WATCH THE YPS RAPID REPLAY OF THE GAME

Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports 

IOWA CITY – Theo Kolie didn’t play much on defense against Wapsie Valley on Friday, but he was on the field when it mattered the most on defense.

Regina’s star senior running back had his usual strong performance on offense with 169 rushing yards and three touchdowns, to go along with three catches for 52 yards.

But it was Kolie’s sack on third down against Wapsie Valley quarterback Kobe Risse for a minus-15 yards late in the fourth quarter that helped to secure third-ranked Regina’s 32-27 victory in a Class A quarterfinal at Regina.

“We knew they were going to pass the ball because it was third-and-long, so we just had to blitz off the edge and hustle to the football and make a stop,” Kolie said. “I knew once we got that stop it would be easier for us because all we had to do was run the clock out.”

Wapsie Valley chose to punt deep in its own territory after the sack, and Regina took over on offense at its own 48-yard line, and with 1 minute, 44 seconds left to play.

Kolie then had runs of five and 12 yards to give the Regals what proved to be a game-clinching first down.

“I kind of like what we did today,” Kolie said. “I played mostly offense, but I came in on third and fourth downs, and making plays.”

Regina improved to 9-1 and has earned yet another trip to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls where the semifinals and championship games will be played in all classes. Regina will face Saint Ansgar at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Wapsie Valley, which won state titles in 2007 and 2012, finished 9-2 overall.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to Wapsie Valley, they were every bit as good as I thought, and they’ve got a great tradition and they played extremely well,” said Regina head coach Marv Cook.

Regina is now riding a nine-game winning streak, its only blemish a 43-15 loss to Class 4A power Pleasant Valley in the season opener.

Marv Cook was disappointed with the loss to Pleasant Valley, but he hardly was discouraged because it came against a Class 4A opponent, and because the Regals held their own until late in the game.

Cook saw plenty of positives despite the lopsided score, and those positive have since been on display throughout the season, and at the expense of Regina’s opponents.

Regina entered Friday’s game averaging 492 yards and 8.6 yards per play against Class A competition.

It was clear from the beginning that Regina wanted to establish its running game behind Kolie and senior quarterback Ashton Cook, who is Marv Cook’s son.

Ashton Cook rushed for 74 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries, and also completed 18-of-23 passes for 240 yards and one score.

“It was in the game plan, we knew they ran a four-two (defense) and we thought we could attack that with quarterback draws and quarterback runs,” Ashton Cook said. “And, obviously, Theo draws a lot of attention for how good he’s been playing.

“But that’s what they were giving us tonight, and it worked in the first half, especially.”

The 6-foot-5, 206-pound Ashton Cook is recognized as more of a passing threat, but he also has confidence in his running ability.

“I knew I could run like that,” Ashton Cook said. “I just haven’t done it a lot this year.

“Theo has been playing great. So it really just depends on the game plan and how we think we can attack them.”

Regina marched 62 yards on nine plays for a touchdown on its opening drive of the game. Kolie capped the drive by scoring on a 1-yard run with 8:26 left in the first quarter.

Regina ran on all nine plays with Kolie carrying five times for 23 yards and Ashton Cook carrying four times for 33 yards.

Wapsie Valley then answered back on its first offensive series, driving 69 yards for a touchdown on nine plays. Senior running back Trevor Sauerbrei capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run with 4:07 left in the first quarter.

Regina then had a second down at its own 43 on its next offensive series when Ashton Cook’s pass bounced off receiver Levi Quinlan and into the arms of Wapsie Valley defensive back Holten Robinson, who was then tackled at the Regina 42.

The Warriors only needed two plays to score as Kobe Risse connected with receiver Blayde Bellis on a 26-yard scoring strike with 3:08 left in the first quarter.

Regina then evened the score at 14 on a 3-yard touchdown run by Kolie, followed by Alec Wick’s point-after kick, with 9:14 left in the second quarter.

The Regals took a 20-14 lead on Ashton Cook’s 1-yard touchdown with 2:18 left in the second quarter.

However, Wick’s point-after kick was wide right and that kept the lead at six points heading into halftime.

Sauerbrei returned the opening kick of the third quarter to the Wapsie Valley 47-yard line. He then gained 22 yards on the first play from scrimmage and ultimately capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:28 left in the third quarter.

Dallas Wittenburg then made the point-after kick to give Wapsie Valley a 21-20 lead.

Regina answered with a 5-yard touchdown run by Kolie with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter, but the two-point pass attempt failed, leaving Regina’s lead at 26-21.

The lead didn’t last long, though, as Holten Robinson returned the ensuing kick to the Regina 18.

Bellis then caught his second touchdown of the game on an 18-yard pass from Risse on the next play, giving the Warriors a 27-26 lead with 7:10 remaining.

There still was plenty of time for the Regina offense to score again, and that’s what happened when Ashton Cook connected with Alec Wick on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 3:29 remaining.

The Regals were facing a 4^th-and-4 at the Wapsie Valley 30 when the Warriors were penalized for being off-sides. Wapsie Valley jumped off-sides after Regina had shifted at the line of scrimmage.

“It was just perfect timing with the fourth-and-four, and we might have had to go for it because it was getting late and they were doing a good job of controlling the clock and running the ball at times,” Marv Cook said.

Wapsie Valley had one more chance on offense, but the drive stalled when Kolie sacked Risse for the 15-yard loss.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to the defense,” Marv Cook said. “I thought they were outstanding late when we really needed it.”

Friday’s game was the last home game for Regina’s senior class, and they went out in style.

“It’s amazing,” Kolie said. “We’ve come a long way and to end it like this in an epic game, I couldn’t ask for a better game.”

Regina will now try to win its seventh state under Marv Cook.

“It’s an honor, especially with all the craziness going on and the state allowing us to play,” Kolie said. “We’re just grateful for the opportunity to go out there and give it all we’ve got.”

                                       WV                   ICR

First downs                     14                      26

Rushes-yards                  24-103             44-249

Passing yards                  95                      240

Punts-yards                    4-38                  0-0

Penalties-yards              4-17                   6-50

Fumbles-lost                   0-0                    1-1

Wapsie Valley     14   0   7   6  –  27

Regina                    7   13   0  12 –  32

ICR – Theo Kolie 1 run (Alec Wick kick)

WV – Trevor Sauerbrei 20 run (Dallas Wittenburg kick)

WV – Blayde Bellis 26 pass from Kobe Risse (Wittenburg kick)

ICR – Kolie 3 run (Wick kick)

ICR – Ashton Cook 1 run (kick failed)

WV – Sauerbrei 1 run (Wittenburg kick)

ICR – Kolie 5 run (pass failed)

WV – Bellis 18 pass from Risse (run failed)

ICR – Alec Wisck 5 pass from Ashton Cook (pass failed)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – Wapsie Valley: Trevor Sauerbrei 20-113, Jordan rubner 3-5, Kobe Risse 1-minus-15. Regina: Theo Kolie 28-169, Ashton Cook 15-74, Alec Wisck 1-6.

PASSING – Wapsie Valley: Risse 7-11-0 95. Regina: Ashton Cook 18-23-1 240

RECEIVING – Wapsie Valley: Blayde Bellis 5-69, Trevor Sauerbrei 1-16, Tyler Ott 1-10. Regina: Levin Quinlan 6-75, Alec Wick 6-61, Theo Kolie 3-52, Sam Aitchison 3-52.

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