Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – A jubilant Mitch Moore ran behind Drew Larson in the middle of a post-game interview and gave the City High junior a bear hug.

“QB1,” Moore shouted. “Best quarterback in 5A.”

A great quarterback for sure.

But Friday night Larson did it all.

Larson accounted for six touchdowns, throwing for four and adding rushing and receiving scores as City High raced to a 49-0 win over Class 5A No. 10 West High in the annual Battle for the Boot on a rainy night at Trojan Field in Iowa City.

“Rushing, receiving, passing…. and some defense I just love playing,” Larson said. “I love being on the field all the time and helping my team in any way I can.”

Larson did it all on Friday and did it all well leading City High (3-2) to its second consecutive win in the Battle for the Boot and its first win at West High since 2016.

The junior quarterback completed 20-of-27 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns, rushed for 28 yards and a score and caught a 15-yard touchdown pass.

“He’s an athletic kid, he’s really savvy and he has great control of the game,” Moore said of Larson. “He has the ability to slow the game down in his own head and when he does that he plays fast.”

Ben Kueter rushed for 133 yards and Ronnie Major added 66 yards on the ground as City High rolled up a season-high 531 yards of total offense.

The Little Hawks scored on their first four drives, punted just once and led 35-0 at the half.

“We wanted to go attack in the first quarter,” City High junior receiver Carsen Newton said. “We wanted to get out there and attack right away.”

While Larson had the City High offense humming the Little Hawk defense did its part posting its first shutout in the Boot Series since 2003.

City High held a West High offense that entered averaging 315 total yards and 35 points per game to just 92 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers.

“We were doubted the whole time, they were a top-10 team but I didn’t really care about the number we were going to go out and play City High football like Moore talks about,” City High senior linebacker Evan Lampe said. “We pride ourselves on being a defense team and our defense pulled it out tonight.”

City High went on the offensive immediately.

The Little Hawks won the coin toss, elected to receive and promptly marched 73 yards in 10 plays.

City High took a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game when Kueter tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Newton on a halfback pass on a fourth-and-two play.

“We wanted the ball,” Newton said. “We were hoping to win the toss to get the ball and go out there and score.”

After forcing a West High three-and-out on the Trojan’s first offensive possession City High marched 57 yards in four plays and went up 14-0 when Larson hit sophomore Connor Cross for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

Another West High three-and-out was followed by a 9-play, 82-yard City High touchdown drive that ended with Larson hauling in a 15-yard touchdown pass from receiver Oliver Kniss on a reverse pass on fourth-and-1.

“I love catching the ball and running the ball,” Larson said. “That’s my favorite play.”

City High led 21-0 with :58 left in the opening quarter and had a 213-1 advantage in total yards.

“That’s always our plan is to start the first quarter and just crush them from the start,” Larson said. “We don’t want to let a team get up at any time and just keep them down.”

Larson added a 1-yard touchdown run and a 37-yard touchdown pass to Akili Mattox on a fourth-and-14 play to give City High a 35-0 halftime lead.

He added second-half touchdown passes of 27 yards to Newton on a fourth-and-16 play and 13 yards to Mattox.

Newton finished with eight receptions for 92 yards and Mattox caught six passes for 67 yards.

“Those guys are athletes, when they get the ball in their hands they can make plays happen,” Larson said. “They gain lots of yards after I throw it to them. They really help me out with my stats.”

Jack Wallace threw for 92 yards for West High with sophomore Mason Woods making three receptions for 26 yards.

ICH                ICW

First Downs               24                    6

Rushes-yards             38-247             21-26

Comp-Att-Int            22-29-1           10-23-1

Passing yards            284                  92

Total yards                531                  118

Punts-Avg.                 1-19                 5-38.2

Fumbles-lost              0-0                   1-1

Penalties-yards          6-75                 8-70

West High                  0    0    0   0   –   0 

City High                   21  14   0  14  –  49

ICH – Carsen Newton 13 pass from Ben Kueter (Thomas Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Connor Cross 24 pass from Drew Larson (Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Drew Larson 15 pass from Oliver Kniss (Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Larson 1 run (Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Akili Mattox 37 pass from Larson (Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Newton 27 pass from Larson (Ksobiech kick)

ICH – Mattox 13 pass from Larson (Ksobiech kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – ICH: Ben Kueter 10-133, Ronnie Major 14-66, Drew Larson 11-28, Dominic Salibi 2-11, Carsen Newton 1-9. ICW: Braden Gladwin 6-14, Davontae Morris 6-10, Ashton Honore 5-10, Jack Wallace 2-(-5), Team 2-(-3).

PASSING – ICH: Drew Larson 20-27-1 256, Ben Kueter 1-1-0 13, Oliver Kniss 1-1-0 15. ICW: Jack Wallace 10-22-1 92, Christian Janis 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING – ICH: Carsen Newton 8-92, Akili Mattox 6-67, Ronnie Major 5-84, Connor Cross 2-26, Drew Larson 1-15. ICW: Mason Woods 3-26, Jesus Marungo-Murrillo 2-28, Christian Janis 2-26, Barry Diallo 2-9, Bryan Torres 1-3.

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