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IOWA CITY – Regina used some explosive plays in the passing game to jump to an early lead in its season opener.

When the Regals needed to put things away in the second half it rode its experienced offensive line.

Regina raced to a 24-points first-quarter lead and scored 20 third-quarter points on its way to a 44-6 win over West Liberty on Friday on a hot and humid night at Regal Field in Iowa City.

Senior quarterback Gentry Dumont tossed three first-quarter touchdown passes but had to leave the game in the second quarter due to heat related symptoms.

With its starting quarterback sidelined Regina turned to its veteran offensive line which helped the Regals grind out 196 rushing yards.

“The heat got us and I’m sure it got a ton of different kids across the state tonight,” Regina coach Jason Dumont said. “We went in at halftime and regrouped and said ‘hey we are going to run behind our offensive line and just grind the game out’ and we did.”

Regina wasted little time taking a 21-0 lead scoring here touchdowns in the opening five minutes of the game.

Half of the first six offensive snaps for the Regals went for touchdowns.

Dumont hit Ty Joss for a 65-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage to put Regina up 7-0 just nine seconds into the game.

Jackson Naeve picked off a pass on the second West Liberty play of the game and two plays later hauled in a 25-yard scoring strike from Dumont that made it 14-0 Regals less than two minutes into the game.

Following a West Liberty punt on the ensuing possession Dumont found Joss again, this time for a 42-yard touchdown pass that put Regina up 21-0 with 7:01 remaining in the first quarter. “

“We came out and we threw the ball really well,” Jason Dumont said. “Gentry was throwing the ball well, guys were running good routes and then we started losing some guys to heat.”
Dumont had to leave the game in the second quarter as both teams had multiple players dealing with cramps in the hot and humid conditions.

West Liberty cut the Regina lead to 24-6 when Jayce McHugh took the second half kickoff, broke a tackle, cut across the field and raced 80 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.

Regina answered right back as Naeve took the ensuing kickoff and exploded up the middle for a 70-yard touchdown return.

“The heat was taking people out. After the first two drives we were all gassed we knew it was going to be a long night with the heat,” Naeve said. “We had some guys cramping, it was hard but it’s one of those games you just have to make some plays.”

Regina rode its offensive line the rest of the way.

Will Aitchison scored on a 25-yard touchdown run and Naeve caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Kyle Tracy to cap the scoring.

“We decided to come out in the third quarter and get our running game going,” Jason Dumont said. “We did a great job up front. I told our kids after the game there are going to be nights like this where somebody is going to go down and the good thing was we were able to just hog up behind our offensive line and just run the football.”

Dumont finished 10-of-18 for 179 yards and three touchdowns in less than a half of action.

Naeve caught two passes for 44 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 63 yards on eight carries, picked off a pass and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

Aitchison rushed for a team-high 99 yards on seven carries as Regina averaged 8.2 yards per carry.

“After half our offensive line really picked it up,” Naeve said. “That’s a big thing or us, our offensive line has gotten way bigger, they are much better and we put in some new schemes on offense that help a lot and I think we are going to be really good.”

Joss had two receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns and Alex Jensen had three catches for 34 yards.

Leren Fernandez led Regina with 4.5 tackles, Noah Clark had a sack and Andrew Greve had an interception.

Regina hosts Mid-Prairie (0-1) on Friday. The Golden Hawks lost their opener 13-0 to Wilton.

West Liberty                         0   0    6   0  –  6

Regina                                    24  0   20  0  –  44

ICR – Ty Joss 65 pass from Gentry Dumont (Emilian Herrera-Sinnwell kick)

ICR – Jackson Naeve 25 pass from Dumont (Herrera Sinnwell kick)

ICR – Joss 42 pass from Dumont (Herrera Sinnwell kick)

ICR – Herrera Sinnwell 30 field goal

WL – Jayce McHugh 80 kickoff return (run failed)

ICR – Naeve 70 kickoff return (Herrera Sinnwell kick)

ICR – Will Aitchison 25 run (Kick failed)

ICR – Naeve 19 pass from Kyle Tracy (Herrera Sinnwell kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Regina: Gentry Dumont 10-18-1 179, Kyle Tracy 1-3-0 19, Colin Baker 1-5-0 14.

PASSING – Regina: William Aitchison 7-99, Jackson Naeve 8-63, Gentry Dumont 4-34, Savion Miller 3-11, Colin Baker 1-(-3), Andrew Greve 1-(-8).

RECEIVING – Regina: Alex Jensen 3-34, Tate Wallace 3-12, Jackson Naeve 2-44, Ty Joss 2-

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