Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Class 4A No. 2 West High (3-0) at City High (1-2)

Where: Bates Field, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: City High 20, West High 7

Player to Watch: City High senior receiver Zach Jones (5-10, 172) has been among the most productive in the state this season catching 29 passes for 428 yards and three touchdowns.

Key Stat: City High outgained West High 148-80 on the ground in a 20-7 win last season, the ninth consecutive year the team with more rushing yards has won the Battle for the Boot.

About the Trojans: West High rallied for a 17-point halftime deficit to remain unbeaten with a 32-31 overtime win over Cedar Falls last week.

The Trojans have been among the top offensive teams in the state through three weeks, averaging 449 yards and 40 points per game.

Senior quarterback Evan Flitz is completing 70 percent of his passing while throwing for 781 yards and six touchdowns.

Traevis Buchanan has caught 17 passes for 317 yards and Jalen Gaudet has 14 grabs for 287 yards and two scores.

About the Little Hawks: City High lost its second straight game after a season-opening win over Linn-Mar, falling to Ames 56-33 last Friday.

The Little Hawks had 488 yards of total offense in the loss to Ames, their highest total since rolling up 551 yards in a week five win over Clinton last season.

Senior quarterback Bryce Hunger has passed for 684 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 111 yards and another score.

Washington (3-0) at 3A No. 1 Solon (3-0)

Where: Spartan Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: Solon 36, Washington 15

Player to Watch: Washington senior receiver Jaivonn Willis (6-3, 215) is a threat to score any time he touches the ball. Willis has caught 11 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns and is averaging 29.5 yards per punt return with a 76-yard touchdown return

Key Stat: Two of the top defenses in Class 3A meet on Friday. Washington is allowing 204 yards and 9.3 points per game while Solon is giving up just 2.3 points and 154 yards per game.

About the Demons: After winning its first two games by a combined score of 119-14 Washington edged Mount Pleasant 16-14 last week.

Sophomore quarterback Luke Turner made his first career start in place of senior Ryan Reighard and passed for 89 yards and rushed for 124 more yards.

Turner has rushed for a team-high 291 yards while senior Jack Redlinger has added 282 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

About the Spartans: Top-ranked Solon has been impressive on its way to a 3-0 start, outscoring opponents 99-7 while averaging better than 340 yards of offense per game.

Sophomore quarterback Cam Miller completed 5-of-13 passes for 64 yards in his first career start. In two games since he has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes while throwing for 434 yards and six touchdowns without an interception.

Maquoketa (0-3) at Clear Creek Amana (0-3)

Where: Clipper Field, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: Clear Creek Amana 44, Maquoketa 0

Player to Watch: Sophomore Ryne Gruenwald (5-11, 204) is the Cardinals’ leading rusher with 143 yards and has accounted for four of Maquoketa’s five touchdowns.

Key Stat: Clear Creek Amana is averaging 260 passing yards a game in the two games with Darius Moore in the lineup and had just 91 yards through the air in the one game without Moore.

About the Cardinals: Since a 13-7 win over Clear Creek Amana in the opening round of the 2015 playoffs Maquoketa has lost 12 of 13 games.

The Cardinals have been outscored 134-38 in three games this season after a 44-14 loss to Center Point-Urbana in the District 4 opener.

Junior quarterback Nicholas Ehlinger has passed for 409 yards and a touchdown with Luke Brame his top target catching 12 passes for 118 yards.

About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana put up 317 yards and season-high 20 points last week but it wasn’t enough in a 42-20 loss to Dubuque Wahlert.

The Clippers are making progress and will look for a breakthrough performance on Friday against a Maquoketa squad allowing 472 total yards and 46 points per game.

Senior quarterback Ethan Postler has thrown for 583 yards and a touchdown without an interception and has found a big-time playmaker on the outside in receiver Darius Moore.

Moore has 16 receptions for 236 yards and a touchdown in two games.

Class 1A No. 4 Regina (1-2) at Sigourney/Keota (1-2)  

Where: Sigourney, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Regina 50, Sigourney-Keota 28

Player to Watch: Sigourney-Keota junior Carson Crawford (5-7, 185) is averaging nearly 180 rushing yards a game, running for 537 yards and five touchdowns.

Key Stat: Over the past three seasons, a span of 30 games, only four Class 1A teams have rushed for more than 200 yards against Regina. Sigourey-Keota is one of them, running for 248 yards last season.

About the Savage Cobras: Sigourney-Keota snapped a two-game losing skid to open the season with a 60-13 win over Highland last week.

Crawford is the key cog in the Sigourney-Keota spinner back offense averaging 8.4 yards per carry while senior quarterback Luke Greiner has passed for 155 yards and rushed for 319 yards and four scores.

About the Regals: After opening the season with consecutive losses for the first time since 2002 Regina got back in the win column last week with a 56-7 victory over Wapello.

The Regina offense came to life in the win, rolling up 537 yards of offense against Wapello after posting 413 total yards in its first two games combined.

Regina has not lost a regular season game to a team in its same class since falling to Solon in 2009.

Class 1A No. 8 West Branch (3-0) at Maquoketa Valley (3-0)  

Where: Delhi, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: West Branch 54, Maquoketa Valley 32

Player to Watch: Maquoketa Valley senior running back Garrett Hogan has averaged 7.5 yards per carry while rushing for 385 yards and four touchdowns.

Key Stat: West Branch junior Beau Cornwell has thrown nine touchdown passes in three games, one fewer than three different Bear quarterbacks combined for in 10 games last season.

About the Wildcats: Maquoketa Valley has started 3-0 for the second year in a row following a 28-14 win over Durant on Friday.

Last season the Wildcats lost five of six games to close the season starting with a week four loss to West Branch.

Behind Hogan and senior quarterback Tyson Tucker (459 passing yards, 206 rush yards) Maquoketa Valley is averaging 383 total yards and 36 points per game. 

About the Bears: West Branch has outscored a pair of opponents 77-6 since a 35-20 season-opening win over West Liberty.

Cornwell has passed for 569 yards and nine touchdowns and sophomore Tanner Lukavsky has gone over 100 yards rushing in all three games helping West Branch average 330 total yards per game.

It hasn’t been all offense for West Branch. The Bears posted their first shutout since 2015 with a 47-0 blanking of Jesup last week in which they allowed 75 yards of offense.