Richard C. Lewis

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY  – In a game of big plays, City High had Davonte Foster to provide the biggest plays of all.

Foster ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns – including a back-breaking 70-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Bryce Hunger threw for 253 yards and two scores as City pulled away from Clinton, 41-29, in a Class 4A District 7 opener on Friday night at Bates Field.

City (2-3) led 26-13 at the half, but Clinton closed to within five points early in the fourth quarter on a nine-yard run Kaleb Galant, followed by a two-point conversion. After being in control, the Little Hawks suddenly found themselves in a tight contest.

Foster made sure his team had an answer.

On third-and-five, Foster bolted up the middle and was barely touched as he jetted 70 yards to the end zone. A two-point conversion from Jack Bacon, and City had regained its cushion, 34-21, that it would not relinquish.

“I put it in my head, the beginning of that play, that my team needs this, my team needs me,” said Foster, a senior tailback. “So, when I saw that hole, I just hit it, and scored it.”

City rolled up 435 yards of total offense, with 319 of those coming in the first half alone.

The offensive display included highlight reel-style plays, including a 74-yard first-half run by Foster – in which he nearly bowled over a referee – and a 77-yard pass play from quarterback Bryce Hunger to lead receiver Zach Jones.

“That’s who we got to be offensively,” said City coach Dan Sabers. “I mean, we’ve got some big playmakers, so if that’s how we’re going to be successful as we can be, we’ve got to be able to hit those home runs.”

The big plays started early. After City took a quick 2-0 lead on a botched Clinton punt snap attempt that sailed through the end zone, the River Kings (1-4) countered with a 67-yard pass from quarterback Brennen Lemke to Jaelen Boyson. Lemke scored two plays later from a yard out, and the visiting River Kings led 7-2.

The rest of the big plays went to City from there on out.

The Little Hawks got the ball deep in their own end with less than two minutes left in the first half and clinging to an 18-10 lead. Drawn as a safe play, Hunger flipped a screen pass to Jones, the senior receiver who entered the game with 37 catches for 521 yards. Jones snared the pass, and took off down the left sideline, eluding tacklers as he sprinted 77 yards to give City a 26-13 lead at the break.

The play even surprised Hunger.

“Honestly, we didn’t know if we were going to go down and score because there was a minute left, so we just flipped it out to Zach and let him make a play, and he did a great job, with some great blocks by our other receivers,” said Hunger, who finished 17-24 for 253 yards and two TDs with one interception.” It was 77 yards for me, and all I did was flip it out there.”

“I feel pretty fortunate as a coach when you can get a simple throw like that and get a touchdown out of it,” Sabers added.

Jones caught 10 balls for 129 yards and two scores.

“Zach is just so special,” Sabers said of his star receiver. “He just goes so hard. He’s so tough, he’s so fearless. He’s just a tremendous competitor.”

The Little Hawks held Clinton mostly in check, limiting the River Kings to 253 yards on the ground and harassing Lemke to a 6-29 passing for 107 yards.

Sabers praised his defense, singling out Liam McComas for his standout play on the defensive line.

The win means the Little Hawks are off to a winning start in District 7, in a race that is expected to be pretty wide open for second place after unbeaten and district favorite Bettendorf.

“I think (that first win) means a lot,” Sabers said. “We got off to the first victory (of the season), and then we struggled big time. And, we were a better football team tonight. That’s what we’re hoping for. Our district is one we think we can battle in, and so our kids should be excited.”

                                        Clinton                         City High

First downs                             20                               10

Rushes-Yards                         52-253                         23-247                        

Passing                                  109                             253

Comp-Att-Int                           7-31-0                         17-24-1

Fumbles-Lost                          0-0                              2-2

Penalties-Yards                        6-50                            12-99

Clinton                                   7          6          0          16        –          29

City High                                10        16        0          15        –          41

ICH – Safety

CL – Brennen Lemke 1 run (Lemke kick)

ICH – Davonte Foster 74 run (Bryce Hunger 2-point conversion)

CL – Lemke 29 FG

ICH – Foster 2 run (Foster 2-point conversion)

CL – Lemke 32 FG

ICH – Zach Jones 77 pass from Hunger (Hunger 2-point conversion)

CL – Kaleb Galant 9 run (Galant 2-point conversion on pass from Patrick Mulholland)

ICH – Foster 70 run (Jack Bacon 2-point conversion)

ICH – Jones 3 pass from Hunger (Miles Morrow kick)

CL – Boysen 5 pass from Lemke (Lemke 2-point conversion)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – CL: Raeqwon Hardwick 21-111, Jordin Parker 2-8, Brennen Lemke 25-87, Jaelen Boysen 2-12, Ty McGruder 1-30, Kaleb Galant 1-9. C: Davonte Foster 16-211, Bryce Hunger 5-37, Cole Milder 1- -1.

PASSING – CL: Brennen Lemke 6-28-1 107, Patrick Mulholland 1-3-0 2. C: Bryce Hunger 17-24-2 253.

RECEIVING – CL: Jaelen Boysen 3-83, Patrick Mulholland 2-23, Justin Merkel 1-1. C: Zach Jones 10-129, Keshawn Christian 2-94, Malik Kimber 2-4, Marquel Poole, 2-12, Davonte Foster 1-14.