Tyler Devine

Your Prep Sports 

IOWA CITY – The Regina football team’s first game in Class A got off to a rocky start Friday night.

Granted, the Regals’ 45-13 loss came at the hands of Class 4A Pleasant Valley, which rushed for 394 yards and dominated the second half.

The Regals’ original opponent, Dyersville Beckman, had to back out due to positive COVID-19 tests.

“I just want our kids to play,” Regina head coach Marv Cook said. “Obviously, the scoreboard didn’t look good, but we’ve got guys that can flat out play, and I just love to watch them play on Friday night. It was kind of a sense of normalcy in Iowa City.”

After fumbling deep in Pleasant Valley territory on its first possession, Regina opened the scoring on its next drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ashton Cook to senior receiver Alec Wick.

Behind the legs of quarterback Barrett Lindmark and running back Caden Kipper, Pleasant Valley scored the next 21 points before Ashton Cook hit a wide open Wick deep along the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown to make the score 21-13 at halftime.

But it was a tale of two halves as Pleasant Valley scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to pull away.

“Well, we had two linemen that (were injured) early,” Marv Cook said. “First two series they got knocked out, left side, left tackle, left guard were out. And then we had a couple other players – two two-way players – we were pulling back guys and trying to shuffle guys in. We still need to show-up and play and all that stuff. But we were kind of undermanned late second, early third quarter.”

Ashton Cook finished 21-for-33 passing for 242 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while Wick finished with 10 catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

All but five of Wick’s receiving yards came in the first half and Ashton Cook completed 3-of-12 passes for 22 yards in the second half.

“They would put a couple people over the top, so we would have to look at other targets,” Wick said. “Other people are going to have to step up, that’s how it goes. Throughout the year, no matter the score, whatever the team we play, people are going to have to step up.”

Regina is now 3-4 in its last seven games against opponents from larger classes.

Instead of hanging their heads, Ashton Cook said his team will use the experience to improve.

“No matter who we’re playing, we’re going to give it our best shot,” Ashton Cook said. “I think that’s what we did today. I don’t think the final score shows how it went, because we were in there for three quarters. I think it’s going to be a really good learning experience for us and it’s going to help us later on down the road.”

Regina’s next game is at Mid-Prairie on Sept. 4.

                                 REGINA                       PV

First Downs                 13                                20

Rushes-Yards              24-81                           42-394

Passing Yards              242                              93

Total Yards                  323                              487

Comp-Att-Int               21-33-1                       5-7-0

Punts-Avg.                   4-34                             0-0

Fumbles-Lost              3-2                               3-2

Penalties-Yards           9-54                             6-33

Pleasant Valley   7     14     10     14  –  45

Regina                    7      6       0       0  –  13

ICR – Wick 10 pass from Cook (Wick kick)

PV – Lindmark 1 run (Ward kick)

PV – Kipper 4 run (Ward kick)

PV – Kipper 34 run (Ward kick)

ICR – Wick 70 pass from Cook (kick no good)

PV – Caden McDermott (Ward kick)

PV – Ward 30 kick

PV – Koby West 34 pass from Lindmark (Ward kick)

PV – Malik Gilmore 2 run (Judd kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Regina: Theodor Kolie 16-73, Cook 3-5, Wick 1-3, Danny Gavin 3-2, Levi Quinlan 1-(-2). Pleasant Valley: Kipper 16-163, Lindmark 13-115, Gilmore 4-53, Makhi Wilson 4-38, McDermott 2-13, Matthew Meyer 2-8, Kael Amerine 1-4.

PASSING – Regina: Cook 21-33-2 242. Pleasant Valley: Lindmark 5-7-1 93.

RECEIVING – Regina: Wick 10-158, Kolie 4-31, Nick Wagner 2-27, Quinlan 5-26. Pleasant Valley: West 1-34, Kellen Hornbuckle 2-29, Kipper 1-20, McDermott 1-10.

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