Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Liberty High (7-2) at No. 2 Solon (9-0)

Where: Spartan Stadium, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play

Player to watch: Liberty High senior Kaleb Williams (5-7, 180) has rushed for 829 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per carry, has caught 10 passes for 123 yards and a score and leads the Lightning 76.5 tackles.

Key stat: Liberty High is allowing 98 passing yards per game and has given up three passing touchdowns all season while Solon is averaging 205 yards a game through the air and has thrown 22 touchdown passes.

About the Lightning: Liberty High closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak to secure the first playoff berth in program history.

After posting a 3-6 record in its varsity debut season last fall the Lightning wasted little time establishing themselves as a team to be reckoned with in Class 3A.

The year-two success for Liberty High has come behind smashmouth offense based on a powerful ground game and a stingy defense.

Liberty High ranks third in Class 3A in rushing yards per game with 273 and the 6.3 yards per carry for the Lightning rank sixth in Class 3A.

Junior Max Tafolla (6-0, 205) has been the workhorse in the backfield rushing for 1,052 yards and eight touchdowns in eight games while Kaleb Williams (829 yards) provides a change of pace along with fullback Jack Ankenbauer (292 yards).

Liberty High doesn’t throw it often but when it does it has success throwing down the field. Senior quarterback Drake Woody ranks third in 3A in yards per completion, averaging 17.4 yards on 36 completions with Ben Houselog catching a team-high 19 receptions for 300 yards and three scores.

Defensively Liberty High is holding opponents to 14.2 points and 241 total yards per game.

About the Spartans: Solon completed its third consecutive unbeaten regular season but the Spartans are hoping to avoid a repeat of last year when it fell to eventual 3A runner-up Western Dubuque in its playoff opener at Spartan Stadium.

The Spartans are no strangers to the postseason and are seeking their second trip to the state semifinals in the past three seasons and would have homefield advantage all the way to the UNI-Dome.

Solon features one of the most explosive offenses in Class 3A led by senior quarterback Cam Miller and receivers AJ Coons and Jace Andregg.

The Miller-led offense ranks third in 3A averaging 39.4 points per game and is putting up 358 total yards per game.

Miller is completing 67 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,805 yards and 22 touchdowns with Coons catching a team-high 44 passes for 746 yards and nine touchdowns.

Andregg has 32 receptions for 404 yards and six scores and has also rushed for 185 yards and eight touchdowns.

Senior Seamus Poynton leads Solon with 538 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns and Miller has added 461 yards on the ground and seven scores.

North Linn (7-2) at No. 4 West Branch (9-0)

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

Last Season: Did not play

Player to watch: North Linn senior quarterback Austin Miller (6-2, 180) has passed for 1,120 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 944 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Key stat: Austin Miller has scored 28 of North Linn’s 38 touchdown this season and accounted for better than 71 percent of the Lynx total offense.

About the Lynx: North Linn returns to the postseason for the first time since making back-to-back appearances in the Class A playoffs in 2014 and 2015.

The Lynx dropped district road games to 1A qualifiers Dike-New Hartford and Regina but earned an at-large playoff bid as the third qualifier out of a rugged District 6 finishing 13th in the final RPI rankings.

North Linn was impressive defensively outside of its losses to Dike-New Hartford (9-0) and Regina (7-2). The Lynx held opponents to 204 total yards and 7.9 points in their seven wins but allowed an average of 527 yards and 49.5 points in their two district losses.

On the season North Linn is allowing 17.1 points and 276 total yards per game and held each of its final two opponents under 200 yards of offense in back-to-back wins to end the regular season.

Offensively the Lynx go as their senior quarterback goes. Miller is completing 55 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,120 yards and leads the Lynx in rushing by more than 300 yards.

Austin Hilmer has been the top target for Miller in the passing game catching a team-high 38 passes for 462 yards and six touchdowns.

About the Bears: West Branch cruised to the District 4 title winning five district games by an average of 26 points while advancing to the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season.

The Bears earned the overall number two seed in the 1A playoffs after finishing second in the final RPI rankings and wouldn’t have to leave the Little Rose Bowl to earn its first trip to the UNI-Dome since 2011.

West Branch has found balance on offense this season behind the running of senior Tanner Lukavsky and the throwing of junior quarterback Gavin Hierseman.

Lukavsky has cracked the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season rushing for 1,003 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

In his first year as a starter Hierseman has thrown for 1,262 yards and 16 touchdowns with just three interceptions.

Hierseman has a weapon at wideout in senior Trey Eagle who has caught 33 passes for 727 yards and a school-record 12 touchdowns.

Defensively the Bears are giving up just 202 total yards and 15.1 points per game and have held four opponents to less than 180 yards and seven or fewer points.

Regina (7-2) at Mediapolis (8-1)

Where: Mediapolis, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play

Player to watch: Mediapolis senior Klay Foster (6-2, 165) has rushed for 1,062 yards and 12 touchdowns and is averaging 9.4 yards per carry.

Key stat: Regina has attempted 270 passes, second most in Class 1A this season while Mediapolis has thrown the ball 95 times, 13th fewest among 1A teams.

About the Bulldogs: Mediapolis knocked off previously unbeaten Sigourney-Keota in its regular season finale to clinch the District 5 title and its second playoff berth in as many seasons.

Last season the Bulldogs went 8-1 in the regular season before falling to Bellevue 49-14 in the opening round of the playoffs.

The only loss of the season for Mediapolis was a 22-21 setback to Louisa-Muscatine in week four but the Bulldogs rebounded by outscoring district opponents 219-34 over the final five weeks of the season.

Mediapolis ranks fourth in Class 1A in rushing averaging 297 yards per game and averages a 1A-best 8.8 yards per play.

Three different Bulldogs have rushed for more than 400 yards this season led by Klay Foster with 1,062 while Josh Darbyshire (5-10, 170) has run for 515 yards and Briar Johnson (6-2, 180) has added 413 yards.

Johnson and Regan Thornburg have combined to thrown for 743 yards and 12 touchdowns with Owen Timmerman (6-0, 170) the top target with 16 receptions for 374 yards and eight touchdowns.

Mediapolis has forced 23 turnovers on defense and hasn’t give up more than 295 yards of total offense in a game this season. The Bulldogs are allowing just 184 yards per game and have been especially stingy against the pass giving up just 59 yards per game through the air.

About the Regals: After a rare playoff miss last season Regina didn’t waste any time returning to the postseason.

Regina had a seven-game winning streak snapped and missed out on a district title with a 42-10 loss to Dike-New Hartford in the regular season finale but earned an at-large playoff berth to return to the postseason for the first time since a runner-up finish in 2017.

The Regals feature one of the top quarterback and receiver duos in Class 1A in juniors Ashton Cook and Alec Wick.

After missing several games with an injury last year Cook has had a breakthrough season passing for 2,019 yards and 22 touchdowns with five interceptions.

Wick has been the beneficiary of a healthy Cook behind center with the junior wide receiver ranking second in Class 1A in receptions with 71, yards with 1,077 and touchdowns with 13.

Josh Dutchik has developed as a strong second option to Wick catching 34 passes for 480 yards and three touchdowns.

Theo Kolie and Levi Quinlan have developed a nice one-two punch in the Regina backfield combining to rush for 1,036 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Defensively Regina has been solid holding opponents to 299 total yards and 22.7 points per game.

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