Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

CEDAR RAPIDS – With its opening-night loss in the rearview mirror, City High was intent on getting healthy against struggling Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Boy, did it.

The Little Hawks piled up eight first-half touchdowns, including a trio of defensive scores, in an explosive 77-0 rout of the J-Hawks in a non-district prep football game Friday night at Kingston Stadium.

“Just really proud of our detail,” second-year City High Coach Mitch Moore said. “It started Sunday with our coaching staff and then into Monday with our kids. We got in the office, we cleaned the locker rooms, we organized the weight room. We put everything in excruciating detail with our program. We felt what we were doing was right, maybe our intent wasn’t as good. A great learning week for us last week and just really proud of our guy’s rebound.”

After surrendering 36 points in last week’s loss to Iowa City Liberty at Kinnick Stadium, the City High defense responded with aggression against the overmatched J-Hawks.

Jefferson managed just one yard or total offense and was shut out for the second year in a row by the Little Hawk defense.

City High has outscored Jefferson, 145-0, combined in the last two meetings.

“For starters, we are always going to have to play with a little bit of an edge,” Mitchell said. “We are going to be under-sized, we are going to be fast, we are going to have a little bit of swagger. That is how we play, that is how we practice, that is our style of football. I didn’t think we had that last week.”

On offense, City High (1-1) needed just four plays to get on the scoreboard as junior quarterback Drew Larson scored with a 30-yard touchdown run.

“Lots of open field, so I just ran,” Larson said. “It was pretty easy. Easy pull, wide open.”

The Little Hawks scored two defensive touchdowns in the next than two-and-a-half minutes. Junior defensive end Sam Kueter intercepted a screen pass and returned it 26 yards for a score, then junior defensive lineman Dax Judge scooped up a Jefferson fumble and raced 35 yards to the end zone two plays later.

“At the beginning of practice, we have been running screens,” Kueter said. “If that running back starts to flare out, follow him, follow him, follow him. I see it, I have got to get it. The ball went in the air and I came down with it and I was gone.”

Just 3:33 into the game, it was 20-0, City High.

“It was huge,” said Kueter, who finished the game with a sack and a half. “We have been working all week and we pride ourselves on ‘controlled chaos.’ When we come out there and we start the game off like that, there is not much more we can ask.”

The Little Hawk lead was 27-0 at the end of the first quarter after senior tight end Ben Kueter – an Iowa football and wrestling commit – caught a short pass from Larson and streaked down the left sideline for a 70-yard score.

“It was great,” said Larson, who threw for 161 yards, ran for 34 and accounted for two touchdowns. “Glad to be back. Feeling like a team now.”

Senior tailback Ronnie Major scored three times in the second quarter via touchdown runs of five and 19 yards, plus a 31-yard scoring reception from quarterback Quinton Tran.

Tran later added a scoring toss to reserve tailback Dominic Salibi.

“He is super-fast, athletic,” Larson said. “He is definitely a weapon in our offense and definitely one of the best on our team.”

Major finished with 68 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards for City High (1-1), which hosts Ames next Friday.

“It is going to be an absolute, constant teachable moment every week with this team,” Mitchell said. “Last year, by Week 2 we knew we were a heck of a football team. We knew it right away. We were going to be good. This team, we have got to keep climbing that mountain and keep getting better and better.”

Junior defensive back Kael Kurtz posted the third defensive score of the first half when he returned a fumble five yards for a score.

Ben Kueter and Holden Clay also recorded sacks for the Little Hawks, while junior defensive back Oliver Kniss collected a late interception.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson (0-2) – loser of 19 games in a row – will have a short turnaround as it hosts Davenport Central Thursday at Kingston Stadium.

                                       ICH                    CRJ

First Downs                  8                          5

Rushes-yards              17-140                22-(-17)

Comp-Att-Int               14-20-0             7-16-2

Passing yards               241                    18

Total yards                     381                    1

Punts-avg.                      0-0.0                5-29.2

Fumbles-lost                 0-0                   2-2

Penalties-yards           9-90                 9-60

City High       27 29 14 7  –  77

CR Jefferson  0   0   0  0  –   0

ICH – Drew Larson 30 run (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Sam Kueter 26 interception return (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Dax Judge 35 fumble return (kick failed)

ICH – Ben Kueter 70 pass from Drew Larson (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Ronnie Major 5 run (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Ronnie Major 19 run (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Kael Kurtz 5 fumble return (Sam Rew run)

ICH – Ronnie Major 31 pass from Quinton Tran (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Sam Rew 5 run (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Dominic Salibi 8 pass from Quinton Tran (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Jeremiah Madlock 27 pass from Bobby Bacon (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

RUSHING – ICH: Drew Larson 2-34, Ronnie Major 6-68, Holdon Clay 2-8, Bobby Bacon 2-(-6), Sam Rew 1-5, Dominic Salibi 2-25, Phillip Kaplan 2-6. CRJ: Jeremiah Peiffer 5-(-29), Ishara Kalolero 9-8, AJ White 3-6, Vernon Benda 1-(-4), Demetrius Moore 2-(-18), Chadrac Elese 2-20.

PASSING – ICH: Drew Larson 10-15-0 161; Quinton Tran 3-4-0 53, Bobby Bacon 1-1-0 27. CRJ: Jeremiah Peiffer 7-13-1 18, Vernon Benda 0-3-1 0.

RECEIVING – ICH: Ronnie Major 2-38, Oliver Kniss 2-15, Akili Mattox 1-27, Ben Kueter 1-70, Connor Cross 2-15, Dayten Guy 1-8, Sam Rew 2-19, Alex Knudtson 1-14, Dominic Salibi 1-8, Jeremiah Madlock 1-27. CRJ: Carter Bronson 5-11, Tyler Huston 1-5, Ishara Kalolero 1-2.

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