Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Class A

No. 3 Regina (10-1) vs. No. 1 Grundy Center (11-0)  

Where: UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls

When: Thursday, 2 p.m.

Last Season: Did not play.

Player to Watch: Grundy Center senior running back Zach Opheim (6-1, 180) has rushed for 1,817 yards and 28 touchdowns while averaging 9.7 yards per carry after rushing for 223 yards and two scores in a semifinal win.

Key Stat: Regina is averaging 40.8 points per game and hasn’t scored less than 28 points in a game against Class A competition. Grundy Center is allowing 4.9 points per game and hasn’t allowed more than 14 points in a game this season.

About the Spartans: Grundy Center returns to the state title game for the second consecutive season seeking its first championship since 1988 after falling to West Hancock 21-17 in the Class A final a year ago.

Last season was a breakthrough for the Spartans which hadn’t reached the UNI-Dome since winning the second of their back-to-back title in 1988.

After going 13 consecutive seasons without winning more than seven games Grundy Center is 22-2 over the past two seasons with back-to-back 11-win campaigns.

Grundy Center returned to the UNI-Dome by avenging last season’s title game loss with a 20-14 quarterfinal win over West Hancock and rolling past Council Bluffs St. Albert 34-6 in the semifinals.

Defense has been the calling card for Grundy Center this season with the Spartans posting six shutouts and holding opponents to six or fewer points in eight of 11 games.

Grundy Center is allowing just 4.9 points per game this season and hasn’t given up more than 14 points in a game.

The Spartans are holding opponents to 79 rushing yards and 154 total yards per game while allowing just 2.3 yards per carry and 3.4 yards per play.

Junior linebacker Brayden Sawyer (5-11, 205) leads Grundy Center with 63 tackles while senior defensive end Wes Willis (6-4, 245) has made 51.5 tackles including 22.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks.

The Spartans have forced 19 turnovers this season and are +13 in turnover margin.

Offensively, Grundy Center relies on a strong running game led by Opheim and junior quarterback Logan Knaack (6-0, 170).

Knaack and Opheim are both over the 1,000-yard mark this season and both had more than 200 yards on the ground in the semifinal win over St. Albert.

Grundy Center is averaging 296 rushing yards per game with Knaack rushing for 1,189 yards and 16 touchdowns on better than 10 yards per carry.

Knaack has thrown for 867 yards and 13 touchdowns with three interceptions and hasn’t thrown a pick since the season opener.

Senior Nick Ascher (6-5, 225) is the top receiver for the Spartans with 16 receptions for 262 yards and five touchdowns junior Dexter Whitehilll (6-2, 150) has 13 receptions for 261 yards and three touchdowns.

About the Regals: Regina returns to the state title game for the ninth time in the past 11 seasons seeking its first championship since winning the 1A crown in 2017.

The Regals have rattled off 10 consecutive wins following a season-opening loss to Class 4A semifinalist Pleasant Valley including an impressive 49-28 semifinal win over second-ranked Saint Ansgar.

Regina has scored at least 28 points in every game against Class A competition and is averaging better than 46 points per game against in-class teams.

The Regals enter the state title game humming on offense after putting up 458 total yards against Saint Ansgar, the third consecutive playoff game with more than 450 yards of total offense.

Senior quarterback Ashton Cook leads Class A in passing with 2,537 yards and 23 touchdowns against just three interceptions and is completing nearly 67 percent of his passes.

Alec Wick is the top target for Cook with 66 receptions for 1,175 yards and 15 touchdowns, all of which lead Class A, while senior Levi Quinlan has emerged as a major weapon opposite Wick with 48 receptions for 579 yards and five scores.

Senior Theo Kolie has rushed for 1,475 yards and 30 touchdowns and also caught 25 passes for 414 yards and two scores.

Cook has rushed for more than 40 yards each of the past two games and had three rushing touchdowns in the semifinal win upping his season total to 267 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.

Regina didn’t allow a defensive point in the second half of its semifinal win over Saint Ansgar and enters the state title game holding opponents to 19 points and 254 total yards per game.

The Regals are allowing 182 rushing yards per game and will get another stiff test from a strong Grundy Center rush offense after holding Saint Ansgar to a season-low 175 yards on the ground which is half of the Saints season average.

Junior defensive lineman Aidan Udell is the top tackler for Regina with 59.5 stops while junior linebacker Sam Aitchison has 42 tackles and junior lineman Josh Gaffey has 32.5.

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