Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports 

IOWA CITY – The Regina football team sent a message to any opponent that plans to load the box against the Regals on defense.

Do it at your own risk.

Alburnett loaded the box against Regina in a Class A playoff game on Friday, and while the strategy worked to contain the rush, Ashton Cook and his cohorts on offense made the Pirates pay through the air.

Cook completed 19-of-29 passes for 381 yards and three touchdowns as Regina defeated Alburnett 28-7 at home to improve to 8-1 on the season.

Cook’s favorite target, as usual, was fellow senior and close friend Alec Wick, who finished with 10 catches for 241 yards and one score.

“We took what they gave us,” Ashton Cook said. “They kind of loaded the box. They were playing cover zero with zero safety. So we knew Alec was an obvious mismatch and we took advantage early.”

Regina will now face 9-1 Wapsie Valley in a Class A quarterfinal next Friday at Regina, while Alburnett finished the season with a 5-3 record.

Cook completed passes to Wick on the first two plays of the game that gained 45 and 21 yards, respectively.

Regina drove to the Alburnett 13-yard line on its first offensive series, but the drive ultimately stalled and Alburnett took over on downs.

The Pirates then marched 87 yards on 16 plays for the game’s first touchdown, which came on a 27-yard run by quarterback Hunter Caves with 2 minutes, 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

Regina then answered quickly as Cook found Wick racing down the sideline and then hit him in stride for a 76-yard touchdown with 1:47 left in the first quarter.

“I’ve been throwing to him since seventh grade or before, so we really have a good chemistry,” said Ashton Cook, who is the son of Regina head coach Marv Cook. “I know when he’s going to break and he runs great routes. So I just need to put it out there for him.”

Senior running back Theo Kolie scored Regina’s second touchdown on a 5-yard run with 5:48 left in the second quarter. Wick then made one of his four point-after kicks to give Regina a 14-7 advantage.

Kolie pounded his way for 58 rushing yards on 12 carries, but he had little run to maneuver with Alburnett stuffing the box.

“I’ve got to tip my hat to Alburnett,” Marv Cook said. “Those kids can play. They can tackle. They were disciplined. They were tough, and they were gritty. They made us earn it.

“They played a cover zero and they challenged us with seven guys in the box. And we’re built to kind of take what they give us. So that’s kind of what we were able to do tonight.”

Kolie scored his second touchdown on a 33-yard screen pass from Ashton Cook with 8:39 left in the third quarter. The Regals then expanded the lead to 28-7 with a 27-yard scoring strike from Ashton Cook to Levi Quinlan with 1:47 left in the third quarter, and with Wick’s fourth point-after kick.

“We made enough big plays,” Marv Cook said. “I’ve got to take my hat off to Alburnett. To keep it at 28-7, I thought we were in control a lot and did a lot of good things.”

Regina hurt itself by committing seven penalties and by losing two fumbles.

“There’s a lot of things we can sharpen and prepare for next week,” Ashton Cook said.

But even with the mistakes and turnovers, the Regals still won by three touchdowns and showed what can happen if you load the box against them to stop the run.

“I think it shows we can run the ball good, or if they’re trying to stop Theo, we can pass the ball pretty good, too,” Ashton Cook said.

 ALB                         ICR 

First downs                         12                             18

Rushes-yards                      39-118                     23-88

Passing yards                      71                              381

Fumbles-lost                       0-0                            3-2

Penalties-yards                   6-55                           7-80

Punts-average                     5-28.8                       4-33.0

Alburnett                 7    0    0    0   –   7

Regina                       7    7    14   0  –  28

ALB – Hunter Caves 27 run (Noah Mackey kick)

ICR – Alec Wick 76 pass from Ashton Cook (Alec Wick kick)

ICR – Theo Kolie 5 run (Wick kick)

ICR – Kolie 33 pass from Cook (Wick kick)

ICR – Levi Quinlan 27 pass from Cook (Wick kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING –Alburnett: Hunter Caves 12-47, Shane Neighbor 14-45, Reed Stallman 6-18, Carson Klostermann 5-14, Gavin Soukup 2-(-6). Regina: Theo Kolie 12-56, Ashton Cook 6-16, Danny Gavin 2-14.

PASSING – Alburnett: Hunter Caves 9-23-1 71. Regina: Ashton Cook 19-29-0 381

RECEIVING – Alburnett: Kale Rose 4-39, Shane Neighbor 2-7, Gavin Soukup 1-10. Carson Klostermann 1-6. Regina: Alec Wick 10-241, Levi Quinlan 4-71, Theo Kolie 2-35, Blake Chambliss 2-30, Sam Aitchison 1-14.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.