West High Blasts CR Kennedy to Enter Postseason Unbeaten
Douglas Miles
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – It is a small sample size, but no matter.
The prep football playoffs begin in a week and West High is bringing a full head of steam.
“What I liked most is that we played a good game and we can get a lot better,” West Coach Garrett Hartwig said after the Class 4A eighth-ranked Trojans blitzed Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 48-21, in the regular season finale for both schools Friday night at Trojan Field. “They are a fun group to coach. They play hard, they play for each other. It was a team win.”
West High (4-0) jumped on the Cougars with 35 unanswered points to start the game.
Senior quarterback Marcus Morgan threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter.
“We had a game plan going in,” Morgan said. “We knew what they liked to do and how their defense operated. They made a few changes in that third quarter and it worked for a little bit, but we got back on track and started doing what we do.”
Morgan finished the game with 394 passing yards – just a few yards shy of a school record – and five touchdowns to four different receivers.
Senior Mikey Brown caught an 86-yard TD on the first play from scrimmage and finished with 105 receiving yards.
Senior Damarion Williams collected a pair of TD receptions, while senior tailback Trey King had a 61-yard receiving score.
“Lots of weapons,” Morgan said. “I am going to take what is given to me. I will make the right reads and that means everybody is going to get touches.”
West senior tailback Fabian Brown posted TD runs of 39 and 25 yards in the second quarter.
“I just saw the hole and green grass,” Brown said. “I just took it.”
West went nearly a month between games once Iowa City School District athletes were prohibited from competing while the district provided online-only coursework.
The Trojans returned to action Oct. 1 and posted a 35-23 win at Dubuque Senior.
Friday night was even more impressive given the layoff.
“It feels great,” West senior outside linebacker Ian McAreavy said. “We had been working by ourselves. No coaches during that period. It was a very long stretch. We just kept on grinding and it paid off well.”
King led West with 94 rushing yards. For Kennedy (2-3), senior quarterback Max White ran for a touchdown and threw one.
Both teams will learn their place in the playoffs when the Iowa High School Athletic Association reveals the 4A bracket Saturday at noon.
With the 2020 regular season shortened to seven games, every team in the state will compete in the six-round postseason.
The Ratings Percentage Index will not be used to determine seeding, and no team is penalized by games missed due to COVID-19.
Instead, the Iowa High School Athletic Association will create “pods” of teams for Round 1 and 2 of the playoffs. In 4A, each pod will have three or four teams and be geographically grouped.
First round playoff games in all classes begin next Friday.
West High will likely earn a bye into the second round.
“I anticipate that,” Hartwig said. “That is what we are planning for. But if not, we will be ready to go.”
CRK ICW
First Downs 13 16
Rushes-yards 34-163 28-144
Comp-Att-Int 7-13-0 17-20-0
Passing yards 116 394
Total yards 279 538
Punts-avg. 5-36.2 0-0.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 6-50 4-20
CR Kennedy 0 7 14 0 – 21
West High 21 14 6 7 – 48
ICW – Mikey Brown 86 pass from Marcus Morgan (Owen Smith kick)
ICW – Grahm Goering 14 pass from Morgan (Smith kick)
ICW – Damarion Williams 31 pass from Morgan (Smith kick)
ICW – Fabian Brown 39 run (Smith kick)
ICW – Brown 25 run (Smith kick)
CRK – Max White 4 run (Liam Wahe kick)
CRK – Isaiah Brown 60 pass from White (Wahe kick)
ICW – Trey King 61 pass from Morgan (Kick failed)
CRK – Jazan Williams 3 run (Wahe kick)
ICW – Williams 15 pass from Morgan (Smith kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Cedar Rapids Kennedy: Max White 17-59, Demarcus Ray 12-79, Jazan Williams 4-22, Colin Flannagan 1-3. West High: Trey King 16-94, Marcus Morgan 4-(-38), Fabian Brown 4-60, Taylon Mann 1-5, Mikey Brown 1-3, Tyuss Bell 2-20.
PASSING – Cedar Rapids Kennedy: Max White 7-13-0 116. West High: Marcus Morgan 17-20-0 394.
RECEIVING – Cedar Rapids Kennedy: Jalen Cotton 3-22, C.J. Coker 1-11, Drake Kinney 1-16, Isaiah Brown 2-78. West High: Trey King 2-87, Mikey Brown 4-105, Grahm Goering 3-74, Damarion Williams 4-81, Eric Torres 4-47.
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