Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

City High (1-0) at No. 5 Cedar Falls (1-0)

Where: UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play

Player to Watch: Cedar Falls senior linebacker and Iowa recruit Jack Campbell (6-5, 216) is tough to miss in the middle of the Tiger defense. Campbell had 5.5 tackles in a season-opening win over Ames.

Key Stat: Cedar Falls has won five straight over City High including a 35-21 win over the Little Hawks in the last meeting in 2015.

About the Tigers: Cedar Falls has controlled the series of late with City High winning the past five meetings, a stretch that started with a 21-7 playoff win in 2011.

The Tigers went 9-2 a year ago with both losses coming to 4A runner-up West High and opened the season with an impressive 31-0 win over Ames.

Senior wide receiver Logan Wolf is a threat every time he touches the ball.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Northern Iowa recruit caught four passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns in the week one win and also returned a punt 60 yards for a score.

About the Little Hawks: City High won its third consecutive season opener, scoring the final 21 points of the game in a 38-21 week one win over Liberty High.

The Little Hawks didn’t complete a pass in the win but rushed for 403 yards its most since 2014.

Junior Tonka Hickman and seniors Max DePrenger and Malik Kimber combined for 380 of those rushing yards and together averaged better than nine yards per carry.

Kimber, Quincy Wells and sophomore Raph Hamilton all took snaps at quarterback, combining to go 0-of-6 passing.

City High will likely need to find some success through the air against a stingy Cedar Falls defense that held Ames to -9 yards rushing on 17 carries.

No. 6 West High (1-0) at No. 3 Bettendorf (1-0)

Where: Touvelle Stadium in Bettendorf, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: West High 23, Bettendorf 0 (Class 4A semifinals)

Player to Watch: Iowa State recruit Darien Porter is a threat any time he touches the ball. The 6-foot-4, 170-pound receiver caught two passes for nine yards and had two carries for 53 yards and a touchdown to go with an interception in a win over Pleasant Valley last week.

Key Stat: In consecutive playoff wins over Bettendorf the past two season West High has limited the Bulldogs to an average of 108 rushing yards and 3.3 yards per carry. In its previous three contests with Bettendorf, all losses, West High allowed 244 rushing yards and 5.9 yards per attempt.

About the Trojans: West High ran its regular season winning streak to 14 with a 28-7 win over North Scott in its season opener.

The Trojans showed off their depth and a balanced offense in the week one win. West High used two quarterbacks as Joey Kuehn and Noah Aanestad combined to throw for 211 yards and 10 different players had a carry, led by Marchaun Hoover with eight carries for 55 yards, as West High rolled up 194 yards on the ground.

Senior Jalen Gaudet caught three passes for 159 yards and two touchdown and also scored on an 11-yard run in the win.

About the Bulldogs: Perennial power Bettendorf went 10-2 a year ago falling to West High 23-0 in the Class 4A semifinals. The Bulldogs showed a stout defense in a season-opening shutout of Pleasant Valley, holding the Spartans to 139 total yards in a 20-0 win.

Bettendorf is led by senior quarterback Carter Bell (5-10. 170), a dual-threat who rushed for a team-high 152 yards including a 61-yard touchdown run and passed for 34 yards in the week one win.

AJ Douglas and Austin Kalar shared carries in the opener, combining to rush for 113 yards on 23 carries.

The strength of the Bettendorf defense is in its line, led by sophomore Griffin Liddle (6-3, 265) who has already established himself as a major college prospect, along with Treo Noland (6-3, 195) and Rocky Schoenfelder (6-0, 205).

Bettendorf had four sacks in its week one win, three from its defensive line.

Waterloo East (0-1) at Liberty High (0-1)

Where: Liberty High, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play

Player to Watch: Waterloo East senior running back Kendall Robinson (6-2, 205) nearly matched his season rushing total from last season with 100 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown in a week one loss to Waterloo West.

Key Stat: Liberty High running back Kaleb Williams averaged 13.7 yards per carry while running for 178 yards in a week one loss to City High.

About the Lightning: Liberty High fell into a 17-0 halftime hole in its varsity debut before scoring 21-unanswered points to take a 21-17 lead.

City High responded with 21 consecutive points of its own as Liberty High dropped its first varsity game 38-21.

There were plenty of positives for the Lightning including a running game that had 269 yards and quarterback Drake Woody who passed for 83 yards and a touchdown.

About the Trojans: A 34-20 loss to cross-town rival Waterloo East was the seventh consecutive loss for Waterloo East dating back to last season. The Trojans started 2-1 a year ago, with wins over Des Moines North and Marshalltown but were outscored by an average of 41.5 points during a six-game losing skid to end the year.

The Trojans have the pieces in place to be improved in 2018 including an experienced quarterback in junior Dylan Reyes (6-2, 200) and a physical back in Robinson. 

No. 6 Regina (0-1) at Anamosa (1-0) 

Where: Downing Field at Anamosa, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play

Player to Watch: Anamosa senior running back Nathan Dietiker (6-2, 195) rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown in a week one win over Maquoketa.  

Key Stat: Regina averaged 196 rushing yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry last season but was held to 18 yards on 16 carries in a season-opening loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier.

About the Regals: Regina lost its season opener for the third straight season, falling to defending Class 3A champion and top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier 44-7.

Regina will be looking to avoid a second straight 0-2 start after rattling off 10 consecutive wins following back-to-back losses to open last season.

Sophomore Ashton Cook completed 19-of-28 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown in his first career start, hooking up with Patrick Clark for a 10-yard touchdown strike.

Another sophomore, Alec Wick was Cook’s top target a week ago catching eight passes for 97 yards.

About the Blue Raiders: The Anamosa football program has been on a rollercoaster ride for the past decade and the Blue Raiders are once again on the climb up.

Anamosa won six total games in eight seasons from 2006 to 2013 before posting an 18-3 combined record in 2014 and 2015.

The Blue Raiders followed up a 3-6 season in 2016 with a 5-4 campaign last year and snapped a string of two consecutive season-opening losses with a 17-6 win at Maquoketa last week.

Anamosa rushed for 244 yards while averaging in the win over Maquoketa behind Dietiker and 80 yards from sophomore quarterback Nolan McLean (6-3, 200).

No. 3 Solon (1-0) at West Liberty (0-1)

Where: West Liberty, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play

Player to Watch: West Liberty senior quarterback Seth Feldman (6-3, 190) threw for 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns and ran for 785 more yards and 12 scores last season.

Key Stat: Solon forced six turnovers in a week one win over Mount Vernon and is averaging three takeaways a game over its past 13 games dating back to last season.

About the Comets: West Liberty turned heads a year ago with a week seven upset of then top-ranked Williamsburg which helped the Comets return to the Class 2A playoffs for the first time since 2013.

The Comets returned nine starters from last year’s state playoff team that finished 6-4 led by Feldman and senior two-way lineman Spencer Daufeldt (6-1, 275).

Daufeldt is a disruptive force on the defensive line, evident by his 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in a 32-6 season-opening loss to West Branch.

About the Spartans: Solon was among the most opportunistic defenses in the state last season, forcing 33 turnovers, and picked up where they left off forcing six in a season-opening win over Mount Vernon.

The Spartans held Mount Vernon to 281 yards, most of which came in the fourth quarter.

The combination of Cam Miller and AJ Coons proved to be a valuable weapon for Solon in the opener. Miller passed for 174 yards and four touchdowns with Coon catching 10 passes for 146 yards and three scores.

No. 3 West Branch (1-0) at Wapello (1-0)  

Where: Wapello, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play

Player to Watch: Senior running back Ricky Pforts (5-11, 190) averaged 105 rushing yards per game and scored 10 touchdowns last season and rumbled for 114 yards and the game-winning touchdown last week.

Key Stat: West Branch had 14 tackles for loss and six sacks in a week one win over West Liberty.

About the Bears: Last season ended abruptly for the Bears when a 9-0 regular season was followed by an opening round playoff loss to Pleasantville. West Branch put that loss behind it with an impressive 32-6 win over West Liberty in last week’s opener.

West Branch outgained West Liberty 321 to 109 and held the Comets to 13 rushing yards on 30 carries.

The Bears showed their balance in the opener as senior quarterback Beau Cornwell (6-2, 185) passed for 155 yards and a touchdown and junior Tanner Lukavsky ran for 113 yards and two scores.

About the Indians: Wapello was involved in one of the best games of week one, using a three-yard touchdown run by Pforts in double overtime to secured a 34-28 win over Louisa-Muscatine.

Senior quarterback Noah Holland (6-0, 160) was impressive in his first career start, throwing for 134 yards and two touchdowns and also rushing for 64 yards and a score.

After four consecutive seasons with fewer than five wins from 2012 to 2015 the Indians are seeking a third straight winning season following a 5-4 mark last year.

Fairfield (1-0) at Clear Creek Amana (1-0)  

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

Last Season: Did not play

Player to Watch: Senior running back Tristin Waugh is a load at 6-2, 240 pounds and led the Trojans last season with 821 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Waugh had 78 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries in week one.

Key Stat: Clear Creek Amana averaged 8.1 yards per offensive snap in a season-opening win over Mount Pleasant.

About the Trojans: After closing 2017 with back-to-back shutout loss Fairfield got off to a strong start this season with a 28-6 win over Knoxville.

Over the past four seasons 21 points has been the magic number for Fairfield. The Trojans are 12-1 when scoring more than 21 points since 2015 and 0-15 when they fail to reach 21 points.

Fairfield showed offensive improvement in its season-opening win rushing for 212 yards and averaging five yards per carry.

Junior Leone Gichure (5-10, 170) led the way with 126 yards on 14 carries in the win over Knoxville.

About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana scored 26 unanswered second-half points to rally for a 26-7 road win over Mount Pleasant in the season opener.

The Clippers had three scoring plays longer than 29 yards in the second half, including an 84-yard strike from Andrew Rohret to Sam Stevens.

Rohret was solid in his first career start at quarterback, completing 5-of-9 passes for 99 yards while rushing for a team-high 83 yards.

The biggest improvement for Clear Creek Amana came on defense where the Clippers held Mount Pleasant to seven points and 284 yards of total offense.

Clear Creek Amana had six sacks in the win after recording 15 all of last season.