Matt Coss

Your Prep Sports

DAVENPORT – It was an inauspicious start for City High’s football team Thursday night.

The Little Hawks turned the ball over on their first three possessions and trailed after the opening quarter.

“It was a big wakeup call,” senior right tackle Trey Dervrich said. “We had to be better. It is impossible to win like that, and that’s not City High football.”

Behind tailback Miles Parlet and its offensive line, City High emphatically turned it around in the final three quarters as it collected a 47-13 triumph over Davenport North at Brady Street Stadium.

The Little Hawks (4-3) amassed 613 yards of offense, including a career-high 285 rushing yards from Parlet.

“Miles is not flashy, but he’s a workhorse,” City High coach Mitch Moore said.

Much of the credit can go to City High’s play in the trenches.

Linemen Tyler Rindels, Calin Wagner, Joe Cook, Elijah Davis and Dervrich created plenty of openings for Parlet.

The Little Hawks rushed for 393 yards and averaged nearly 9 yards per carry.

“Our offensive line, we continue to get better,” Moore said. “I think that’s the stronghold of our team.”

Parlet concurred.

“We played Joliet Catholic that first game and that really set the tone for us mentally playing such a physical opponent,” Parlet said. “We’ve played guys that are the best of the best, and we know now we can establish our physicality early in the game.

“Give our O-line all the credit in the world. They opened so many holes for me.”

The biggest concern for City High was hanging onto the football.

Parlet had the ball ripped out by a North defender on the opening possession.

Quarterback Bobby Bacon was intercepted by North’s Parker Taylor on the second series. Receiver Carsen Newton had the ball jarred loose after a reception on the third drive.

“Ball security was an issue,” Moore said. “It wasn’t that we weren’t focused. I thought (North) made a great play on a couple of those.”

After North (2-5) turned the first turnover into an eight-play, 72-yard scoring drive, City High found its footing in the second quarter.

Dominic Salibi had a 3-yard scoring run and Bacon connected with Jeremiah Madlock on a 44-yard touchdown pass to give the Little Hawks a 13-7 lead at intermission.

“There were a lot of blank faces, staring eyes and guys not really sure at halftime,” Dervrich said. “(Coach) Moore came in and got us right.”

City High tallied touchdowns on five of its first six possessions in the second half to turn a nip-and-tuck game into a rout.

Parlet had 178 of his 285 yards and both touchdown runs after halftime.

“It is tough to be super calm (at halftime only up six), but we took a deep breath and really came together as a team,” Parlet said. “We always fall back on the brotherhood. It is a short-term memory, thinking it is a zero-zero game.”

Parlet surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season.

“Every week he gets better,” Dervrich said. “We have a great relationship with him. I don’t think there is a single person on our team that doesn’t want to see him succeed. Great guy, great in the classroom and in the locker room.

“He’s a leader at heart.”

Moore said it was the first time he can remember winning a game with five turnovers.

In addition to the three early, the Little Hawks had a muffed punt and an interception in the third quarter.

“That’s a rarity,” Parlet said, “but it goes back to that perseverance once again. We believe we can score on any given play and on any given drive.

“We just battled through it and executed.”

Gabe Egeland had 102 yards on the ground as City High accumulated 30 first downs.

Bacon, who ran for a score and passed for two, completed 13 of 20 throws for 220 yards.

Drew Larson had an interception and a receiving touchdown for the Little Hawks.

City High was never forced to punt.

The challenge ratchets up for City High in the final two weeks.

Entering the week 18th in the Class 5A Ratings Percentage Index (top 16 make playoffs), City High closes at home against Linn-Mar and at Bettendorf. Both teams are ahead of City High in the RPI.

Moore’s squad will definitely need at least one win, maybe two, to extend its season past Week 9.

“There is very little margin for error at this point in the season,” Parlet said. “Being a team with three losses, we have to win out to make the playoffs. We have all the confidence in the world that we can do that, but it is going to be a challenge.”

Moore, though, believes his team has established some momentum with back-to-back wins in the Quad Cities.

“We’ve got to lean on this offensive line,” he said. “We’ve got an O-line that has played with great consistency. They’re not big, but they’re extremely smart, extremely intelligent and have seen every type of front thrown at them.

“If we’re expecting anything to be easy from here on out, we haven’t prepared ourselves for what’s coming. We know and expect these games won’t be easy.”

                                     ICH                DN

First downs                 30                    19

Rushes-yards              44-393             37-122

Comp-Att-Int              13-20-2           22-38-1

Passing yards              220                  217

Total yards                  613                  339

Punts-avg.                   0-0                   9-37.2

Fumbles-lost               4-3                   0-1

Penalties-yards           4-35                 9-75

City High                      0   13   14   20  –    47

Davenport North       7    0     0    6    –    13

DN – Mason Bogan 18 pass from Kazimir Rebarcak (Steven Ngo kick)

ICH – Dominic Salibi 3 run (Will Perrill kick)

ICH – Jeremiah Madlock 44 pass from Bobby Bacon (kick blocked)

ICH – Bacon 5 run (Salibi run)

ICH – Miles Parlet 22 run (kick failed)

ICH – Parlet 11 run (Perrill kick)

DN – Bogan 16 run (kick failed)

ICH – Drew Larson 11 pass from Bacon (Jackson Nichols-Lindsey kick)

ICH – Gabe Egeland 15 run (kick failed)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — City High: Miles Parlet 29-285, Gabe Egeland 9-102, Bobby Bacon 3-6, Dominic Salibi 1-3, Team 2-(-3). North: Mason Bogan 16-54, Derrick Pena 12-41, Kazimir Rebarcak 7-24, Izreal Harper 1-3, TJ Ogden 1-0.

PASSING — City High: Bacon 13-20-2, 220 yards. North: Rebarcak 22-37-1, 217 yards; Ogden 0-1-0, 0 yards.

RECEIVING — City High: Jeremiah Madlock 4-91, Parker Sutherland 3-53, Carsen Newton 3-29, Parlet 1-21, Sam Kueter 1-15, Drew Larson 1-11. North: Cael Pairrett 7-111, Harper 6-45, Bogan 5-23, Cunell Burrage 1-17, Pena 1-12, Jaedyn Stuckel 2-9.

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