Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

4A No. 6 Cedar Rapids Prairie (4-0) at 4A No. 2 West High (4-0)

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

Last Season: Cedar Rapids Prairie 39, West High 20; West High 38, Cedar Rapids Prairie 21 (4A quarterfinals)

Player to Watch: Prairie junior Keegan Simmons (6-2, 185) ranks third in Class 4A in rushing with 740 yards, averages 7.8 yards per carry and has 10 touchdowns.

Key Stat: Prairie is averaging better than 7.3 yards per rushing attempt this season while the West High defense is holding opponents to 2.9 yards per carry.

About the Trojans: West High is off to its first 4-0 start since it won six straight to open the 2013 season following an emphatic 52-6 win over City High in the annual Battle for the Boot.

Six different Trojans rushed for a touchdown in the win over City High as West High cracked the 300-yard mark on the ground for the first time since 2013.

A West High offense led by senior quarterback Evan Flitz is averaging 452 yards and 43 points per game. Flitz has passed for 932 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception.

About the Hawks: After 21-20 come-from-behind win over Cedar Rapids Washington in the season opener, Prairie has outscored three foes with a combined record of 4-8 by an average score of 37-14.

Simmons rushed for 138 yards in the season opener and has increased that total every week including a 217-yard, four-touchdown performance last week against Davenport Central.

Senior Braxton Zimmerman has added 381 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and is averaging 9.1 yards per carry.

Clinton (1-3) at City High (1-3)

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

Last Season: City High 49, Clinton 28

Player to Watch: City High senior receiver Zach Jones (5-10, 182) leads the state with 37 receptions and ranks four with 521 receiving yards.

Key Stat: City High allowed 133 rushing yards in a season-opening win over Linn-Mar but has given up an average of 280 yards a game on the ground in three consecutive losses.

About the Little Hawks: City High dropped its third straight game with a 52-6 setback to cross-town rival West High last week.

The Little Hawks had a season-low 210 total yards in the loss to West High and mustered just 41 yards on the ground.

City High still has plenty of reason for optimism entering district play after going 4-1 against district 7 competition last season.

Senior quarterback Bryce Hunger has passed for 858 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a team high 123 yards and two scores and has one of the top receiving duos in the state in Zach Jones and Keshawn Christian (6 receptions, 298 yards).

About the River Kings: Clinton has lost three straight games after opening the season with a 28-14 win over Davenport West. The River Kings are allowing 44.3 points per game during their three-game losing skid that includes road losses to Cedar Rapids Prairie (4-0) and North Scott (3-1).

Clinton is allowing 335 rushing yards and 431 total yards per game this season and has given up more than 390 total yards in each of its three losses.  

3A No. 1 Solon (4-0) at Oskaloosa (3-1)

Where: Lacey Sports Complex in Oskaloosa, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: Solon 34, Oskaloosa 3

Player to Watch: Oskaloosa senior quarterback Seth Howard (6-2, 185) has passed for 623 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 244 yards and eight more scores. `

Key Stat: Since the start of last season Oskaloosa is 10-0 and averaging 42 points per game against every opponent not named Pella or Solon and 0-4 while averaging 9.2 points per game against Pella and Solon.

About the Spartans: Solon notched its third shutout in four games last week with a 40-0 blanking of Washington.

The Spartans rank among the stingiest defenses in the state holding opponents to 55 rushing yards and 147 total yards per game this season.

Solon has yet to allow a team to rush for more than 100 yards and hasn’t given up 250 yards of offense or more than seven points in a single game this season.

Sophomore Cam Miller has passes for 653 yards and nine touchdowns without an interception and Hunter Kula leads Solon with 347 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

About the Indians: Oskaloosa has won three straight games by a combined score of 134-28 since its 35-7 season-opening loss to three-time defending champion Pella.

The Indians have been balanced on offense, averaging 187 yards per game on the ground and 175 through the air.

Howard leads the Indian passing attack and his favorite target has been 6-foot-5 junior Cole Henry who has 12 catches for 158 yards and four touchdowns.

Casey Hill (6-1, 173) has rushed for a team-high 339 yards and four touchdowns.

Highland (1-3) at Class 1A No. 4 Regina (2-2)

Where: Regal Field, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Regina 36, Highland 0

Player to Watch: Regina senior quarterback Michael Conlon has passed for 472 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 60 yards and three scores in the Regals’ back-to-back wins.

Key Stat: Regina scored six total points in losses to 3A foes Solon and Cedar Rapids Xavier but averaged 49 points in back-to-back district wins.

About the Regals: Regina continued its bounce back from an 0-2 start with a 42-20 road win at Sigourney-Keota last week.

The Regals rushed for a season-high 222 yards in the win over Sigourney-Keota with senior Isaac Vollstedt running for 174 yards and three touchdowns on just 13 carries.

After averaging 206 yards in back-to-back losses to open the season Regina is averaging 478 yards during its two-game winning streak.

About the Huskies: Highland opened the season with a 36-14 win over North Mahaska but has been outscored 176-26 over its last three games.

The Huskies have allowed at least 54 points in each game during their current three-game losing stretch following a 54-6 loss to Wilton last week.

Junior quarterback Trey Lasek has accounted for six of the Huskies seven touchdowns this season.

Class 1A No. 8 Bellevue (4-0) at Class 1A No. 9 West Branch (4-0)

Where: The Little Rose Bowl, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Bellevue 26, West Branch 13

Player to Watch: Bellevue junior running back Hunter Clasen (5-8, 165) has rushed for 609 yards and leads all of 11-player with 14 touchdowns.

Key Stat: West Branch junior quarterback Beau Cornwell has thrown 10 touchdown passes without an interception in 97 pass attempts.

About the Bears: West Branch is off to a 4-0 start for the third time in the past four seasons after a 32-21 win at previously unbeaten Maquoketa Valley last week.

Since allowing 454 yards and 20 points in a week-one over West Liberty the Bears have limited opponents 9 points, 138 total yards and 52 rushing yards per game.

West Branch has used a balance offense to average better than 37 points per game.

Behind sophomore Tanner Lukavsky (477 yards, 7 touchdowns) the Bears are averaging 160 yards per game on the ground while Cornwell is completing 67 percent of his passes while throwing for 196 yards per game. 

About the Comets: Bellevue has been impressive during its 4-0 start, outscoring opponents 171-55. The Comets have been the most productive offense in Class 1A averaging 42.7 points (2nd in 1A) and a 1A-leading 428 total yards per game.

Bellevue has been as balanced as they have been efficient on offense averaging 214.5 passing yards per game and 213.5 rushing yards per game.  

Senior Cade Daugherty (6-0, 180) has thrown for 842 yards and nine touchdowns with Trey Daugherty (5-10, 155) catching 21 passes for 325 yards (2nd in 1A).

Clear Creek Amana (1-3) at Center Point-Urbana (3-1)

Where: Center Point, 7:15

Last Season: Clear Creek Amana 26, Center Point-Urbana 0

Player to Watch: Center Point-Urbana sophomore running back Alex Wade (5-9, 165) has rushed for 405 yards and three touchdowns and has also caught seven passes for 104 yards and a score.

Key Stat: Clear Creek Amana rushed for 274 yard and averaged 2.7 yards per carry in its three losses and put up 278 rushing yards and 8.4 yards per carry in its win last week.

About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana ended a season-opening, three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion on Friday with a 51-0 win over Maquoketa.

The victory was the first for Gabe Bakker as the head coach at CCA and the 51 points were the most for the Clippers since a 52-7 win over Keokuk on Sept. 26 of 2014.

Senior quarterback Ethan Postler has completed 68 percent of his passes for 751 yards with four touchdowns and one interception over his last three games.  

About the Stormin’ Pointers: Center Point-Urbana had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 33-8 loss to West Delaware last Friday.

The Stormin’ Pointers outscored opponents 114-29 during its 3-0 start but allowed 473 yards in its loss to West Delaware.

Center Point-Urbana sophomore quarterback Caleb Andrews (6-0, 170) has passed for 581 yards and six touchdowns and has four receivers with more than 100 yards receiving led by Jon Kartues (6-1, 155) with 11 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns.