Richard C. Lewis

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Hurt or not, when it mattered most, Isaac Vollstedt had enough to pull Regina through.

Running on a gimpy left ankle, Vollstedt scored on a 10-yard run in the second overtime, as Regina escaped with a 27-21 win over South Winneshiek on a frigid, sleeting evening at Regal Field.

Class 1A No. 4 Regina (8-2) won this one in heart-stopping fashion – and with a dose of fortune. The Regals survived a 22-yard field goal that went wide left in the first overtime that would have given South Winnshiek (6-4) the upset win. Then, Regina’s defense stoned Warriors running back Rodney Schwartzhoff from inside the 1-yard line on fourth down in the second overtime.

Regina coach Marv Cook called it a gutty victory.

“We fought through some cramps, fought through a tough South Winneshiek team,” Cook said. “It was everything we thought it would be, and unfortunately a little more. Fortunately, our guys were able to make it happen.”

Regina hosts Wilton, which beat Bellevue, 28-14, in the 1A quarterfinals next Friday.

Vollstedt was not expected to play in the game. He entered the game with less than two minutes until halftime with Regina clinging to a 14-8 lead.

All he did after that was rush for 105 yards and two scores, including the game winner in a do-or-die moment.

“I wasn’t planning on playing too much, if at all,” Vollstedt, a senior, said. “South Winneshiek is a really tough team, and I just needed to step in and do my job.”

“I just couldn’t sit on the sideline (any more). I was just too antsy,” Vollstedt continued. “I just wanted to get in there and be with my team.”

That determination paid off when Regina got the ball in the second overtime, moments after stuffing Schwartzhoff, who rushed for 165 yards on 36 carries. Vollstedt swept to the right, and followed his blockers into the end zone and an end to a 1A instant classic.

“I mean, I want the ball every single play, just getting it into my hands, seeing if I can make a play,” Vollstedt said. “I feel our offensive coordinators saw a hole in the defense and just exposed it, and our line just did a really good job of executing it. And, it won us the game.”

Cook was unsure even after warmups whether to play his leading rusher. It’s a good thing he decided to do so.

“He’s a gamer, and he’s not going to let his team down,” Cook said. “He was huge for us tonight.”

Regina got on the board twice in the first half, on pass plays from Michael Conlon to Jacob Phillips. While not entirely comfortable, it was a 14-0 lead, and the game seemed to be going Regina’s way.

But Conlon threw an interception, and South Winneshiek capitalized with an 80-yard drive capped by a 39-yard pass from Warriors quarterback Hunter Todd to Brennan Holthaus. Regina’s Jayden Kies tried to jump the route on the 3rd-and-10 play, but was unable to deflect the pass, leaving Holthaus free to scamper into the end zone.

The play seemed to energize South Winneshiek, and from then, it was game on.

Regina scored on its first possession of the second half on a 5-yard run by Vollstedt to push the lead to 21-8 with just two minutes elapsed in the third period. But South Winneshiek responded on its ensuing possession, going 67 yards on 15 plays. Twice,

Regina bailed out the Warriors on the drive; the first, with a holding penalty on 4th-and-11, and the second on a pass-interference call on a 4th-and-13 on the Regals 40. That moved the ball to the Regina 29, and the Warriors cashed in with a 29-yard strike from Todd to Levi Lukes.

South Winneshiek knotted the game at 21-all on an 11-yard run by Schwartzhoff, followed by a successful point-after kick, with 7:55 in the fourth quarter. That drive, too, was kept alive by a pass-interference call against the Regals.

The last two Regina drives ended with Conlon throwing an interception. The senior quarterback, battling cramps since the third quarter, threw three picks on the night.

The first overtime didn’t start much better. Regina, getting possession first, failed to move the ball, and called on freshman Alec Wick to try a 31-yard field goal. But the snap was mishandled, and the Regals could not get a kick off.

South Winneshiek moved the ball to the 5 and settled in for a 22-yard field goal, about the equivalent of an extra point. Make it, and Regina’s season is over.

The players felt the pressure.

“I was just trying not to cry, actually,” Phillips, a senior said. “We were all lined up, trying to block it, and I think that with our pressure, it kind of disrupted the kick a little bit, and he missed it wide left. I mean, sometimes, you’re just on the right side of the coin.”

Given new life, Regina made its goal-line stand, cashed in, and now is on its way, perhaps, to another state title run.

“Every one of our guys, who have been through this program, have had moments where they’ve had to reach hard,” Cook said, “and it’s not just given to you, it’s not handed to you, you’ve got to earn it, you’ve got to deserve it. Our guys just had the last bit to push it over the edge.”

                                              So. Winn.                   Regina

First downs                            15                                18

Rushes-Yards                        48-145                         38-198                        

Passing                                   132                              175

Comp-Att-Int                         8-22-1                          18-33-3

Fumbles-Lost                         1-1                               0-0

Penalties-Yards                     4-45                             10-90

South Winneshiek               0    8    6    7    0    0    –    21

Regina                                    7    7    7    0    0    6    –    27

ICR – Jacob Phillips 26 pass from Michael Conlon (Alec Wick kick)

ICR – Phillips 16 pass from Conlon (Wick kick)

SW – Brennan Holthaus 39 pass from Hunter Todd (Rodney Schwartzhoff 2 pass from Todd)

ICR – Isaac Vollstedt 5 run (Wick kick)

SW – Levi Lukes 29 pass from Todd (2-point conversion failed)

SW – Schwartzhoff 11 run (Cole Klimesh kick)

ICR – Vollstedt 10 run

Individual statistics

RUSHING – SW: Rodney Schwartzhoff 36-165, Braxton Smith 4-2, Levi Lukes 4-3, Hunter Todd 4- (-25). R: Isaac Vollstedt 19-105, Michael Conlon 6-31, Jacob Phillips 12- 56, Ryan Schott 1-6.

PASSING – SW: Hunter Todd 8-22-1 132. R: Michael Conlon 15-27-2 161, Ashton Cook, 3-6-0-14.

RECEIVING – SW: Levi Lukes 2-38, Cole Klimesh 1-18, Brennan Holthaus 2-45, Braxton Smith 1-13, Rodney Schwartzhoff 2-18. R: Jacob Phillips 8-113, Patrick Clark 2-21, Isaac Vollstedt 3-22, Alec Wick 4-28, Ryan Schott 1-0.