Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The postseason is here.

All seven classes are down to 16 teams as playoffs get underway for every class in Iowa on Friday.

Teams got their first look at their path to the state playoffs in the UNI-Dome on Saturday morning when the Iowa High School Athletic Association released the four-team pods for teams in all seven classes.

Four Your Prep Sports area teams are in the playoff field in four different classes with three area teams hosting Round of 16 games on Friday.

Liberty High, Solon and West Branch will all host games on Friday with City High on the road in the 5A opening round.

City High (6-3) is making its third consecutive playoff appearance after reaching the 5A semifinals last season for the first time since 2010 and will travel to Johnston (6-3) in the Class 5A opening round.

The winner of City High and Johnston will face the winner of Sioux City East (7-2) and Ankeny (8-1) in a 5A quarterfinal.

Solon (7-2) is seeking a second consecutive trip to the UNI-Dome and a third in four seasons and will open the postseason by hosting West Delaware (5-4).

Solon defeated West Delaware 23-19 in the 3A quarterfinals last season and brings a six-game winning streak into the postseason.

The Spartans have outscored opponents 252-49 during its current six-game winning streak.

The winner of Solon and West Delaware would face the winner of the opening-round game between Central DeWitt (6-3) and Mount Vernon (9-0).

Liberty High (8-1) is making the third postseason appearance in program history and for the first time will host a postseason game when it welcomes Webster City (6-3) to Liberty Stadium in a 4A opening-round contest.

The Lightning have won six straight games and would host a 4A quarterfinal with a win.

Newton (7-2) and Carlisle (8-1) will meet in the other Pod D game in Class 4A.

West Branch (9-0) advanced to the round of 16 with a 42-0 win over South Hardin on Friday.

The Bears are two wins away from its first trip to the UNI-Dome since 2011 and will host Waterloo Columbus (6-3) on Friday.

West Branch defeated the Sailors 34-13 in week two in Waterloo.

With a win West Branch would host the winner of the other 1A Pod B game between Dike-New Hartford (7-2) and MFL Mar-Mac (8-1).

News and Notes

Seasons End for CCA, Regina, West: A trio of Your Prep Sports area teams had their seasons conclude with losses on Friday.

Regina lost at seventh-ranked Pella Christian 31-0 in a Class 1A opening-round playoff game while Clear Creek Amana and West High missed the playoffs with losses in their regular season finales.

West High (4-5) fell to second-ranked Pleasant Valley 35-14 and Clear Creek Amana (3-6) lost to Newton 27-0.

Quarterbacks are Back: With the playoffs coming next week City High and Liberty High both got a boost with the return of their starting quarterbacks in the regular season finale.

Liberty High junior Graham Beckman and City High junior Drew Larson each returned from injuries that forced them to miss time and were sharp on Friday evening.

Beckman completed 14-of-18 passes for 268 yards and four touchdown passes in a win over Clinton on Friday after missing the second half against Burlington last week.

Larson went 10-of-14 for 130 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Davenport Central after missing the previous two games.

Breakthrough for Honore: West High junior linebacker Ashton Honore had a tackle for loss in Friday’s loss to Pleasant Valley giving his a 5A-leading 27 for the season.

Honore ranks 11^th in 5A with 66.5 tackles and third in sacks with 7.5 in the nine-game regular season.

Two More TDs for Janis: West High senior receiver Christian Janis had a breakthrough season in his final prep season.

Janis had one more stellar performance in the final game of his career.

Janis caught five passes for 43 yards and two touchdowns and also went 2-of-2 passing for 31 yards in a 35-14 loss to second-ranked Pleasant Valley.

In his final prep season Janis finished with 36 receptions for 739 yards and 12 touchdowns, went 3-of-4 passing for 72 yards and a touchdown and returned an interception and a punt for a touchdown.

The 739 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns for Janis each rank third in Class 5A.

West Branch Gets Another Shutout: The West Branch defense continued its impressive season with a 42-0 shutout of South Hardin in a Class 1A playoff opener.
It was the fourth shutout in the last seven games for the Bears which haven’t allowed more than 13 points in a game since the season opener.

On the season West Branch is allowing 7.3 points and 143 total yards while allowing just 3.4 yards per play.

Big Game for Boelk: West Branch senior Kinnick Boelk did a little bit of everything in the win over South Hardin.

Boelk had a 56-yard touchdown run, caught five passes for 32 yards and made 5.5 tackles and had an interception.

Boelk also averaged nine yards on two punt returns for the Bears.

City High Sets Scoring Mark: For the second time this season and third time in two years City High has set a new single-game scoring mark.

The Little Hawks set single-game records for points and margin of victory in a 79-0 win over Davenport Central in the regular season finale for both teams at Bates Field on Friday.

City High set a program record for points in a game with 76 in a win over Davenport West last season.

The Little Hawks broke that record earlier this season in a 77-0 win at Cedar Rapids Jefferson before setting the new mark on Friday.

Players of the week

Offensive Player of the Week: City High junior quarterback Quinton Tran had a perfect passing night on Friday, completing all eight of his throws for 146 yards and four touchdowns in a 79-0 win over Davenport Central.

Defensive Player of the Week: Regina senior linebacker Ronan Poynton was all over the field on Friday in a 31-0 opening-round playoff loss to Pella Christian. Poynton had a team-high 15.5 tackles including 11 solo stops.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Solon junior Keenan Kruse blocked a punt that he recovered a returned 28 yards for a touchdown in a 41-7 win over Keokuk. Kruse also had 2.5 tackles and in interception in the win.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: West Branch senior running back Andy Henson ran for 144 yards and three touchdowns and also had 6.5 tackles including a tackle for loss and recovered a fumble in a 42-0 win over South Hardin.

Offense: Liberty High senior wide receiver Lucas Meyer caught four passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-7 win over Clinton.

Defense: Clear Creek Amana senior linebacker Brock Sherman had nine solo tackles and two sacks among his team-high 10.5 tackles in a 27-0 loss to Newton.

Defense: West High junior linebacker Ashton Honore had nine tackles, including a tackle for loss and recovered two fumbles in a 35-14 loss to Pleasant Valley.

Defense: Liberty High senior linebacker Christian Barney had eight tackles, including five solo stops and 1.5 tackles for loss in a win over Clinton.

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