Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

After more than three months of football the season comes down to the next seven days.

State semifinal matchups kick off in Class 5A on Friday with defending champion Ankeny (9-2) and seventh-ranked West Des Moines Dowling kicking off at 4 p.m. and second-ranked Southeast Polk (10-1) and City High (10-1) following at 7 p.m.

The Class 5A state title game is set for next Friday at 7 p.m.

Will the first 5A title game be a rematch of last season when Ankeny defeated Southeast Polk in the 4A championship or will perennial powers City High and West Des Moines Dowling return to the state title game?

That question will be answered by Friday evening but before that here are three keys to the game that could help City High reach the state title game for the eighth time in program history and first since 2010.

Set the Tone

Southeast Polk has a roster loaded with talented highlighted by two five-star recruits in senior safety Xavier Nwankpa and junior offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor.

The Rams also have the edge in UNI-Dome experience returning a large group of players from last year’s state runner-up squad.

Where City High can counter those advantages is with energy.

It should be a large and boisterous crowd for the Little Hawks first semifinal appearance in more than a decade and City High needs to feed off that energy especially early.

City High has played with tremendous energy all season, especially on the defensive side of the ball where linebackers Ben Kueter and John Klosterman have become the type of tone setters that can flip momentum with big plays.

Klosterman, Kueter and the Little Hawks need to harness the energy from what should be an electric crowd early and turn it into an advantage.

Keep Them in Front

As good as City High has been on defense this season (holding opponents to 9.2 points per game) Southeast Polk is going to move the ball.

Southeast Polk is simply too good on offense to not rack up yards and points on the board.

The Rams have never been shutout in 32 career starts for senior quarterback Jaxon Dailey and have scored 27 or more points 21 times in those games while averaging 36.2 points per game.

Statistics say Southeast Polk will score but what City High must do is make the Rams earn those points with long drives rather than quick strikes.

The Dailey-led Southeast Polk offense has thrived on the big play this season behind the likes of Nwankpa, senior receiver Cole Filloon and running backs Abu Sama and Titus Christiansen.

Filloon is averaging better than 22 yards per reception and had an 80-yard touchdown catch in a quarterfinal win over West Des Moines Dowling.

Christiansen and Sama are both capable of big plays on the ground as is Dailey who had a 40-yard scoring run in the Rams’ playoff opener against Johnston.

City High has been exceptionally sound defensively all season, especially in the back end where senior Gable Mitchell directs traffic.

That will need to continue on Friday for the Little Hawks to avoid giving up home run plays.

Get Richardson Rolling

The best way to slow down a high-powered Southeast Polk offense is to keep Jaxon Dailey and the Rams on the sideline.

To do that for long periods of time City High will need to have some time-consuming drives and that means getting its running game going.

City High has been good on the ground all season averaging 204 yards per game and nearly seven yards per carry but has been even better in the postseason.

The Little Hawks have rushed for an average of 259 yards per game in playoff wins over Urbandale and Cedar Rapids Kennedy, two defenses that had been stout against the run this season.

A key in the recent uptick in the running game has been senior tailback Darren Richardson who has posted back-to-back 100-yard games.

Richardson has rushed for 375 yards in the postseason and is coming off a 227-yard, three-touchdown effort against Cedar Rapids Kennedy.
Southeast Polk is tough against the run giving up just 92 yards per game and 3.1 yards per carry.

City High may need to get creative, rely on its trio of backs with Joey Bouska and Ronnie Major getting carries and even quarterbacks Quinton Tran and Drew Larson.

Whatever it takes to keep the chains and clock moving and keep the Southeast Polk offense off the field.

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