Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

City High (6-3) at Bettendorf (7-2)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: TouVelle Staadium

Same teams, same field, new stakes.

A week after meeting in the regular season finale City High returns to TouVelle Stadium for a winner-take-all rematch with Bettendorf in the opening-round of the 5A playoffs.

City High (6-3) won last week 42-21 to secure a spot in the 16-team playoff field, finishing 12^th in the 5A Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) standings.

Despite the loss to City High last Friday Bettendorf (7-2) finished fifth in the RPI standings and hosts the Little Hawks in the rematch.

The winner of Friday night’s rematch earns a spot in the 5A quarterfinals and will face the winner of the other Class 5A Pod D matchup between Ankeny Centennial (5-4) and Waukee Northwest (7-2).

Players to Watch

City High

City High junior quarterback Bobby Bacon played the best game of his young career in the win over Bettendorf last week but the rematch feels like a Miles Parlet game for the Little Hawks.

Parlet rushed for 132 yards in the win over Bettendorf last week and has now eclipsed the 100-yard mark in six of the last seven games to take his season total to 1,309 yards and 13 touchdowns.

City High is 6-0 this season when Parlet rushed for 100 yards and the senior running back seems to be getting better as the season goes.

After Bacon threw for 336 yards last week the Bulldogs won’t be able to crowd the line of scrimmage which could lead to running lanes for Parlet.

Look for City High to feed it’s senior running back early and often in a game that could feature cold, wet and windy weather.

Bettendorf

Bettendorf senior Charlie Zimmerman was solid last week in the loss to City High.

Zimmerman threw for 133 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 31 yards and a score.
Those are solid numbers.

Zimmerman also had a pair of interceptions last week in the 42-21 City High win one less than he had in the first eight games combined.

The senior quarterback doesn’t need to put up a massive stat line for Bettendorf to be effective offensively on Friday but he does need to manage the game and take care of the ball.

A senior playing potentially his final game at home this sets up as an opportunity for Zimmerman to bounce back in a big way.

Keys to the Game

City High

Start strong.

City High couldn’t start much better than it did a week ago jumping to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and taking a 28-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

That quick start was key in the Little Hawk’s 42-21 win last week but it’s also now a thing of the past.

The score resets and City High needs to create some early momentum again.

If City High didn’t have the Bulldogs full attention last week they certain do now and City High will need to match what will no doubt be an intense Bettendorf team in the opening quarter on Friday.

The atmosphere should be excellent and Bettendorf will be charged up. If City High can weather the early storm the Little Hawks should have a chance to advance.

Bettendorf

Find some room to run

Bettendorf rushed for 121 yards on 32 carries in the loss to City High last week.

Those are solid yet un-Bettendorf like rushing numbers.

The Bulldogs are averaging 213 rushing yards per game and 6.1 yards per carry this season.

In seven wins Bettendorf has rushed for 230 yards per game and averaged 6.7 yards per carry.

In its two losses those numbers drop to 154.5 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry for Bettendorf.

Bettendorf is at its best when it can run the ball between the tackles to set up its passing game while also shortening the game and relying on its solid defense.

After getting a look at the City High defense last week the Bulldogs will need to make some adjustments to find some running room in the rematch.

Running the ball is easier said than done against a stout City High interior defensive line that features senior Tono Cornell (6-2, 294) and junior Dieuaime Lipanda (6-3, 314) but Bettendorf isn’t likely to stray too far away from what it does best which is run the ball.

Both Teams

Follow the plan

Playing a team in back-to-back weeks is an unusual situation.

Who does the immediate rematch favor?

That remains to be seen but the fact is both of these teams got a close up look at the other last week and have had a full week to make adjustments.

Whatever those adjustments are for either side the key will be executing the plan.

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