Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

For the five Your Prep Sports area teams that had a quarterback with starting experience quarterback play wasn’t a big concern entering the opening week of the season.

The preseason question for area teams with returning quarterbacks centered around the guys that would be catching passes rather than who would be throwing the ball.

Most of those questions got answered on Friday night.

City High, Liberty High, West High, Regina and Clear Creek Amana all had pass catchers step forward with impressive performances in season openers.

All five of those teams lost significant production at the pass catching spot after last season.

City High graduated four of its top five receivers with senior slot Carsen Newton the only returning player with more than 10 receptions.

Against Illinois powerhouse Joliet Catholic on Friday senior Jeremiah Madlock had four receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown and junior Connor Cros caught two passes for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Junior tight end Parker Suther had two receptions for 12 yards and the steady Newton had seven receptions for 75 yards.

“I think we have some good athletes,” City High senior quarterback Drew Larson said. “We will keep practicing and every week I think those guys will get better with their experience and their feel of the game.”

City High isn’t the only team that had pass catchers stand out.

Liberty High lost all five of its top pass catchers from a year ago but got big games from juniors Collin Decker and Dallas Miller in a loss to West High.

Decker caught seven passes for 100 yards and Miller had six receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Gabe Clark nearly matched his career reception total of four with three catches for 14 yards.

West High lost its top two receivers from last year led by all-stater Christian Janis, a tandem that accounted for 58 percent of the Trojans receiving yards in 2022.

Seven different players caught a pass for West High on Friday but it was senior Izaiah Loveless that broke through with seven receptions for 191 yards and two touchdowns.

Regina returned leading receiver Jackson Naeve from last season but didn’t have another player with more than four receptions.

In a win over West Liberty on Friday senior Ty Joss caught two touchdown passes that covered 107 yards, Alex Jensen had three receptions for 34 yards and freshman Tate Wallace caught two passes for 12 yards.

“I think our offense is going to be really good,” Naeve said. “We have a lot of guys that can make plays and I think you saw that tonight.”

Clear Creek Amana didn’t have a player returning with more than eight receptions from last year but junior Owen Rosenberg had a big game in a loss to Marion making six receptions for 92 yards.

Senior Haiden Hardy had three receptions for 22 yards and junior Cale Berry two grabs for 19 yards for the Clippers.

News and Notes

Jack(son) of all trades: The plan for Regina was to get the ball in the hands of Jackson Naeve often and in a variety of ways this season.

The Regals executed that plan well in Friday’s 44-6 season-opening win over West Liberty.

A senior wide receiver, Naeve caught two passes for 44 yards with both receptions going for touchdowns and rushed eight times for 63 yards.

Naeve intercepted a pass on defense and returned a kick off 70 yards for a touchdown.

White picks up where he left off: New season, same old results for Solon senior linebacker Brett White. The top tackler for the Spartans the past two seasons White entered the season with 171 career tackles. In Frida’s season opener at Davenport Assumption White had a team-high 12.5 tackles, including eight solo stops and four tackles for loss in a 34-7 loss to the Knights.

White also returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown in the season-opener.

Players of the Week

Offensive player of the week: West High senior wide receiver Izaiah Loveless caught seven passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-28 win over Liberty High.

Defensive player of the week: West High senior linebacker Santana Miller had a team-high 11.5 tackles, including five solo stops and 2 tackles for loss and returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown in a 35-28 win over Liberty High.

Special teams player of the week: Liberty High senior Cody Nichols returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in a 35-28 loss to West High.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: City High senior wide receiver Jeremiah Madlock caught four passes for 120 yards and a touchdown in a 48-13 loss to Joliet Catholic.

Offense: Regina senior wide receiver Ty Joss caught two passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns in a 44-6 win over West Liberty.

Defense: West High junior safety Mason Woods had four tackles, a sack and intercepted two passes in a win over Liberty High.

Defense: Clear Creek Amana junior defensive end Brody Clubb had a team-high 6.5 tackles including 1.5 sacks in a 15-0 loss to Marion.

Special teams: West High sophomore Adam Salem went 5-for-5 on PAT attempts in a 35-28 win over Liberty High.

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