Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Bellevue (1-3) at Class 1A No. 5 West Branch (4-0)

Where: The Little Rose Bowl, Thursday 6 p.m.

Last season: Bellevue 28, West Branch 20

Player to watch: Bellevue junior quarterback Max Jackson (5-9, 140) has passed for 442 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 317 yards and three scores.

Key stat: West Branch senior Trey Eagle has caught a touchdown pass in three straight games and is averaging better than 22 yards per reception during that stretch.

About the Bears: West Branch gets a chance to avenge its only regular season loss of the past two seasons after falling at Bellevue in the district opener last season.

The Bears are 4-0 for the third consecutive season after holding off Tipton 24-14 last week despite producing a season-low 214 yards of total offense.

West Branch continued its impressive start to the season defensively and is holding opponents to 169 total yards per game and 4.5 yards per play.

Offensively the Bears have relied on the steady play of junior quarterback Gavin Hierseman and senior tailback Tanner Lukavsky.

Hierseman has thrown for 555 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception while Lukavsky has rushed for a team-high 392 yards and two scores.

About the Comets: A Class 1A quarterfinalist a year ago, Bellevue lost three straight games to open the season before a 35-6 win at Clayton Ridge last week.

The Comets were tested with a challenging non-district slate that featured losses to three teams with a combined 10-2 record including a five-point loss at Camanche (3-1) and an eight-point loss to 2A No. 10 Monticello (4-0).

Jackson is the catalyst for the Comet offense but senior running back Ben Parker (5-10, 175) is coming off his best game rushing for 163 yards in the win at Clayton Ridge pushing his season total to 316 yards.

Jacob Waller (5-11, 160) provides another threat for the Comets, rushing for 143 yards and two scores and leading the team with 20 receptions for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

Muscatine (1-3) at City High (1-3)

Where: Bates Field, 7:15 p.m.  

Last season: Muscatine 46, City High 17

Player to watch: Muscatine junior running back Timothy Nimely has rushed for 421 yards and two touchdowns in three games this season and is averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

Key stat: City High is averaging 231 rushing yards per game this season and has rushed for at least 146 yards in every game. Muscatine is allowing 175 yards per game on the ground and has allowed 160 yards rushing or more in three of four games.

About the Little Hawks: City High closed non-district play with a 49-13 loss at Dubuque Hempstead last week after snapping a seven-game losing skid that dated back to 2018 with a week-three win over Ames.

The Little Hawks have split its past four matchups with Muscatine over the last four seasons but the Muskies have won each of the last two.

Over the past five matchups between the two teams the winning team has scored 36 points or more four times.

Senior running back Tonka Hickman has rushed for 457 yards and six touchdowns to lead City High while junior quarterback Raph Hamilton has thrown for 265 yards and two touchdowns.

About the Muskies: Muscatine dropped to 1-3 on the season with a 14-0 loss at Johnston in its non-district finale.

The Muskies opened the season with back-to-back losses to Davenport Central and Cedar Rapids Jefferson before a 13-7 home win over Davenport West in week three.

Muscatine has offensive weapons led by Nimely and junior receiver Eli Gaye. Gaye (5-10, 170) has caught a team-high 18 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns while Zach Hardy has seven receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Sam Wieskamp (6-2, 200) and junior Zander Morgan (6-2, 175) have split time at quarterback this season combining to throw for 362 yards and three touchdowns with an interception.

West High (0-4) at Pleasant Valley (1-3)

Where: Pleasant Valley, 7:15 p.m.

Last season: West High 20, Pleasant Valley 14

Player to watch: Pleasant Valley junior quarterback Ryan Mumey (6-2, 185) has passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns and leads the Spartans with 245 rushing yards and three scores.

Key stat: Mumey accounts for 62 percent of the total offense for the Spartans with his rushing or passing and has been responsible for five of Pleasant Valley’s seven touchdowns this season.

About the Trojans: A tough start to the season continued for West High last week as the Trojans let a second-half lead slip away in a 23-21 loss to Dubuque Senior.

West High has now lost four consecutive games to 3-1 teams to open the season with three of those losses coming by a combined 11 points.

The record certainly isn’t what has become expected for West High but the Trojans still have a manageable path to the playoffs that starts with defending district runner-up Pleasant Valley.

Junior quarterback Marcus Morgan (6-2, 165) has posted his best two games of the season over the past two weeks and has thrown for 890 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 83 yards and two scores.

About the Spartans: After a second consecutive 0-3 start to the season Pleasant Valley is seeking to follow a similar bounce back path to the one it used a year ago to reach the postseason.

Pleasant Valley won five of its final six games following an 0-3 start a year ago with the only loss during that stretch a six-point setback at West High.

So far the Spartans have followed a similar path from a year ago opening the season with loses to Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids Prairie and North Scott before getting on track with a 46-7 win over Davenport Central last week.

Pleasant Valley got its offense going in the win over the Blue Devils last week putting up 397 yards after managing just 209 yards and 4.3 points per game during its 0-3 start.

Clear Creek Amana (3-1) at Liberty High (3-1)

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

Last season: Clear Creek Amana 37, Liberty High 7

Player to watch: Clear Creek Amana junior Alex Figueroa leads a talented trio of Clipper running backs rushing for 374 yards and a touchdown while averaging 6.7 yards per carry.

Key stat: Liberty High is averaging 260 rushing yards per game and has run for at least 180 yards in every game this season while Clear Creek Amana is holding opponents to 88 rushing yards per game and has now allowed more than 147 rushing yards in a game.

About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana pushed its winning streak to three with a 47-7 win over Marion last week.

Since a 42-20 loss to Mount Pleasant in the season opener Clear Creek Amana has outscored opponents 115-27 and averaged 434 yards of total offense in three consecutive wins.

The Clippers are averaging 241 rushing yards per game during their three-game winning streak after rushing for a season-high 341 yards last week.

Figueroa headlines a group of three Clipper running backs with at least 150 yards on the season. Sophomore Gage Freeman (5-11, 180) has rushed for 176 yards and four touchdowns while junior Cole Pfister (5-6, 160) has added 150 yards and three scores.

About the Lightning: Liberty High got back on track with a 33-6 win at Mid-Prairie last week after suffering its first loss of the season to Washington in week three.

For the Lightning it often comes down it the ability to run the ball. Liberty High is averaging 286 rushing yards and 6.6 yards per carry in its three wins this season and had 180 yards and averaged 4.2 yards per carry in the loss to Washington.

Junior Max Tafolla (6-0, 205) leads the Liberty High rushing attack with 478 yards and five touchdowns while senior Kaleb Williams (5-7, 180) has rushed for 339 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior quarterback Drake Woody has passed for 402 yards and five touchdowns with one interception.

Fort Madison (3-1) at Class 3A No. 3 Solon (4-0)

Where: Spartan Stadium, 7 p.m.

Last season: Solon 49, Fort Madison 6

Player to watch: Fort Madison junior quarterback Will Larson (5-10, 160) has passed for 523 yards and five touchdowns and also run for 144 yards and two scores.

Key stat: After averaging 7.9 yards per play in its first two games Solon had that number nearly cut in half last week, averaging just four yards per play in a 17-13 win over Davenport Assumption.

About the Spartans: Solon needed a second-half rally to stay unbeaten, scoring the final 14 points in a 17-13 win over Davenport Assumption.

The win was the 29th consecutive regular season victory for Solon which hasn’t lost a regular season game since September 2 2016.

Solon had a season-low 188 yards of total offense against the Knights including just 56 yards on the ground.

While the Spartans scuffled on offense for the first time last week they continued to excel on defense. Solon allowed a season-high 288 yards of total offense to Davenport Assumption but forced four turnovers and allowed just 4.4 yards per play.

Senior linebacker Jax Flyn leads the Spartans with 33.5 tackles and has three interceptions and recovered a fumble.

About the Bloodhounds: Fort Madison has already matched its win total from a year ago with its third 3-1 start in the past 10 seasons.

The Bloodhounds won back-to-back games over Central Lee and West Burlington to open the season and bounced back from a 35-13 loss to Clear Creek Amana with a 28-6 win over Burlington last week.

Fort Madison has won more than three games just twice in the past 11 seasons had hasn’t had a winning record since it went 5-4 in 2010.

Larson has been efficient in leading the Bloodhound offense completing 54 percent of his passes and is coming off his best game throwing for 244 yards and rushing for 75 against Burlington.

Diego Lozano (6-2, 215) has rushed for a team-high 277 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 6.9 yards per carry while Michael Mosena has caught a team-high 24 passes for 170 yards.

Regina (3-1) at East Marshall (1-3) 

Where: LeGrand, 7 p.m.

Last season: Regina 28, East Marshall 0

Player to watch: East Marshall junior Samuel Bandstra (5-9, 176) has rushed for 261 yards and four touchdowns and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

Key stat: Regina is averaging 47.7 points per game during its current three-game winning streak and has scored at least 42 points in all three games.

About the Regals: Regina ran its winning streak to three following a season-opening loss top two-time Class 3A champion Cedar Rapids Xavier with a 42-35 win over Williamsburg last week.

The Regals have increased their total yardage output in all four games this season going from 255 in its opener to a season-high 509 yards on a whopping 85 offensive plays last week.

Junior quarterback Ashton Cook has thrown for 963 yards and 11 touchdowns this season and has run for 151 yards and four more scores. During the Regals’ three-game winning streak Cook has averaged 265 passing yards per game and has thrown 11 touchdowns without an interception.

About the Mustangs: Following a 1-1 start to the season East Marshall has dropped back-to-back games to unbeaten opponents after falling 21-13 at BGM last week.

Three different quarterbacks have combined to complete 6-of-19 passes for the Mustangs which rely heavily on the ground game in its run-heavy offense.

Led by Bandstra, three players have rushed for more than 117 yards this season with junior Logan Bowie (5-10, 168) rushing for 186 yards and three touchdowns and senior Eric Ommen (6-2, 189) adding 117 yards while averaging 7.8 yards per carry.

East Marshall allowed an average of 229 yards per game during its 1-1 start that featured a win over BCLUW but has give up an average of 369 yards per game in back-to-back losses to Waterloo Columbus and BGM.

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