Week 3 Football Capsules: Breaking Down the Area Matchups
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Class A No. 3 Regina (1-1) at North Cedar (0-2)
Where: Doug Jackson Field in Stanwood, 7 p.m.
Last Season: Did not play
Player to Watch: North Cedar junior quarterback Jaxon Sander (6-3, 155) has completed 17-of-41 passes while throwing for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
Key Stat: Regina senior receiver Alec Wick ranks fourth in the state and leads Class A with 301 receiving yards on 16 receptions and has also hauled in three touchdown passes.
About the Knights: Following three consecutive one-win seasons from 2016-2018 North Cedar showed significant progress last season on its way to a 4-5 mark.
The Knights have dropped back-to-back games to Class 1A No. 9 Durant and Northeast during an 0-2 start to this season.
North Cedar has struggled to get anything going in the running game, rushing for just 13 yards in its first two games combined but has found some traction in the pass game with Sander.
His top target has been senior Kael Unruh (6-0, 160) who has caught nine passes for 221 yards and both North Cedar touchdowns this season.
About the Regals: Perhaps no team in the state has had a more challenging opening two weeks of the season than Regina. After opening the season with a 45-13 loss to Class 4A No. 10 Pleasant Valley the Regals regrouped to earn a 21-20 road win over 2A No. 8 Clear Lake. Each of its first two opponents were added to Regina’s schedule on Wednesday after originally schedule foes Dyersville Beckman and Mid-Prairie were forced to cancel over COVID-19 concerns.
Regina is averaging 315 yards per game on offense behind senior quarterback Ashton Cook who has completed 35-of-62 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns. Senior running back Theo Kolie has rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown to lead the Regals.
Clear Creek Amana (1-1) at Class 3A No. 2 Cedar Rapids Xavier (2-0)
Where: Saints Field, 7:30 p.m.
Last Season: Did not play
Player to Watch: Cedar Rapids Xavier senior wide receiver Jack Breitbach (5-10, 165) has caught 13 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Breitbach has accounted for all but six of the Saints’ receptions in the first two games.
Key Stat: Cedar Rapids Xavier has won 46 of its last 47 regular season contests with the lone loss in that stretch a 20-14 setback to eventual 3A champion Western Dubuque last season.
About the Saints: The gold standard of Class 3A programs in the state, Xavier went 8-2 last season falling in the first round of the 3A playoffs after back-to-back unbeaten state title seasons in 2017 and 2018.
Xavier is off to a strong start with wins over defending 3A champion Western Dubuque and 2019 Class 4A playoff qualifier Linn-Mar in its first two contests.
Senior quarterback Jaxon Rexroth (6-3, 195) has been solid in his first season leading the Xavier offense completing 66 percent of his passes while passing for 263 yards and three touchdowns and running for 60 yards and two more scores.
Senior running back Jack Lux (5-10, 170) has rushed for a team-leading 210 yards and two touchdowns and is averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana bounced back from a one-point loss to Mount Pleasant in its season opener with a 41-21 win over Class 4A Muscatine last week.
The Clippers have been clicking on offense averaging 386 yards and 6.8 yards per play in its first two games.
Senior running back Alex Figueroa (5-9, 175) has been a big part of the early-season success rushing for 287 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
Senior quarterback Ryan Navara (6-2, 195) has been equally impressive completing 63 percent of his passes while throwing for 279 yards and two touchdowns with junior Harrison Rosenberg (6-2, 170) his top target with eight receptions for 154 yards and two scores.
Class 2A RV Solon (0-2) at Union (0-2)
Where: LaPorte City, 7 p.m.
Last Season: Did not play.
Player to Watch: Union junior quarterback Grant Behrens (6-1, 170) has completed 17-of-36 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 39 yards.
Key Stat: Union is allowing 379 rushing yards per game and 7.5 yards per carry in its first two games of the season and has surrendered 10 rushing touchdowns.
About the Spartans: Solon will attempt to get on track following back-to-back home losses to top-five opponents Williamsburg and Washington to open the season. The Spartans dropped to 0-2 with a 33-18 loss to 3A fifth-ranked Washington last Friday.
Solon will look to get its running game rolling on Friday after averaging 147 yards on the ground in its first two games.
Senior Jackson Ryan has rushed for a team-high 171 yards and a touchdown while averaging 6.8 yards per carry to lead the Spartans.
Sophomore quarterback Blake Timmons is coming off the best game of his career against Washington and has thrown for 243 yards and two scores in the first two starts of his career.
About the Knights: Coming off a 2-7 season a year ago Union has gotten off to an 0-2 start with losses to Oelwein and Class 1A fifth-ranked Sigourney-Keota.
The Knights have struggled defensively allowing 454 total yards and 39 points per game during their 0-2 start after giving up 497 yards in a 48-14 loss to Sigourney-Keota last week.
Union is led by its junior quarterback Behrens and senior Jacob Carey (5-9, 140) who has rushed for a team-high 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior Brandon Tompkins (5-10, 160) has been the top target for Behrens catching 10 passes for 103 yards and is also the Knights top tackler with 22 total tackles including 17 solo stops.
Cascade (1-1) at Class 2A No. 10 West Branch (1-1)
Where: The Little Rose Bowl, 7 p.m.
Last Season: West Branch 26, Cascade 7
Player to Watch: Cascade sophomore running back Jack Menster (5-10, 160) has rushed for 392 yards and five touchdowns and is averaging 9.8 yards per carry.
Key Stat: West Branch has allowed more than 220 rushing yards in back-to-back games to open the season. The Bears allowed more than 220 yards on the ground once in 11 games last season.
About the Bears: West Branch will look to get back on track following a 20-7 loss to West Liberty in which it mustered just 145 yards of total offense and 2.96 yards per play.
The return of senior quarterback Gavin Hierseman would be a big boost for the Bears. Hierseman passed for 222 yards in a season-opening win over Tipton but missed last week with an injury.
With or without Hierseman under center West Branch will look to ramp up its running game after averaging just 64 yards per game on the ground in its first two games. Sophomore Andy Henson has rushed for 136 yards and is averaging 3.6 yards per carry.
About the Cougars: After opening the season with a one-point loss to Monticello the Cougars got back on track with a 42-36 win at Maquoketa Valley.
Behind the running of Menster the Cougars have done much of their damage on the ground, averaging 243 rushing yards per game.
Menster ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns against Monticello and went for 235 yards and two more scores in the week two win over Maquoketa Valley.
Junior quarterback Justin Roling (6-3, 160) has passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns with junior Tanner Simon (5-10, 160) his top target catching six passes for 102 yards.
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