Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

If Liberty High didn’t get your attention with a resounding win over cross-town rival and defending 5A semifinalist City High in the season opener the encore from the Lightning on Friday should have done the trick.

Liberty High bolted to a 25-0 halftime lead and held on for a 25-14 win over Class 5A No. 10 Linn-Mar in its home opener on Friday in North Liberty.

It was a prove it type performance from Liberty High which outgained the Lions 394 to 282 and improved to 2-0 for the second time in program history and first since 2019.

Junior quarterback Graham Beckman followed up a sparkling debut performance against City High in Kinnick Stadium last week with an even better outing in his first start at home.

Beckman passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 38 yards and another score.

He tossed first-half touchdown passes to seniors Lucas Meyer and Christian Barney as Liberty High avenged a 25-15 loss to Linn-Mar last season.

While Liberty High kept rolling with its win over the Lions it was a bounce back week for Regina, City High and West High.

Regina and City High rolled to wins after opening week setbacks while West High dispatched of Muscatine 42-21.

West High (1-1) got a career-high 127 rushing yards and three touchdowns from senior running back Davontae Morris while rolling up 220 yards on the ground in its win over the Muskies.

Jack Wallace passed for 153 yards and threw touchdown passes of 58 yards to Christian Janis and 13 yards to Bryan Torres.

News and Notes

City High Gets Defensive: City High scored five defensive touchdowns last season during its run to the Class 5A state semifinals.

The Little Hawks got back into the endzone on defense three times in a week two win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

City High scored on an interception return and took a pair of fumbles back for touchdowns in a 77-0 win over the J-Hawks.

Sam Kueter returned an interception 26 yards for a score and Dax Judge and Kael Kurtz each scored on fumble returns.

Running Back Rotation: With returning leading rusher Levi Daniel sidelined for Friday’s matchup with West Liberty Regina went to a running back rotation while getting its run game rolling.

After being held to negative rush yards in a season-opening loss to Williamsburg four different Regals had at least 40 yards on Friday as Regina finished with 195 rushing yards.

Senior quarterback Jack Tierney had a team-high 96 yards while Chris Waikel (44 yards, 1 TD), Ronan Poynton (49 yards, 1 TD) and sophomore William Aitchison (40 yards) handled the running back duties.

Janis Sets Punt Return Record: In the season opener last week Christian Janis showed he was a big play threat at receiver with three touchdown grabs all of more than 20 yards.

On Friday Janis showed he can change a game on special teams as well.

Janis returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown in a win over Muscatine setting a new West High record for longest punt return.

City High Sets Records: City High set program records for points and scoring margin in a single game on Friday in a 77-0 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

The 77 points and winning margin surpassed the previous marks set in a 76-0 win over Davenport West last season.

Larson’s Strong Start: Through two games few quarterbacks in the state have been better than City High junior Drew Larson.

Larson has completed 31-of-40 passes (78 percent) while throwing for 501 yards and three touchdowns.

He has rushed for 52 yards and two touchdowns and made seven tackles from his safety spot.

CCA Defense: Before the season Clear Creek Amana coach Matt Haddy pointed to defensive improvement as a key for the Clippers in 2022.

So far, so good.

In its 1-1 start to the season Clear Creek Amana is allowing 6.5 points, 112 rushing yards and 194 total yards per game and has held each of its first two opponents under 200 yards of total offense.

Those numbers come after the Clippers allowed 26.9 points, 245 rushing yards and 357 total yards per game last season.

Players of the week

Offensive Player of the Week: Liberty High junior quarterback Graham Beckman completed 23-of-38 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 38 yards and a score in a 25-14 win over 5A No. 10 Linn-Mar.

Defensive Player of the Week: Solon junior linebacker Brett White had 14 solo tackles and two tackles for loss among his 16.5 total tackles in a 17-14 loss to Mount Vernon.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Liberty High senior Hayden Saul converted a pair of PATs and made a 30-yard field goal in a 25-14 win over Linn-Mar.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: West High senior running back Davontae Morris rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-21 win over Muscatine.

Offense: Regina senior Jack Tierney rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown and returned an interception 33 yards for a score in a 49-14 win over West Liberty.

Defense: West High junior linebacker Ashton Honore had eight total tackles including five solo stops and four tackles for loss in a 42-21 win over Muscatine.

Defense: City High junior defensive end Sam Kueter had six tackles, 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss and returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown in a 77-0 win at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Special teams: Regina senior Evan Lacina converted all seven of his PAT attempts, averaged 33 yards per punt and had three touchbacks on seven kickoffs in a 49-14 win over West Liberty.

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