Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports 

IOWA CITY – Senior quarterback Marcus Morgan is without question West High’s most dynamic player on offense, but he’s hardly a solo act.

That was apparent during Friday’s 35-7 victory over City High in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs at West High.

Morgan certainly had his moments while completing 10-of-12 passes for 115 passing yards and one touchdown.

But it was West High’s running game that paved the way to victory as it produced 242 yards on the ground, including 181 yards in the first half.

Shifty senior Trey King led the way with 106 rushing yards and one touchdown on 16 carries, while senior Fabian Brown finished with 85 rushing yards on 10 carries.

They both also benefitted from an offensive line that consistently carved huge holes in the Little Hawk defense while controlling the line of scrimmage.

“You got to run the ball in the playoffs in Iowa, and you’ve got to stop the run as well,” said West High coach Garrett Hartwig. “Those two have been there all year. They’ve been solid and I think the threat of our passing game really helps them out. And hopefully, the threat of our running game will open things up again in the passing game.

“It just wasn’t a great night to throw the ball, conditions. City had a good defensive scheme in the secondary for us and you’ve just got to take what the defense gives you sometimes.”

Sixth-ranked West High improved to 5-0 on the COVID-19 shortened season, while the Little Hawks closed the season with a 1-4 record, with two of its losses coming against its crosstown rival.

West High prevailed 56-20 in the regular season matchup.

West High will learn its third-round playoff opponent on Saturday afternoon when the Iowa High School Athletic Association releases the second set of pairings in Class 4A.

“We did some things well, but they’re just tough,” City High coach Dan Sabers said of West High. “I mean Morgan is just so tough, and they’ve got other guys that are tough, too.

“The tailback runs good. The coaches are very good. That’s a tough team to stop, obviously. So they’re better.”

Friday’s loss was sort of symbolic of City High’s season in how it self-destructed at the worst times on offense.

City High had marched to the West High 14 yard line early in the second quarter when a  snap sailed over the head of quarterback Raph Hamilton.

Linebacker Boaz Abramoff recovered the fumble at the West High 19 to protect a 14-0 lead.

The Trojans then drove 81 yards for a touchdown that came on a 1-yard run by junior fullback Taylon Mann with 2 minutes, 10 seconds left in the second quarter.

Owen Smith then made one of his five point-after kicks to give West High a 21-0 lead.

The Little Hawks also drove to the West High 33 in the third quarter, but then defensive back Eric Torres-Castro intercepted a pass thrown by Hamilton at the West 17.

“It’s been a funny year,” Sabers said.

City High and West High both have played an abbreviated schedule this fall due to conflicts with the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Both teams had their seasons put on hold while students were taking classes online, and the interruptions had an effect.

“Just the weirdness of the whole thing,” Sabers said when asked what he will remember most about this season. “But we got better. I’m still proud of our team as far as when we came back after that break we got quite a bit better as a football team.

“It was just a funny year with different things happening. We’ve got good people out there. I can’t fault them or anything like that.”

Morgan scored West High’s first touchdown on a 2-yard run with 5:58 left in the first quarter. He then connected with senior Grahm Goering for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 2.1 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Trojans added two more touchdowns in the second quarter, including a 4-yard run by King that made the score 28-0 at halftime with Owen Smith point-after kick.

“We work really hard in practice every day,” King said when asked about the success of the running game. “(The coaches) put it on us to work hard every day.”

The fact that defenses have to pay so much attention to the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Morgan makes it easier to establish the running game.

“Marcus is such a great player overall,” said King, who also had two receptions for a team-leading 46 receiving yards.. “He’s got (scholarship) offers from all over the place. And the fact that he does that opens up room for me and the running game.”

Morgan returned the compliment, saying that a successful running game make his job “a whole lot” easier.

“We’re not only a passing team,” Morgan said. “We show that week in and week out. We have a pretty balanced offense and it helps having so many options to go to.”

Senior receiver Damarion Williams score West High’s final touchdown on a 14-yard reverse with 8:41 left in the fourth quarter.

Smith made the point-after kick to expand the lead to 35-0, and that started a continuous clock, which goes into effect when a team leads by at least 35 points.

However, the clock didn’t stay continuous for very long as City High avoided a shutout when junior Joey Bouska scored on an 11-yard run with 3:21 remaining.

Bouska also helped set up the scoring drive by returning the kick to the West 47.

At Trojan Field 

      ICH                     ICW 

First downs                     10                         18

Rushes-yards                  32-149                 40-241

Passing yards                  39                         115

Punts-avg.                        1-24                     2-48.5

Fumbles-lost                    2-1                       3-0

Penalties-yards                 1-15                    9-84

City High               0    0   0   7  –  7

West High            14   14  0  7  – 35

ICW – Marcus Morgan 2 run (Owen Smith kick)

ICW – Grahm Goering 6 pass from Morgan (Smith kick)

ICW – Taylon Mann 1run (Smith kick)

ICW – Trey King 4 run (Smith kick)

ICW – Damarion Williams 14 run (Smith kick)

ICH – Joey Bouska 11 run (Kongolo Mwenemkamba kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – City High: Raph Hamilton 14-65, Joey Bouska 13-64, Gable Mitchell 2-14, Ben Kueter 3-6. West High: Trey King 16-106, Fabian Brown 10-85, Marcus Morgan 5-15, Damarion Williams 1-14, Taylon Mann 4-13, Grahm Goering 1-8, Davontae Morris 2-1, Nicholas McDonnell 1-0.

PASSING – City High: Hamilton 4-12-1 39. West High: Marcus Morgan 10-12-0 115

RECEIVING – City High: Kolby Kucera 4-39. West High: Damarion Williams 3-39, Mikey Brown 3-11, Trey King 2-46, Grahm Goering 2-19.

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