Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – With three starters returning, including a pair of three-year players, the City High offensive line is going to look very similar to last season.

Well, sort of.

Most of the personnel will be the same on the Little Hawk offensive line this season but the players themselves look quite a bit different than previous seasons

Seniors Calin Wagner (6-2, 250) and Tyler Rindels (6-4, 265) have both packed on better than 50 pounds since making their varsity debuts two seasons ago and return to lead an bulked up and experienced City High offensive line.

“We definitely look a lot different,” Rindels said. “We’ve grown up, we’ve all gained a bunch of weight and I think we are ready to set the tone.

Rindels, Wagner and fellow seniors Elijah Davis (6-1, 260) and Diama Lipanda (6-3, 314) all have starting experience and give the Little Hawks an impressively talented nucleus up front.

Davis was a starter at guard last season and holds an offer from Drake while Lipanda made his presence felt as a starter on the defensive line last season.

“We have four guys coming back that have played high-level football, 5A football when they were 200 pounds and now they are weighing 260,” City High coach Mitch Moore said. “Our first year here we were really good up front and we only averaged 222 across the line and right now we are averaging 268.”

Rindels and Wagner are the anchors of what the Little Hawks believe can be a dominant offensive line.

Both three-year starters, Wagner and Rindels made their varsity debuts two seasons ago as undersized underclassmen.

“We played Dowling my sophomore year and it didn’t even seem fair,” Wagner said. “Now I’m so much more prepared I trusted my nutrition and my training and I’m much more confident when I go out there.”

Wagner played at 200 pounds as a sophomore.

Rindels was around 215 pounds.

Wagner, who Moore referred to as the most consistent offensive linemen in the program, will start at center this season at 250 pounds.

“I remember my sophomore one game I was 197. I was really light and over the last two years I’ve put on over 50 pounds,” Wagner said. “It definitely makes a difference because playing left tackle at 197 pounds was tough.”

Rindels has gained 50 pounds while transforming himself into a Division I lineman.

The Northern Illinois recruit is up to 265 pounds and is a pivotal piece of the dynamic City High offense at left tackle.

“It was a lot of eating and lifting but the difference in size is really helpful,” Rindels said. “I’m not getting pushed around, it’s a lot easier to handle some of those guys on the defensive line.”

Add Davis at guard and the impressively athletic Lipanda at right tackle and City High has a core group of linemen capable of playing different spots across the line.

“This is a really smart group of guys,” LiPanda said. “We’ve been studying and we have a lot of guys that can play any position on the line.”

Last season the offensive line helped City High emerge as one of the top offensive teams in 5A.

The Litle Hawks averaged 436 total yards and 33.4 points per game and rushed for 182 yards per contest.

This season the bigger, more experienced line wants to take a step forward while helping the Little Hawks improve on those offensive numbers.

“I think we have that confidence that we can control the line of scrimmage against any team we play,” Wagner said. “I think we have to have that confidence in order to have success.”

The four returning starters on the offensive line are part of 14 total returning starter for City High which is seeking to improve on its 6-4 record and first-round exit from the 5A playoffs last fall.

Senior quarterback Bobby Bacon (6-2, 180) returns after starting the final eight games of last season as do senior receiver Connor Cross (6-0, 165) who caught 18 passes for 371 yards and three touchdowns and senior tight end Parker Sutherland (6-6, 215) who had 18 receptions for 252 yards and four touchdowns.

City High returns seven starters on defense led by senior defensive lineman Jalyn Ford (6-0, 231) who ranked fourth on the team with 36 tackles and had a team-high 13 for loss last season.

Junior linebacker Blaine Heick (6-2, 175) had 14 tackles last season, Lipanda had 27 with 6.5 for loss and senior defensive back Dominic Salibi (5-11, 165) had led City High with four interceptions.

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