Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

West High (3-5) at City High (2-6)

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

Last season: West High 54, City High 13

Player to watch: West High junior quarterback Marcus Morgan has passed for 1,603 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 171 yards and two more touchdowns.

Key stat: West High has won two straight in the series and is seeking to win back-to-back games at Bates Field for the first time since it won 24-14 in 1997 and 28-21 in 1999 which was also the last three-game winning streak for the Trojans in the series.

About the Trojans: West High has won three of four district games after an 0-4 start and can close the season on a three-game winning streak if it can earn its third consecutive win in the Battle for the Boot.

West High has produced its top two scoring performances in the Boot series in back-to-back seasons. The Trojans cracked the 50-point mark against City High for the first time in a 52-6 win in 2017 and followed that up with a 54-13 win last season.  

West High enters coming off its top offensive output of the season last week scoring 31 points in win at Muscatine.

Morgan had one of his best games of the season last week throwing for 250 yards and a touchdown while completing passes to five different receivers.

Senior Tate Crane has been the top target for Morgan with a team-high 39 receptions for 516 yards and four touchdowns.

About the Little Hawks: City High has lost three straight following a 62-14 home loss to district champion Linn-Mar last week.

The Little Hawks will attempt to end the season on a high not with its ninth home win over West High in the last 10 games with the Trojans at Bates Field after seeing an eight-game home winning streak against West High end in 2017.

City High will look to rev up its running game against a West High defense that is allowing 184 yards per game on the ground.

Senior tailback Tonka Hickman leads the Little Hawks with 689 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns while junior quarterback Raph Hamilton has rushed for 289 yards and three scores.

Clinton (0-8) at Liberty High (6-2)

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

Last season: Liberty High 42, Clinton 21

Player to watch: Clinton sophomore quarterback Jai Jensen (6-2, 170) has passed for 713 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 150 yards and a score.

Key stat: Liberty High has turned the ball over just five times in eight games this season and is +6 in turnover margin.

About the River Kings: Clinton saw its losing streak reach 13 with a 52-14 home loss to Central DeWitt last week.

The River Kings have scored just 21 points in four district games and have been outscored by an average of 43.5 points per game in district play.

Jensen is surrounding by a pair of solid offensive weapons in senior running back Ulysses Patterson (6-1, 180) and junior receiver Treveon Bailey (6-4, 155).

Patterson has rushed for 255 yards and three touchdowns and caught 28 passes for 132 yards.

Bailey has caught a team-high 29 passes for 362 yards and three touchdowns.

About the Lightning: Liberty High remained in the thick of the Class 3A playoff race with a 14-7 win over Davenport Assumption last week.

The win propelled Liberty High to No. 16 in the RPI rankings used to select at-large playoff contenders putting the Lightning in a strong position to claim one of the seven at-large spots in the playoffs with a win in its regular season finale.

Liberty High has kept its playoff chances alive with back-to-back strong defensive outings. The Lightning allowed 272 yards in a 14-12 win at Central DeWitt in week seven and limited Assumption to 141 yards last week.

Senior Max Tafolla returned from injury to rush for 149 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Knights and has piled up a team-high 856 yards and seven touchdowns while season.

Kaleb Williams has added 706 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

Central DeWitt (3-5) at Clear Creek Amana (4-4)

Where: Clipper Field, 7:30 p.m.

Last season: Clear Creek Amana 53, Central DeWitt 26

Player to watch: Central DeWitt senior running back Caleb Pace is averaging 7.9 yards per carry while rushing for a team-high 371 yards and four touchdowns.

Key stat: Clear Creek Amana has scored a rushing touchdown in 16 of 18 games over the last two seasons. The only team to keep the Clippers from scoring a rushing touchdown during that span was North Scott.

About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana will attempt to snap a two-game losing skid in its season finale after dropping to 4-4 with a 35-7 loss to North Scott last week.

The Clippers have been solid defensively holding opponents to 252 total yards and 19.9 points per game but have allowed their three highest yardage and scoring outputs of the season while dropping three of four district games.

Junior quarterback Ryan Navara has passed for 995 yards and 10 touchdowns to lead the Clippers while Alex Figueroa has rushed for a team-high 587 yards and three touchdowns.

Tom Johnson and Harrison Rosenberg have each caught 16 passes to lead a balanced group of Clipper pass catchers that features nine players that have a touchdown grab.

About the Sabers: Central DeWitt snapped a four-game losing skid with a 52-14 win over Clinton last week.

The 3-5 record for the Sabers is a bit deceiving with three losses coming by a combined eight points including a 17-14 loss to Davenport Assumption and a 14-12 loss to Liberty High in district play.

Pace leads a balanced Central DeWitt rushing attack that features five players that have at least 100 yards rushing.

Zach Hinkle has run for 314 yards and three touchdowns while quarterback Henry Bloom has rushed for 251 yards and three touchdowns while passing for 1,025 yards and 10 scores.

Logan Paulsen has been the top receiving threat with 26 catches for 398 yards and three scores.

Dyersville Beckman (5-3) at No. 5 West Branch (8-0)

Where: The Little Rose Bowl, 7 p.m.

Last season: West Branch 48, Dyersville Beckman 24

Player to watch: Dyersville Beckman junior quarterback Nick Offerman (6-1, 178) has passed for 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 413 yards and eight scores.

Key stat: West Branch has forced 18 turnovers this season returning seven for touchdowns.

About the Bears: West Branch clinched the Class 1A District title and a playoff berth with its 26-7 win at Cascade last week and can likely lock down home field advantage in the opening two round of the playoffs with an unbeaten regular season.  

The Bears are currently second in the Class 1A RPI rankings and in line to host through the quarterfinals if it can close out the regular season with a win.

Junior quarterback Gavin Hierseman has passed for 1,160 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed for 295 yards and four scores while senior running back Tanner Lukavksy has rushed for 847 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Trey Eagle has caught a team-high 30 passes for 642 yards and 10 touchdowns and Wyatt Goodale has 17 receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown.

About the Blazers: Dyersville Beckman snapped a two-game losing skid with a 35-26 win over North Cedar last week.

The Blazers opened the season 4-1 with a one-point loss to Monticello before back-to-back district losses to Bellevue and Cascade.

Senior Riley Fangman (5-11, 180) had a career game in the win over North Cedar rushing for 278 yards and five touchdowns on 32 carries to push his season total to 571 yards and eight touchdowns.

Trent Koelker has caught 18 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns while Tom Jaeger has a team-high 29 receptions for 318 yards and one score.

No. 10 Regina (7-1) at No. 1 Dike-New Hartford (8-0)

Where: Dike, 7 p.m.

Last season: Dike-New Hartford 56, Regina 28

Player to watch: Dike-New Hartford senior running back Cade Bennett (5-10, 180) has rushed for 1,072 yards and 19 touchdowns while averaging 7.9 yards per carry.  

Key stat: Dike New-Hartford has scored 40 or more points in 14 of its last 20 games dating back to last season.

About the Wolverines: The defending 1A state runner-up, Dike-New Hartford has outscored opponents 383-44 during an 8-0 start to the season that includes four shutouts.

Dike-New Hartford has been among the top offensive teams in Class 1A for the second year in a row ranking second in points (47.9), third in yards per play (8.6) and eighth in total offense (396).

The Wolverines have been equally impressive on defense holding teams to 5.5 points and 153 total yards per game and have not allowed more than 16 points in a game this season.

Senior quarterback Drew Sonnenberg (6-2, 180) has passed for 1,380 yards and 18 touchdowns with Parker Kiewiet making 27 receptions for 685 yards and 10 touchdowns.

About the Regals: Regina stretched its winning streak to seven with a 35-6 win over Jesup last week to set up a winner-take-all matchup with Dike-New Hartford for the Class 1A, District 6 title.

The Regals are averaging 41 points per game during their current seven-game winning streak and have scored at least 30 points in each of those wins.

Junior quarterback Ashton Cook has been among the best signal callers in 1A this season completing 60 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,888 yards and 22 touchdowns with just three interceptions.

Alec Wick has caught 64 passes for 1,012 yards and 13 touchdowns while Josh Dutchik has 30 receptions for 435 yards and three scores.

No. 2 Solon (8-0) at Fairfield (0-8)

Where: Fairfield, 7:30 p.m.

Last season: Solon 57, Fairfield 14

Player to watch: Fairfield senior quarterback Carter Ferrel (6-0, 160) has passed for 829 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 165 yards and four touchdowns.

Key stat: Solon has won 33 consecutive regular season games, a stretch that dates back to 2016, and is seeking its third consecutive unbeaten regular season.

About the Spartans: Solon locked up a district title and playoff berth last week and can likely secure home field advantage through the first two rounds with a win in the regular season finale.

The Spartans are No. 1 in the Class 3A RPI rankings after eight weeks and if it remains in the top four would be in line to host a quarterfinal contest.

Solon has been solid all season defensively holding opponents to 8.5 points and 180 total yards per game while allowing 3.6 yards per play.

Offensively the Spartans have been balanced, averaging 159 rushing yards and 195 passing yards per game.

Senior quarterback Cam Miller has passed for 1,553 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 461 yards and seven scores.

About the Trojans: Fairfield has lost 10 straight games dating back to last season and has been outscored 132-6 in its last two games.

The Trojans are allowing 43.5 points per game and have given up more than 42 points five times this season.

Ferrel leads a Trojan offense that is averaging 11.8 points per game had has five receivers with more than 100 yards on the season.

Senior Landon Kooiker (6-2, 160) has been the top option for Ferrel catching a team-high 19 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns.

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