Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Garrett Hartwig faced a difficult decision after an overtime touchdown pulled his third-ranked West High team to within a point of eighth-ranked Cedar Falls on Friday at the UNI-Dome.

The tough question for Hartwig wasn’t whether to go for two and the win or kick the extra point and play a second overtime.

Hartwig and the Trojans knew they were playing for the win the only question was what play to call to get it.

“There is no doubt we were going to go for two, what you do on that play is the hard decision,” Hartwig said. “It was just a matter of how we can put our guys in the right place to make the play.”

Hartwig and his coaching staff made the right call on both accounts.

The four-year head coach put the ball in the hands of his senior quarterback Evan Flitz who made the final big play in a game that was full of them.

Flitz rolled to his right and found receiver Traevis Buchanan in the corner of the end zone to give West High (3-0) a 32-31 win.

“Deciding what to call, that is the hardest decision,” Hartwig said. “You just want to execute and we didn’t execute it right but we have who I think is the best quarterback in the state on our team and receivers who are very good as well.”

Flitz spent the final two quarters and overtime backing up his coaches’ lofty claims.

The senior quarterback completed 16 of 21 passes for 193 in the second half and overtime after completing one pass for 16 yards in the first two quarters.

“Some of our route combos in the first half were just not quite getting the job done,” Flitz said. “We were off, I missed Traevis one time on a third down there was a little bit of the Dome atmosphere going on too, just some jitters early I think it was just us coming together and settling into the game.

Flitz was at his best late in the game.

He led a game-tying field goal drive in the final minutes and set up his game-winning two-point conversion with a 5-yard touchdown run in overtime.

Before he drove into the end zone in overtime he had a feeling the Trojans would play for the win.

“Hartwig is a winner, he’s a winner,” Flitz said. “I had that in the back of my mind but we weren’t thinking about it we were thinking about getting six first.”

The decision to go for the win wasn’t a surprise to anyone in green and gold.

“I had a feeling we were going for two,” senior Trumell Roberts said. “We want to win and I know Hartwig wants to win just as bad. That’s just how he is.”

Week of the Quarterback

Flitz wasn’t the only area quarterback with a big game in week three.

In fact, every signal caller in the Your Prep Sports area was impressive on Friday.

Solon sophomore Came Miller and West Branch junior Beau Cornwell each threw four touchdown passes while City High’s Bryce Hunger and Regina’s Michael Conlon had three apiece.

All six quarterbacks in the Your Prep Sports Area passed for at least 200 yards and had a touchdown on Friday.

Together those six quarterbacks completed 67 percent of their passes with 17 touchdowns and no interceptions in 141 attempts.

Miller (305) and Conlon (308) each went over 300 yards passing and Flitz, Conlon, Hunger and Miller all ran for a TD as well. 

Record Breaker

Two seasons ago Jason Jones rewrote a good chunk of the receiving records at City High.

On Friday, young brother Zach made his own mark in the City High history books.

Jones set a new school record for receptions in a single game making 16 grabs for 232 yards in a 56-33 loss at Ames on Friday.

The 16 receptions broke the previous record of 12 set by Mark Lumpa back in 1983 and the 232 yards were the second most in a single game in City High history, just five yards short of the 237 yards put up by Lumpa in 1984.

Three games into the season Jones has 29 receptions for 428 yards and three touchdowns.

More From Moore

Darius Moore sparkled in his Clear Creek Amana debut two weeks ago with eight receptions for 108 yards.

The senior receiver was even better in his second game in a Clipper uniform.

Moore caught eight passes for the second game in row turning those catches into 128 yards and a touchdown.

The former Sioux City West quarterback also tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass on Friday in a loss to Dubuque Wahlert.

Wick’s Big Week

A breakthrough performance for Alec Wick helped Regina get the bounce back game it needed.

Wick caught four passes for 133 yards and a touchdown as Regina responded from its first 0-2 start since 2002 with a 56-7 win over Wapello in its district opener.

Wick also returned an interception 37 yards for a score to help Regina bounce back from losses to Cedar Rapids Xavier and Solon.

Offensive Player of the Week

There are big games and then there is what City High senior receiver Zach Jones did on Friday against Ames.

Jones hauled in a school-record 16 passes for 232 and two touchdowns in a 56-33 loss to the Little Cyclones catching touchdown passes of 50 and 39 yards from Bryce Hunger.

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–><!–[endif]–>* City High senior quarterback Bryce Hunger passed for 297 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 74 yards and score in a 56-33 loss to Ames.

<!–[if !supportLists]–><!–[endif]–>* Solon sophomore Cam Miller threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns and added an 11-yard touchdown run in a 47-7 win over

<!–[if !supportLists]–>* Regina senior quarterback Michael Conlon completed passed for 305 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 39 yards and two more scores in a 56-7 win over Wapello.

Defensive Player of the Week

West Branch was dominant on the defense in a 47-0 win over Jesup on Friday and senior Andrew Black was a big reason why.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Black had 3.5 of his five tackles behind the line of scrimmage as West Branch limited Jesup to 76 yards of total offense.

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–><!–[endif]–>* West High senior linebacker Dillon Doyle eight tackles including five solo stops and a tackle for loss in a 32-31 win over Cedar Falls.

* Solon senior defensive tackle Tyler Linderbaum had 3.5 tackles, a sack and recovered a fumble in a 47-7 win over Keokuk.  

<!–[if !supportLists]–><!–[endif]–>* Clear Creek Amana junior Quentin Gisleson had two interceptions in a 42-20 loss to Dubuque Wahlert.