Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Class 4A

No. 7 West High (6-0) at No. 4 Pleasant Valley (9-0)

Where: Pleasant Valley High School, 7 p.m.

Last Season: West High 24, Pleasant Valley 7

Player to Watch: Pleasant Valley junior quarterback Barrett Lindmark (5-10, 180) has passed for 498 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 588 yards and six scores.

Key Stat: West High is averaging 39.8 points per game and hasn’t scored fewer than 27 all season. Pleasant Valley is allowing 7 points per game and hasn’t allowed more than 14 in a game.

About the Spartans: After a rare playoff miss last season Pleasant Valley has bounced back in a big way this season returning to the 4A quarterfinals for the first time since 2013.

The nine wins are the most for Pleasant Valley since 2013 and the Spartans can put an exclamation point on the season with its first semifinal appearance since 1996.

Pleasant Valley has been impressive all season, outscoring opponents by an average of more than 26 points per game during its unbeaten season.

Behind its triple option offense Pleasant Valley is averaging 292 rushing yards per game while averaging 7.8 yards per carry.

Senior Caden Kipper (6-0, 200) is the leading rusher for the Spartans with 977 yards and six touchdowns and averages 7.8 yards per carry.

Lindmark is second on the team with 588 yards on the ground while junior Malik Gilmore (5-11, 210) has rushed for 340 yards and four touchdowns on 9.2 yards per carry.

The Spartans don’t go to the air often but when they do Lindmark has a solid target in senior tight end Kellen Hornbuckle (6-4, 230) who leads the team with 15 receptions for 221 yards and three touchdowns.

While the offense has been efficient Pleasant Valley has relied on a rock-solid defense that is holding opponents to 227 total yards and 110 rushing yards per game.

Pleasant Valley hasn’t allowed more than 337 total yards in a game and has held opponents under 300 yards in seven of nine games.

The Spartan defense is led by linebackers Michael Acri (6-1, 210) and Rusty VanWetzinga (6-1, 210).

Acri has a team-high 57.5 tackles while VanWetzinga has 46 stops including five for loss.

About the Trojans: West High set up the lone meeting of unbeaten teams in the 4A playoffs this season with a 38-24 win over sixth-ranked Dubuque Hempstead last week.

Another team that had a rare postseason at home last year, the Trojans are seeking to return to the UNI-Dome for the third time in five seasons after reaching the 4A title game in both 2016 and 2017.

It’s been the offense that has garnered most of the attention for West High this season and with good reason.

Led by senior quarterback Marcus Morgan the Trojans have been among the most explosive offenses in Class 4A averaging 39.8 points and 391 total yards per game.

Morgan has accounted for 23 total touchdowns (17 passing, 6 rushing) while throwing for 1,420 yards and rushing for 207 yards.

Five different West High pass catchers have more than 10 receptions this season led by senior Grahm Goering who has 25 grabs for 474 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Damarion Williams has caught 19 passes for 294 yards and Mikey Brown has 18 receptions for 242 yards and a score.

Senior running backs Trey King and Fabian Brown have combined to rush for 643 yards and six touchdowns.

Overlook the West High defense at your own risk. The Trojans have been solid on the defensive side all season holding opponents to 15.8 points and 270 total yards per game and have been stingy against the run allowing just 146 rushing yards per game.

West High is led on defense by a pair of senior linebackers. Ian McAreavy leads West High with 47.5 tackles including three for loss and Kalen Haworth has 40.5 tackles with 4.5 for loss.

Class 2A

No. 7 Solon (7-2) at No. 5 Waukon (7-1)

Where: Waukon, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play. ­

Player to Watch: Waukon senior quarterback Creed Welch (6-4, 195) has completed 60-of-104 passes for 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns with one interception and has averaged 10.6 yards per carry while rushing for 583 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Key Stat: Waukon has outscored opponents 104-7 in the first quarter this season and 262-24 in the first half.

About the Spartans: This game is a matchup of defending state runners-up as Solon is seeking a second consecutive trip to the UNI-Dome after falling to Western Dubuque in the Class 3A title game last season.

After opening the season with back-to-back losses Solon has been impressive ripping off seven consecutive wins by an average of more than 28 points per game.

Solon has settled into a rhythm on offense behind a powerful running game that is grinding out 253 rushing yards per game and an opportunistic passing attack averaging 18 yards per completion.

Senior running back Jackson Ryan has rushed for a team-high 986 yards and 12 touchdowns while junior Hayden Taylor has added 507 yards and six scores.

Sophomore quarterback Blake Timmons is coming off one of his best games of the season last week against Independence and has thrown for 1,030 yards and 14 touchdowns with three interceptions and rushed for 617 yards and eight scores.

The Solon offense will get its toughest test of the season on Friday against a Waukon defense that is holding opponents to 123 rushing yards per game.

Solon has its own stellar defense. The Spartans are holding opponents to 13.8 points and 219 total yards per game and have been exceptional against the run, allowing just 105 yards per game on the ground.
It will be strength on strength Friday as a Solon defense that is holding teams to 3.5 yards per rushing attempt squares off with a Waukon offense averaging 8.6 yards per carry.

Senior middle linebacker Carson Shive leads Solon with 72 tackles including 9.5 for loss while fellow senior Colton Hoffman has 36 tackles.

About the Indians: One of the top programs in the state regardless of class in recent years Waukon is 41-5 over the past four seasons and is seeking a fourth consecutive trip to the UNI-Dome.

Waukon won the 2A title in 2017, reached the semifinals in 2018 and was 2A runner-up to OABCIG last season.

The Indians have won seven straight since a one-point loss to Class 3A Decorah in the season opener and hasn’t had a game decided by less than 20 points during that stretch.

Waukon is averaging 44.8 points per game this season and has scored 46 or more in each of its last five.

The Waukon offense led by Welch averages 389 yards per game and does its best work on the ground where the Indians are rolling up 239 yards per game at a clip of 8.6 yards per carry.

Senior running back Ethan O’Neill (6-2, 205) leads the way with 794 yards and 14 touchdowns and is averaging 9.7 yards per carry while Welch averages 10.6 yards per attempt and junior Lincoln Snitker (5-11, 195) has run for 225 yards on 12.5 yards per carry.

Three Waukon players have more than 230 receiving yards led by Snitker who has caught 15 passes for 287 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Brady Behrend (6-1, 170) has 12 receptions for 272 yards and four scores.

Waukon is holding opponents to 13.1 points per game this season and ranks fourth in Class 2A with 22 sacks.

Senior defensive lineman Brennan Sweeney (6-3, 220) is second in 2A with 11 sacks and 17 of his 35 tackles this season are for loss.

Class A

No. 8 Wapsie Valley (9-1) at No. 3 Regina (8-1)

Where: Regal Field, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play.

Player to Watch: Wapsie Valley senior running back Trevor Sauerbrei (6-2, 190) has rushed for 1,280 yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per carry and also has a team-high 82 tackles including 5.5 for loss.

Key Stat: Regina is averaging 492 yards of total offense and 8.6 yards per play this season against Class A competition.

About the Warriors: One of the most successful Class A programs in the state over the last two decades Wapsie Valley snapped a string of four consecutive opening-round playoff losses this season and is seeking its first trip to the semifinals since 2013.

The Warriors were Class A runner-up in 2006, won titles in 2007 and 2012 and reached the A semifinals in 2013.
Since then Wapsie Valley had fallen in the opening round of the playoffs in each of its previous four postseason trips before a 58-0 win over Starmont in its postseason opener last month.

Wapsie Valley added a 20-7 win over Mason City Newman and a 15-8 win over No. 10 Lisbon last Friday.

A balanced Warrior offense is putting up 323 total yards and 34.6 points per game.

Senior quarterback Kobe Risse (6-0, 175) has passed for 1,549 yards and 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions while Sauerbrei has rushed for a team-high 1,280 yards.

Three Warrior receivers have more than 200 yards receiving led by senior Blayde Bellis (5-8, 165) who has caught 32 passes for 597 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Senior Tyler Ott (5-11, 175) has made 28 receptions for 494 yards and seven scores and Sauerbrei has caught 13 passes for 203 yards and two scores.

The Warriors have forced 21 turnovers this season with Bellis picking off three passes and the senior has also returned a kickoff 83 yards for a score.

About the Regals: Regina returned to the UNI-Dome last season after a one-year hiatus and now the Regals are seeking to take it another step further and get back to the state title game.

First the Regals must take care of a Wapsie Valley team that enters riding a five-game winning streak.

A state semifinalist in 1A last season, Regina has rolled through in-class competition in its first season in Class A.

Regina hasn’t had a game against a Class A foe decided by less than 21 points and has outscored in-class opponents by an average of nearly 35 points per game.

The key for an explosive Regal offense that is averaging 46 points per game has been balance.

Regina is averaging 207 rushing yards and 264 passing yards per game while putting up 472 yards per contest.

Senior quarterback Ashton Cook has thrown for 2,046 yards and 21 touchdowns with just two interceptions with senior Alec Wick his top target with 51 receptions for 986 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Levi Quinlan has caught 37 passes for 436 yards and four scores and senior running back Theo Kolie has 19 receptions for 307 yards and two touchdowns.

Kolie has also rushed for 1,147 yards and 24 touchdowns while averaging 8.6 yards per carry.

Regina has been almost as impressive on defense, holding opponents to 17.2 points and 253 total yards per game.

The Regals have allowed a total of seven points in two playoff wins, holding each of its first two postseason opponents under 190 total yards.

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