Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Regina and Wilton last played a couple weeks ago in rain and slop.

Friday night their rematch came in the 1A Playoffs and in the coldest weather of the fall.

While rain deterred the Regals’ outstanding passing game in the prior game, the frigid temperatures were no match for quarterback Gentry Dumont and a bevy of Regal receivers.

Regina defeated Wilton 33-18 before a hardy crowd wrapped in wool blankets.

The Regals (9-1) advance to the 1A quarterfinals at MFL-Mar-Mac (9-1). The Bulldogs eliminated West Branch on Friday.

“We came out and executed our game plan so far (in the playoffs),” senior receiver Alex Jensen said.

The Regals scored on their first four possessions of the game on drives of 59, 60, 79 and 97 yards.

William Aitchison was the workhorse in the first drive, rushing for 54 yards on three carries.

A 5-yard Wilton penalty was the only other play of the drive, as Regina’s offensive line broke open big holes.

Andrew Greve was wide open on a route right down the seam on Regina’s next possession. Dumont’s pass hit him in stride, and Greve finished off the touchdown of 56 yards.

A 36-yard pass to Jensen, on what looked the same route Greve ran, set up the third touchdown for Regina.

“Our line was really stepping up big, and whenever our line can control the game we have a pretty good advantage,” Jensen said. “We knew this game wasn’t going to be as rainy, so we knew we’d be able to open up the playbook a little bit more.”

“Good coaching calls,” Dumont said of the route, looking to see if his father, coach Jason Dumont, was in earshot.

Regina marched the length of the field for its fourth touchdown, featuring Dumont’s passes to Tate Wallace.

Jackson Naeve finished off the drive with a nifty 15-yard run with a cutback that left Wilton’s players flailing at the air.

That gave Regina a 26-0 lead with 8:45 left in the first half.

Wilton struck back with a 77-yard kickoff return by Kale McQuillen.

Jensen caught him from behind at the Regina 10 to prevent the touchdown, but the Beavers scored two plays later to make it 26-6.

Wilton had one last chance to cut the lead to two touchdowns in the first half, reaching Regina’s 20-yard line in the waning seconds.

But two incompletions left the Beavers with third down at the 20 and only 6 seconds left. Quarterback Drew Keith threw the ball into the end zone, but in a key play Jensen picked it off and ran it back to midfield before he was tackled.

Regina stopped Wilton to open the second half, and its offense drove 65 yards in nine plays for a touchdown to effectively put the game out of reach, 33-6.

Wilton did score twice more, but Regina was never really in danger.

Dumont completed 15-of-27 passes for 236 yards in the freezing temperatures.

One hundred ninety-eight of those yards came in the first half when the game was decided.

Six different receivers caught passes, including senior offensive tackle Jack Clark.

“It was tough conditions,” Dumont said. “It’s always tough to throw around the ball. It’s a different feel, a different way you’ve got to throw it. You’ve got to play the wind sometimes. (The ball) was a little slippery just because it was cold outside.”

In getting ready for the game Dumont was pretty confident the passing game would reemerge despite the weather.

“I wasn’t too worried about not throwing it. I thought we’d run it a little more. The first drive we ran quite a bit,” he said.

Aitchison rushed for 107 yards and three touchdowns.

Wilton’s offense was more productive the second time around with Keith passing for 186 yards and standout running back Owen Hassell rushing for 113 yards.

The game was more than 2-1/2 hours long and was not one for the time capsule after intermission, but the Regals will take the victory and move on to a much more challenging opponent.

                                       WIL                  REG

First downs                 16                    20

Rushing-yards             30-121             31-211

Comp-att-int               15-31-1           15-27-1

Passing yards              186                  232

Punts-avg.                   3-29                 0

Fumbles-lost               0-0                   1-0

Penalties-yards            6-40                 7-58

Wilton             0          6          0          12  –  18

Regina             19        7          7           0   –  33

ICR – William Aitchison 7 run (kick failed)

ICR – Andrew Greve 56 pass from Gentry Dumont (Emiliano Herrera-Sinnwell kick)

ICR – Aitchison 2 run (kick failed0

ICR – Jackson Naeve 15 run (Cash Hatfield kick)

WIL – Owen Hassell 3 run (kick failed)

ICR – Aitchison 6 run (Hatfield kick)

WIL – Drew Keith 2 run (kick failed)

WIL – Hassell 1 run (kick failed)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – Wilton: Hassell 20-113, Keith 10-8. Regina: Aitchison 11-107, Dumont 10-56, Naeve 4-29, Savion Miller 6-19.

PASSING – Wilton: Keith15-30-1 186, Hassell 0-1-0 0. Regina: Dumont 15-27-1-232.

RECEIVING – Wilton: Cade Souhrada 4-73, Kale McQuillen 7-66, Hassell 2- 31, Landyn Putman 2-16. Regina: Tate Wallace 5-74, Alex Jensen 3-59, Greve 1-56, Naeve 4-28, Ty Joss 1-12, Jack Clark 1-6.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.