Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Week two of the high school football season couldn’t come fast enough for Clear Creek Amana.

When the Clippers got their second chance on Friday they made the most of it.

Clear Creek Amana bounced back from a disappointing 42-20 week one loss at home to Mount Pleasant with a dominating 33-7 win at Fairfield.

“Our kids were ready,” Clear Creek Amana coach Gabe Bakker said. “They couldn’t wait to get back on field after that first loss and they responded very well in my opinion.”

Coming off an 8-2 season that ended in the Class 3A playoffs expectations entering the season were high in Tiffin.

The season-opening setback to a Mount Pleasant team the Clippers defeated 26-7 a year earlier was a bit of a shock to the system.

“Mount Pleasant came out and hit us in the mouth,” Bakker said. “It was a good wakeup call for our kids. They hit us in the mouth and we didn’t respond. Our kids took it to heart and had a very, very good week of practice and had a good team.”

In week two Clear Creek Amana looked more like the teams that Bakker has produced during his short tenure leading the program.

The Clippers mixed run and pass while putting up 459 yards of total offense but it was all set up by a dominating defensive performance that has become a staple of Bakker-led teams.

Clear Creek Amana had seven takeaways in the win, including six interceptions while holding Fairfield to 168 total yards on just 3.1 yards per paly

“Our kids did a great job,” Bakker said. “We struggled a little bit with field position and our defense stepped up and got good pressure on the quarterback and our secondary made plays when the ball was in the air and we were able to capitalize on a lot of those.”

Defensively, Clear Creek Amana has been solid to start the season, allowing just 296 yards to Mount Pleasant in week one.

The biggest improvement on Friday came on offense as the Clippers more than doubled their average yards per play from 3.68 in the season-opening loss to 7.4 aided by scoring plays of 80, 50 and 24 yards.

“The biggest thing that I was proud of with our kids is that we had a lot of positive plays that got called back for penalties and we were still able to come back and get positive yards the next play after that,” Bakker said. “I think that tells us a lot about where our kids are at.”

More Liberty High History: It was another historic night for Liberty High. The Lightning improved to 2-0 for the first time in program history with its first ever shutout, a 14-0 blanking of Waterloo East (0-2) at Memorial Stadium in Waterloo.

Liberty High limited the Trojans to 238 yards of total offense in the win including just 58 yards rushing.  

Cook Close to Perfect: Following a shutout loss at two-time defending 3A champion Cedar Rapids Xavier in its opener Regina got the type of performance it needed on Friday against Anamosa and it all started with its junior quarter.

Ashton Cook was nearly perfect in the 56-25 win, completing 20-of-21 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns.

Five different Regals caught at least two passes from Cook who threw scoring strikes of 49, 43, 13 and 2 yards.

Cook also rushed three times for 15 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Offensive performer of the week: Cook was the catalyst for Regina on Friday but his top target Alec Wick played a key role in the offensive outburst.

Wick caught five passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the 56-25 win over Anamosa, hauling in touchdown passes of 49 and 43 yards.

The junior also picked off a pass from his defensive back spot.

Best of the rest: Solon senior quarterback Cam Miller completed 14-of-23 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 51 yards in a 48-7 win over West Liberty.

West High senior receiver Tate Crane had four receptions for 120 yards including a 77-yard touchdown catch in a 42-15 loss to Bettendorf.

West Branch senior receiver Trey Eagle caught three passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-7 win over Wapello.

Defensive performer of the week: Jeff Bowie led a stingy West Branch defensive effort as the Bears held Wapello to two first downs and 82 total yards in a 24-7 win at the Little Rose Bowl.

The junior defensive end had 4.5 tackles including 3.5 for loss and two sacks as West Branch held the Indians without a first down in the second half.

Best of the rest: Liberty High senior Brian Lively had 3.5 tackles, including 2.5 for loss and a sack as the Lightning posted the first shutout in program history with a 14-0 win at Waterloo East.

Solon senior linebacker Jax Flynn had a team-high eight tackles, including four solos and an interception in a 48-7 win over West Liberty.

Regina junior Jack Goedken had 4.5 tackles and a sack in a 56-25 win over Anamosa.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by becoming a member.