Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Ashton Cook has a long way to go to match the prep passing pedigree of his older brother Drew.

Drew Cook passed for nearly 5,500 yards and 56 touchdowns during his prep career before continuing his career at Iowa.

The younger of Regina head coach Marv Cook’s two sons Ashton Cook can claim one thing that few players in state history including his older brother never can.

Ashton Cook threw a touchdown pass on his first ever play at the UNI-Dome, hooking up with Jayden Kies for an 88-yard score in a 37-35 win over Pella Christian in a 1A semifinal on Saturday.

“It happened earlier in the season so I was prepared for it if it happened today,” Ashton Cook said. “I was a little nervous but I was really happy after we scored.”
Cook came into the game when senior Michael Conlon was forced to leave with leg cramps.

With Regina facing a third-and-10 from its own 12 yard line and leading 31-21 in the third quarter most in attendance figured the first snap for the freshman would be a handoff.

Instead Cook threw a perfect deep ball to Kies who caught the pass in stride and outraced the Pella Christian secondary.

“Michael was cramping and I had to come in and I trust the play call and that all the players would do their jobs,” Ashton Cook said. “It worked out.”

Cook has slowly become a bigger part of the Regina offense as the season has gone on.

He completed 4-of-9 passes for 22 yards in the first two playoff games before going 2-for-3 for 120 yards and the touchdown in the semifinal win.

“The last four or five weeks have been really good for him, he has prepared like he’s one play away,” Marv Cook said. “Coach (Ed) Hinkel has a done a really good job of developing his progression.”

Semifinal Shutout

A shutout is always an impressive accomplishment.

The stakes and opponent made the second shutout of the season for the West High defense more than a little extra impressive.

West High force four turnovers and held fourth-ranked Bettendorf (10-2) to 98 total yards in a 23-0 win that was the first shutout in a 4A game at the UNI-Dome since 2000.

“At first, I didn’t think anything of it but after the first half when we held them to zero we said ‘we can do this, we can get a shutout let’s do it’,” West High senior linebacker Caden Fedeler said.

It was the first shutout for West High in the UNI-Dome since a 42-0 win over West Des Moines Dowling in the 1995 state title game.

Shutouts in the UNI-Dome are rare. The shutout by the Trojans was just the 11th UNI-Dome shutout in the past 10 seasons, a span of 174 games.

Only two of those shutouts have come in Class 3A or 4A.

“Bettendorf is a good team, a physical team and we knew that we had to play a good game to beat these guys and we did,” West High coach Garrett Hartwig said.

Offensive Player of the Week

Regina senior quarterback Michael Conlon accounted for 376 total yards and three touchdowns in a 37-35 win over Pella Christian as the Regals returned to the state title game for the eighth straight season.

Conlon completed 13-of-21 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 108 yards and a score.

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>West High senior quarterback Evan Flitz completed 21-of-28 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-0 win over Bettendorf.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Regina senior Jake Phillips caught six passes for 126 yards and a touchdown in the win over Pella Christian.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Solon senior Kendrick Harris rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries and had two receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown in a 35-7 loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier.  

Defensive Player of the Week

West High senior linebacker Caden Fedeler was at the center of one of the best postseason defensive efforts in program history.

Fedeler had a team-high 10 tackles, including 3.5 for loss with 1.5 sacks and also recovered a fumble in a 23-0 shutout of Bettendorf in the 4A semifinals.

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Solon junior linebacker Adam Bock had nine solo tackles among his team-high 12.5 tackles in a 35-7 semifinal loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Regina senior linebacker Isaac Vollstedt had a team-high 7.5 tackles, a sack and recovered a fumble in a 37-35 win over Pella Christian.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>West High senior defensive back Andre White had 3.5 tackles and an interception in a 23-0 win over Bettendorf.