Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Class A

No. 3 Regina (9-1) vs. No. 2 Saint Ansgar (10-0)

Where: UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls

When: Friday, 9 a.m.

Last Season: Did not play.

Player to Watch: Saint Ansgar senior running back Ryan Cole (5-11, 184) is the top rusher in Class A averaging better than 191 yards per game and enters with 1,918 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. Cole is also the top receiver for the Saints with 13 receptions for 213 yards and four touchdowns and has returned both a punt and kickoff for a score.

Key Stat: Cole accounts for 55 percent of the total offensive yards and 55 percent of the touchdowns for Saint Ansgar this season. The senior running back has 2,131 yards from scrimmage and has scored 31 total touchdowns, which ranks third in Class A.

About the Saints: Saint Ansgar is no stranger to the big stage of the UNI-Dome, returning to the Class A semifinals for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

The Saints have been among the most successful small class teams in the state for nearly a decade.

Saint Ansgar has double digit wins in six of the past seven seasons and is 69-9 during that span that features just two seasons with more than one loss.

One of the few things that has eluded the Saints during that stretch is a trip to the title game.

Saint Ansgar hasn’t played in a championship game since winning the 1A title in 2011, falling to Grundy Center 23-21 in the semifinals last season.

The Saints have navigated a challenging path back to the UNI-Dome in impressive fashion, knocking off back-to-back ranked opponents by a combined score of 91-20.

Saint Ansgar defeated ninth-ranked South Winneshiek 42-6 and scored 49 unanswered points in a 49-14 quarterfinal win over seventh-ranked MFL Mar-Mac last week.

As consistent as the Saints success over the past several years has been the patented Saint Ansgar power running game.

The Saints rank second in Class A behind West Hancock averaging 352 rushing yards per game and feature the leading rusher in A in senior Ryan Cole.

Cole is 82 yards away from giving Saint Ansgar a 2,000-yard rusher for the second consecutive season and has rushed for 3,743 yards and 52 touchdowns in his career.

There is help for Cole carrying the load as junior Lorne Isler (5-9, 181) has rushed for 732 yards and five touchdowns and senior Carter Salz (6-1, 199) has 686 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Senior quarterback Justin Horgen (5-9, 146) has completed 21-of-41 passes for 338 yards and five touchdowns.

Isler and Salz are the top two tacklers on a Saint defense that is holding opponents to 12.3 points and 245 total yards per game.

The Saints are +11 in turnover margin this season and have not committed a turnover in three postseason wins.

About the Regals: Regina continues one of the great runs of postseason success in state history with its 10^th trip to the state semifinals in the past 11 seasons.

The Regals returned to the UNI-Dome last year after missing the playoffs in 2018 and fell to Van Meter in a 1A semifinals.

This year the Regals are back intent on returning to the state championship game for the ninth tie since 2010.

Regina won six straight state titles in 2A and 1A from 2010 to 2015 and finished as 1A runner-up in both 2016 and 2017.

Friday will be the first state semifinal appearance for Regina in Class A as the Regals attempt to reach the title game in a third different class during its incredible run.

Regina has certainly earned its return trip to the UNI-Dome, defeating Alburnett 28-7 before rallying for a 32-27 quarterfinal win over eighth-ranked Wapsie Valley last week.

The Regals have been the best offensive team in Class A throughout the season and entering averaging a Class A-best 425 total yards per game.

Senior quarterback Ashton Cook is the top passer in Class A with 2,286 yards and 22 touchdowns with just three interceptions.

Cook is surrounded by two of the top skill position weapons in Class A in senior receiver Alec Wick and senior running back Theo Kolie.

Wick leads Class A with 1,047 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns on 57 receptions while Kolie ranks sixth in Class A with 1,316 rushing yards and second with 27 rushing touchdowns.

Kolie is averaging 8.2 yards per carry and has also been effective in the pass game catching 22 passes for 359 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Levi Quinlan has stepped up to become a major weapon alongside Wick and has 43 receptions for 511 yards and four touchdowns.

Five different Regals have more than 100 yards receiving this season with Sam Aitchison catching 15 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.

The Regina defense is holding opponents to 18.2 points and 249 total yards per game and has been especially stingy during the postseason.

Despite allowing 27 points last week against Wapsie Valley the Regals allowed just 209 total yards at 5.6 yards per play.

Regina is allowing 182 rushing yards per game this season but hasn’t give up more than 200 yards on the ground since week five.

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