Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

5A No. 4 City High (9-1) vs. 5A No. 2 Southeast Polk (10-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls

Last season: Did not play

Player to watch: Southeast Polk senior defensive back Xavier Nwankpa (6-3, 205) is a four-star prospect ranked as the 43^rd best player in the Class of 2022 by 247Sports. Nwankpa has caught 27 passes for 345 yards and four touchdowns and has 17.5 tackles and a team-high three interceptions.

Key stat: Southeast Polk has held opponents to seven or fewer points 11 times in its past 22 games over the last two seasons and has given up more than 21 points twice during that span.

About the Rams: Southeast Polk returned to the UNI-Dome for the second consecutive year and third time in the past four seasons with a 38-28 quarterfinal win over West Des Moines Dowling.

The Rams are 20-2 over the past two seasons with both of those losses coming to Ankeny, 42-14 in the 4A title game last season and 21-7 back on September 17 of this year.

Since the two-touchdown loss to the Hawks in week four Southeast Polk has rattled off seven consecutive wins while outscoring opponents by an average of 29 points per game.

The Rams are tested with nine of their 11 games this season coming against teams that reached the 5A playoffs including a pair of wins over West Des Moines Dowling and a 40-21 win over semifinalist West Des Moines Valley in week two.

A Southeast Polk offense led by senior quarterback Jaxon Dailey (6-3, 222) enters averaging 33.4 points and 353 total yards per game and has scored 57 and 38 points in a pair of postseason wins.

An Arkansas State commit, Dailey is a three-year starter and is completing 60 percent of his passes for 1,661 yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions this season.

The top target for Dailey is senior wide receiver Cole Filloon (6-2, 200) who has caught 35 passes for 785 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Nwankpa is one of four other Ram players with double digit receptions on the season.

Southeast Polk is balanced offensively averaging 202 rushing yards and 152 passing yards per game.

The running game features a pair of talented backs in senior Titus Christiansen (5-10, 175) and junior Abu Sama (5-11, 185) who have combined for 1,563 yards.

Sama as rushed for 793 yards and touchdowns while Christiansen has 770 yards and six scores.

A talented Southeast Polk offensive line is anchored by junior five-star recruit Kadyn Proctor (6-8, 335) who is ranked among the best offensive lineman and top overall players nationally in the class of 2023.

Southeast Polk has been equally impressive defensively and enters the semifinals holding opponents to 12.1 points and 199.5 total yards per game.

The Rams are giving up just 95 rushing yards per game on 3.1 yards per carry and have forced 19 turnovers.

Senior Andrew Reed (6-0, 195) is the top tackler for Southeast Polk with 63 stops and two interceptions and sophomore Draven Woods (6-3, 205) is a player to watch with a team-high 25.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

About the Little Hawks: City High secured its first trip to the state semifinals since 2010 last week with a dominant 32-13 win over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

The Little Hawks have been the biggest turnaround in Class 5A this season going from 2-4 last season, its fourth straight two-win campaign, to 10-1 and a spot in the 5A semifinals.

It all starts for City High on defense where the Little Hawks have held seven of 11 opponents to seven points or fewer this season.

City High is allowing a Class 5A best 9.2 points per game while limiting teams to 174 yards of total offense.

Against Cedar Rapids Kennedy last week City High allowed just 210 yards of total offense and 13 points, both seasons lows for the Cougars.

City High is led defensively by a group of linebackers led by junior Iowa commit Ben Kueter (6-1, 192) and senior John Klosterman (6-0, 205) that ranks among the best in the state.

Kueter has a team-high 94 tackles and leads the state with 39 tackles for loss while Klosterman has 55 stops including 14.5 for loss.

Together Kueter and Klosterman have combined for 17 sacks.

Senior defensive tackle TaeShon McDaniels (6-3, 250) has been impressive this season with 32.5 tackles including 14 for loss while senior safeties Gable Mitchell (5-9, 170) and Carter Seaton (5-10, 158) secure the back end of the defense combining for 102 tackles and eight interceptions.

Offensively, City High has relied on the combination of a pair of sophomore quarterbacks and a powerful running game to put up nearly 400 total yards and 45.7 points per game.

City High is averaging 397 total yards per game and is balanced with 204 yards per game on the ground and 193 through the air.

Sophomores Drew Larson (6-1, 165) and Quinton Tran (5-10, 160) have split reps all season at quarterback and the system has worked.
Larson has passed for 1,206 yards and 15 touchdowns and Tran has thrown for 900 yards and 10 scores.

Senior tailback Darren Richardson (5-11, 195) leads a trio of City High backs with at least 300 yards with a team-high 966 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Joey Bouska (5-8, 170) has added 423 yards and eight scores and Ronnie Major (5-9, 140) has rushed for 314 yards and five scores.

Seven different Little Hawks have caught at least 10 passes this season led by Mitchell who has 23 receptions for 404 yards and four touchdowns.

Kueter has 20 catches for 347 yards and eight touchdowns from his tight end spot and Jamari Newson (5-11, 168) has caught 17 passes for 310 yards and four scores.

3A No. 3 Solon (11-0) vs. 3A No. 2 Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (11-0)

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.

Where: UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls

Last season: Did not play

Player to watch: Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley senior quarterback Tanner Te Slaa (X) has completed 67 percent of his passes this season and ranks fifth in Class 3A with 1,928 passing yards and third with 28 touchdowns.

Key stat: Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley senior Landyn Van Kekerix (6-2, 200) is averaging 15 yards per offensive touch from scrimmage. Van Kekerix has rushed for 593 yards on 55 carries (10.8 ypc) and caught 24 passes for 575 yards (24 ypc).

About the Nighthawks: Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley returned to the state semifinals for the second consecutive season and fifth time in six years with a 50-14 quarterfinal win over seventh-ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

The Nighthawks have double digit wins four times over the past six season and have rolled up a 56-13 record during that stretch with five of those losses coming during a 4-5 campaign in 2019.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley won the 2A state title in 2016 and was runner-up in 2A in 2018 before falling to Harlan 44-7 in the 3A semifinals last season.

The Nighthawks have been consistently dominant this season scoring at least 34 points in every game while outscoring opponents by an average of 36.9 points per game.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley has held opponents to single digit scoring outputs five times this season, hasn’t allowed more than 21 points in a game and hasn’t had a game decided by less than 21 points.

Te Slaa and Van Kekerix headline a high-powered Nighthawk offense that is averaging 46.9 points and 354 total yards per game while averaging 7.8 yards per play.

Van Kekerix leads Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in rushing and is second in receiving yards and has scored 30 touchdowns (16 rushing, 12 receiving and 2 on kick returns).

Senior Lane Schmidt (5-11, 192) has rushed for 350 yards and four touchdowns while Bryson Van Grootheest (6-1, 174) has added 260 yards and Cade Fisher (6-1, 210) has rushed for 202 yards and eight touchdowns.

Caleb Kats, who passed for better than 1,600 yards as the Nighthawks starting quarterback, has caught a team-high 35 passes for 622 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

Van Kekerix is the top tackler for an aggressive Nighthawk defense that is allowing just 10 points and 195 total yards per game with 58 stops on the season.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley has forced 31 turnovers in 11 games this season and scored five defensive touchdowns.

Senior Jaxon Rozeboom (5-9, 168) has a team-high 16 tackles for loss while senior Casey Pick (6-0, 196) has 14 tackles for loss

About the Spartans: Solon secured a second trip to the state semifinals in the past three seasons with a come-from-behind 23-19 win over fifth-ranked West Delaware in the quarterfinals last Friday.

The Spartans are making their third trip to the semifinals in the past five seasons and have won at least 11 games in each of those semifinal seasons while posting a 50-6 mark over that span.

Solon was held to season lows in points, total yards and rushing yards against West Delaware last week but relied on a strong performance from its defense and special teams to advance.

The Spartans held West Delaware to a season-low 19 points and enters the semifinals allowing just 13.2 points and 217 total yards per game.

Solon has held teams to 120 rush yards and 97 passing yards per game and has held eight of its last nine opponents to 315 yards of total offense or less.

Sophomore linebacker Brett White (6-2, 210) leads the Spartans with 87 tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss while senior defensive lineman Cayden Knipper (6-3, 230) and Gage Marty (6-0, 245) each have 10 tackles for loss.

The Solon offense is led by junior quarterback Blake Timmons (5-10, 175) who has passed for 1,442 yards and 19 touchdowns and rushed for 893 yards and 10 more scores.

Junior running back Sean Stahle (5-10, 162) has rushed for a team-high 1,127 yards and 17 touchdowns and has also caught 11 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns.

Eight different Solon players have more than 100 yards receiving this season with Jacob Timmons (6-4, 180) catching 11 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown and Brady Mullen (6-2, 160) catching nine passes for 125 yards and a score.

Carson Miller (6-1, 210) has nine receptions for 165 yards and three touchdowns.

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