Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

City High (0-1) at Liberty High (0-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Liberty Stadium

What is the commonly used phrase about building a rivalry?

Something along the lines of a rivalry is best when the games are competitive.

That competitive element is part of what has quickly turned the City High and Liberty High rivalry into one of the better annual matchups in eastern Iowa.

Outside of a 41-0 win for City High in 2021 all the games have been tightly contested matchups including several games that came down to the wire.

Liberty High leads the abbreviated all-time series 3-2 after a 36-19 win over the Little Hawks last season at Kinnick Stadium.

Both teams are in need of a win after uniquely disappointing opening-week losses.

City High fell to Illinois powerhouse Joliet Catholic 48-13 in its opener while Liberty High dominated the stat sheet but lost to cross-town rival West High 35-28.

Players to Watch

Liberty High

Senior quarterback Graham Beckman (6-1, 194) played a lot of great football in the opener last week against West High completing 25-of-47 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for a team-high 71 yards.

However, it was uncharacteristic turnovers that stood out on the stat sheet for Beckman in the 35-28 loss to the Trojans.

Beckman threw four interceptions in the opener, the same number of picks he threw in 261 pass attempts last season.

Expect a big-time bounce back from Beckman this week against City High.

Beckman completed 16-of-24 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 48 yards a touchdown in his first varsity start against the Little Hawks last season.

City High

There may not be a better quarterback matchup in the state this season than this one with Beckman and City High senior standout Drew Larson going head-to-head.

Larson was a bright spot in the Little Hawks’ season-opening loss to Joliet Catholic completing 18-of-25 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns.
The versatile Larson also rushed for 32 yards in the opener.

Like his counterpart across the field Beckman, Larson (6-1, 175) has been at his best in the biggest moments.

With City High in need of a bounce back performance after last week’s loss look for a big game from Larson who completed 21-of-26 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Liberty High last season.

Keys to the Game

City High

Start strong.

City High trailed 9-0 after the opening quarter and 23-6 midway through the second quarter in a 36-19 loss to Liberty High last season.

The Little Hawks fell into a 20-0 hole to Joliet Catholic in its opener last Friday.

In it’s last five losses dating back to last season City High has been outscored 68-7 in the first quarter.

If City High is to win tight games against quality teams this season it must get of to a better start and that begins on Friday against Liberty High.

Liberty High

Limit the Big Plays.

Big plays were the difference for Liberty High in a season-opening loss at West High.

The Lightning allowed scoring plays of 87, 51, 50 and 44 yards including touchdown passes of 51 and 44 yards.

Against a fast-paced high-octane City High offense Liberty High must be disciplined and limit the big plays.

Last season City High had touchdown passes of 81 and 80 yards against the Lightning and in its opener against Joliet Catholic the Little Hawks had touchdown throws of 80 and 60 yards.

City High is too good offensively to not get any chunk yardage but Liberty High must limit the number of big plays it allows on defense to get a win.

Both Teams

Run the ball.

In a game that features two of the best quarterbacks in the state there may not be a more important element for either team than the run game.

Both teams put up yards last week behind the play of their senior quarterbacks but didn’t finish drives.

Liberty High had 446 total yards and ran 84 offensive plays while putting up 28 points while City High had 373 total yards but scored just two touchdowns.

A key to extending drives and holding on to the football on what is going to be another warm night could be running the football.

Liberty High outgained City High 151 to 81 on the ground in this game last season with the 81 rushing yards a season low for the Little Hawks.

Look for both teams to try to get the ground game going early on Friday with the team that plays with an early lead getting a big advantage on a hot night.

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