Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Muscatine (0-1) at West High (0-1)

Where: Trojan Field, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: West High 42, Muscatine 7

Player to watch: Muscatine junior running back Ty Cozad (5-10, 185) led the Muskies in rushing last season as a sophomore with 497 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries in a week one loss to Linn-Mar.

Key stat: Muscatine allowed more than 40 points in a game once during the 2020 season but has given up 40 or more in seven its last 10 games dating back to last season.

About the Muskies: Coming off a 1-8 season a year ago Muscatine opened the season with a 41-0 home loss to Linn-Mar last week.

The Muskies allowed 287 passing yards and three touchdowns in the loss to Linn-Mar but was solid against the run holding the Lions to 94 rushing yards on 25 attempts.

Muscatine attempted just one pass in its season opener, an incompletion, and rushed for 138 while being shutout for the first time since a 28-0 loss to Bettendorf in the season finale in 2020.

Senior Brayden Lane rushed for 37 yards against Linn-Mar to go with the 101 from Cozad.

About the Trojans: West High opened the season with a 28-19 loss at Class 4A seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Thursday despite outgaining the Cougars 305 to 302.

Sophomore quarterback Jack Wallace passed for 239 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to the Cougars with senior receiver Christian Janis catching six passes for 170 yards and three scores.

West High will look to get its ground game going this week after rushing for 66 yards on 20 carries in the opener.

Wallace accounted for 21 yards on the ground with West High running backs combining for 42 rushing yards on 10 carries in week one.

West High has controlled the series with Muscatine of late winning five straight over the Muskies with a combined margin of victory of 29.2 since 2016.

5A No. 10 Linn-Mar (1-0) at 4A No. 7 Liberty High (1-0)

Where: Liberty Stadium, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: Linn-Mar 25, Liberty High 15

Player to watch: Linn-Mar junior tight end Keaton Roskop (6-3, 215) had three receptions for 116 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening win over Muscatine and also had a pair of tackles for loss.

Key stat: There were nine total turnovers in last season’s meeting between these two teams with Liberty High committing five turnovers and Linn-Mar four in a 25-15 Lion win in North Liberty.

About the Lions: Following a one-win 2020 season Linn-Mar had a breakthrough last fall posting its most wins since 2014 going 7-3 and advancing to the Class 5A playoffs.

Linn-Mar won five straight to open the season before dropping games to 5A powers Southeast Polk, Cedar Rapids Prairie and West Des Moines Dowling down the stretch.

A key to the success for Linn-Mar last season was forcing turnovers.

The Lions forced 29 turnovers in 10 games last season and picked up where it left off this season with a pair of takeaways in a 41-0 win at Muscatine last week.

Sophomore Austin Waller (5-10, 170) and junior Abe Behning (5-10, 155) each passed for more than 130 yards and a touchdown in the week-one win over the Muskies.

Six different players caught passes for Linn-Mar led by Roskop while Dylan Muszynski (5-8, 155) had four receptions for 68 yards and senior TJ Jackson (6-0, 160) caught three passes for 49 yards.

About the Lightning: Liberty High had one of the best opening weeks of any team in the state defeating rival City High 36-19 at Kinnick Stadium.

The win over City High reversed a 41-0 loss to the Little Hawks in the season opener last season that started a string of five consecutive loss for the Lightning which finished 3-6 last fall in the first season under head coach James Harris.

Liberty High got off to a much better start last week putting up 385 yards of offense and averaging 5.9 yards per play in the win over City High.

A key for City High in the opener was the improvement of an offensive line that paved the way for the Lightning to rush for 151 yards on 41 carries.

Last year Liberty High managed just 59 yards on the ground on 22 attempts in a loss to Linn-Mar.

Look for that number to improve on Friday night as Liberty High attempts to start 2-0 for just the second time in program history.

City High (0-1) at Cedar Rapids Jefferson (0-1)

Where: Kingston Stadium, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: City High 68, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 0

Player to watch: City High junior quarterback Drew Larson (6-1, 175) completed 21-of-26 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 18 yards and a touchdown in a week one loss to Liberty High.

Key stat: City High averaged 8 yards per play in the season-opening loss to Liberty High last Friday the eighth time in 13 games under head coach Mitch Moore that the Little Hawks have averaged 8 or more yards per play.

About the J-Hawks: Following a winless season last fall Cedar Rapids Jefferson has a new head coach in Ed Miles as it looks to build the program back into a winner.
The J-Hawks opened the season with a 47-6 loss to cross-town rival Cedar Rapids Washington last week.

Junior quarterback Jeremiah Peiffer completed 6-of-19 passes for 14 yards in the loss to the Warriors with six different J-Hawk receivers making catches.

The J-Hawks had three sacks in the week one loss as junior Cade Chism, senior Clayton Bockoven and sophomore Nelson Evans all had sacks.

Sophomre LJ Elophe led Cedar Rapids Jefferson with 7.5 tackles last week.

About the Little Hawks: City High will look to bounce back from a 36-19 loss to Liberty High in its opener last week.

The Little Hawks managed just 81 rushing yards on 21 carries in the week-one loss a year after rushing for 240 yards against the Lightning and averaging 195 yards per game on the ground.

City High was dominant in its 68-0 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson last season outgaining the J-Hawks 393 to 57 while averaging 15 yards per play.

In the season opener against Liberty High Ben Kueter led City High with 33 rushing yards, caught two passes and had a team-high 12 tackles including three for loss.

Carsen Newton caught six passes for 59 yards, Ronnie Major had three receptions for 96 yards and Akili Mattox caught two passes for 95 yards and a touchdown.

Clear Creek Amana (1-0) at Independence (1-1)

Where: Lyle Leinbaugh Field in Independence, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: Independence 28, Clear Creek Amana 14

Player to watch: Independence junior Trey Weber (5-9, 175) has rushed for 242 yards and a touchdown this season and is averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

Key stat: Independence rushed for 259 yards and averaged 6.5 yards per carry in a 28-14 win at Clear Creek Amana last season.

About the Mustangs: Independence posted its four consecutive winning seasons last fall going 9-2 and advancing to the Class 3A quarterfinals and is 24-5 over the past three seasons.

One of a handful of teams across the state to play on week zero on August 19 the Mustangs are 1-1 on the season bouncing back from a 26-7 loss at Davenport Assumption in its opener with a 44-9 win at Maquoketa last week.

Senior quarterback Mitchell Johnson (5-10, 180) completed 11-of-16 passes for 130 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Maquoketa last week after sophomore EJ Miller started the opener at Davenport Assumption.

The offense is focused around Weber but there are other weapons including junior receiver Brady McDonald (6-3, 215) who has caught 11 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns and senior Keelan Hoover (6-0, 165) who has an 81-yard rushing touchdown and a 43-yard touchdown reception.

About the Clippers: Last season Clear Creek Amana won a shootout over Marion in a game that featured 71 points and nearly 900 yards of total offense.

Last week the Clippers limited Marion to just 195 yards of offense in a 26 season-opening shutout of the Wolves.

The shutout was the first for the Clippers since a 43-0 win over Clinton on October 4 of 2019.

Clear Creek Amana was efficient on offense in the opener as well putting up 346 total yards while averaging 6.2 yards per play.

Senior quarterback Jackson Schmidt (6-2, 175) was 7-of-8 passing for 127 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 80 yards and a score in his first career start under center.

Junior Sam Pettinger (6-0, 190) rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries as Clear Creek Amana finished with 214 rushing yards.

Mount Vernon (1-0) at 3A No. 1 Solon (1-0)

Where: Spartan Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: Solon 41, Mount Vernon 27

Player to watch: Mount Vernon senior running back Henry Ryan (6-2, 175) ran for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in a season-opening win over Anamosa.

Key stat: Solon has won 19 in a row over Mount Vernon and there hasn’t been a game decided by single digits since 2016 with the Spartans winning the last five meetings by an average of 21.8 points.

About the Mustangs: Mount Vernon won its final three games last season to finish 6-3 but missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

The Mustangs got off to a strong start this season with a 28-0 win over Anamosa last week in which they limited the Blue Raiders to 17 yards rushing and 137 yards of total offense.

Mount Vernon had eight sacks in nine games last season but recorded 10 in the season-opening win over Anamosa with eight different players recording a sack.

Senior Brad Vislisel (6-3, 220) had two sacks in the opener while last year’s leading tackler junior Jackson Jaspers (5-8, 155) had 1.5 sacks.

The Mustangs lost starting quarterback Owen Brase and 1,000-yard rusher Trenton Pitlik to graduation from last year’s squad but have a solid nucleus back on offense led by Henry.

Junior Joey Rhomberg (6-2, 185) completed 20-of-29 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown in the win over Anamosa.

About the Spartans: A year after going 11-1 and reaching the Class 3A semifinals Solon picked up right where it left off this season with a 42-0 win at West Liberty in its opener.
The Spartans held West Liberty to -42 yards rushing in the shutout and racked up 357 yards of total offense.

Senior quarterback Blake Timmons passed for 104 yards and rushed for 34 yards and two touchdowns and Brett White rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown as Solon rolled up 234 yards on the ground.

Seven different players had a reception for the Spartans in the opener led by junior Nash Kotar who caught four passes for 26 yards and senior Ryan Rasmussen who had two catches for 46 yards.

West Liberty (0-1) at Regina (0-1)

Where: Regal Field, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Regina 34, West Liberty 6

Player to watch: Regina junior receiver Jackson Naeve (6-0, 170) emerged as a weapon in the pass game last week making five receptions for 57 yards and also posting three tackles on defense.

Key stat: Both teams struggled to run the ball in week one with Regina finishing with -42 yards on the ground in a loss to Williamsburg and West Liberty rushing for -6 yards on 18 carries in a loss to Solon.

About the Comets: West Liberty had a string of five consecutive winning seasons snapped with a 3-6 campaign a year ago.

The Comets started 0-4 last season with losses to playoff qualifiers Solon, Regina, Independence and Camanche before winning three of its final four regular season games to reach the postseason.

For the second year in a row West Liberty opened the season with a shutout loss to Solon, falling 42-0 to the Spartans last week.

Senior quarterback Drake Collins (5-11, 185) completed 19-of-37 passes for 116 yards in the loss to Solon with Ty Jones (6-1, 170), Caden Laughlin (5-10, 190) and Morgan Lehman (5-11, 179) all hauling in four passes.

About the Regals: Regina opened the season with a 31-0 loss at Class 2A second-ranked Williamsburg marking the first time the Regals were shutout since a season-opening loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier on August 30 of 2019.

Before anyone panics about the loss in the opener realize Regina is now just 1-6 in its last seven season openers but in the previous five season in which the Regals have started with a loss they have posted a 46-8 record the rest of the season.

Regina will look to get its ground game led by senior running back Levi Daniel (6-3, 205) rolling in week two.

Daniel rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns against the Comets last season as Regina rolled up 262 yards on the ground in the 2021 meeting between the two River Valley Conference rivals.

Class 1A No. 6 West Branch (1-0) at Waterloo Columbus (0-1)

Where: Waterloo Columbus, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Waterloo Columbus 17, West Branch 6

Player to watch: Waterloo Columbus senior linebacker Carson Hartz (6-0, 215) has a team-high 89 tackles in 10 games last season including a whopping 71 solo stops. Hartz had 6.5 tackles for loss 2.5 sacks, recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pass.

Key stat: West Branch had season lows in rushing yards (21), total yards (89), and yards per play (2.12) in a 17-6 loss to Waterloo Columbus last season.

About the Sailors: Waterloo Columbus continued its best string of success in recent program history last season posting a fourth consecutive seven-win season going 7-3 and reaching the second round of the 1A playoffs.

The Sailors are 30-9 over the past four seasons reaching the postseason all four years.

Just as it did last season Waterloo Columbus opened the season with a loss to 1A third-ranked Dike-New Hartford.

Waterloo Columbus trailed 21-14 after three quarters but was outscored 21-0 in the fourth in a 42-14 loss to the Wolverines.

Hartz leads a strong group of returners on defense that includes the top four tacklers from a year ago but the Sailors have holes to fill on offense namely at quarterback and receiver.

Senior Caleb Holthaus (6-0, 170) does return as a dynamic offense weapon after catching 51 passes for a team-high 855 yards and 10 touchdowns.

About the Bears: West Branch got off to an impressive start scoring 61 first-half points in a 61-20 week one win over Lisbon.

Senior quarterback Tye Hughes (6-3, 185) completed 12-of-14 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns in his first start at West Branch and also rushed for 12 yards and a touchdown.

Senior running back Andy Henson (6-2, 215) ran for 72 yards and two scores and caught four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.

West Branch limited Lisbon to 45 rushing yards and less than two yards per carry and scored a trio of defensive touchdowns returning three fumbles for scores.

Senior receiver Carver Boelk (5-10, 170) had a team-high five receptions for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Lisbon.

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