a security blanket for Hunger in his first career start, catching 10 of his 16 completions.

The senior receiver finished with 128 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s really helpful to have a guy like Zach,” Hunger said. “He did a great job and he’s hard to guard one-on-one.”