Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

It has been an explosive offense that has garnered much of the attention the past two season as Liberty High has established itself as Class 5A contender.

In the biggest win in program history last Friday it was the Lightning defense that shined bright on the state’s biggest stage.

The Liberty High defense shut down a high-powered Waukee Northwest offense in a 31-15 semifinal win over the Wolves that sent Liberty High to the 5A state title game for the first time in program history.

“I think we did a lot of what we do defensively,” Liberty High coach Scott Chandler said. “We are going to move, we are going to blitz we are going to play some man coverage we will mix in the zone I thought Pyror Reiners really stepped up defensively tonight. Just manning the guy in the slot or in the perimeter.”

Waukee Northwest (10-2) entered Friday’s semifinal averaging 42.1 points and 427 total yards per game.

Liberty High never let the Wolves get close to those offensive numbers.

The 15 points were a season-low for Waukee Northwest and 10 points fewer than its previous season low for points.

Liberty High held Waukee Northwest to 202 yards of total offense, 225 yards below its season average, and limited the Wolves to just 52 yards rushing.

The Lightning had two sacks among three tackles for loss and recovered a fumble.

“This week we moved some people around on defense and the guys made it happen,” Liberty High junior Pryor Reiners said. “We got a turnover and we just played great defense.”

Waukee Northwest averaged 8.3 yards per play and 172 rushing yards per game on the season.

Liberty High limited Waukee Northwest to 5.6 yards per play in the win and held the Wolves to 3-of-8 on third down.

Waukee Northwest held the ball for just 15:21 as Liberty High controlled the time of possession.

“That wasn’t necessarily the game plan we talked about but our plan every game is try to try to control the ball because we know that if our defense is fresh they are going to play amazing like they did tonight,” Liberty High senior quarterback Reece Rettig said. “They played lights out.”

It was a team effort defensively.

Senior defensive back Logan Laubenthal had a team-high six tackles and a sack.

Reiners had four tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass, Alex Strunk had for tackles including a tackle for loss and Jacob Avgenackis had four tackles and half a sack.

Hank Thompson had half a sack and recovered a fumble.

“We just had a lot of guys step up,” Reiners said. “We were ready to go and we played great defense.”

News and Notes

Updated Unbeatens: Entering the final week of the football season there are still eight remaining unbeaten teams across five classes.

Class 1A, Class A and 8-player will all have unbeaten state title showdowns on Thursday.

Regina (12-0) will face West Lyon (12-0) in a battle of unbeatens in Class 1A.

Algona Garrigan (12-0) and Woodbine (11-0) open title week with an undefeated matchup in 8-player before MMCRU (12-0) and Saint Ansgar (12-0) meet in the Class A title game.

Unbeaten Cedar Rapids Xavier (12-0) faces Pella (11-1) in the 4A title game and Carroll Kuemper (12-0) will attempt to complete an unbeaten season when it faces Van Meter (10-2) in the 2A title game.

Players of the Week

Offensive player of the week: Liberty High senior quarterback Reece Rettig had one of the best performances of his impressive career in the biggest moment on Friday. Rettig completed 26-of-31 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown in a 31-15 win over Wauke Northwest.

Defensive player of the week: Regina senior defensive back Drew Greve did a little bit of everything in the Regals’ 31-12 semifinal win over Grundy Center. Greve had five tackles, tackle for loss, two interceptions and two pass breakups on defense and also caught two passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Special teams player of the week: Solon junior punter Collin McKie averaged 44.2 yards per punt on six attempts in a 29-10 loss to Nevada. McKie had a 66 yard punt and had a punt downed inside the 10 in the semifinal loss.

Helmet stickers

Offense: Regina senior quarterback Kyle Tracy passed for 122 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-12 win over Grundy Center.

Offense: Regina junior Savion Miller rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown in a 31-12 win over Grundy Center.

Offense: Solon junior Cody Milliman had three receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown in a 29-10 loss to Nevada.

Defense: Liberty High junior linebacker Pryor Reiners had four tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in a 31-15 win over Waukee Northwest.

Defense: Liberty High senior defensive back Logan Laubenthal had a team-high six tackles, including five solo stops and a sack in a 31-15 win over Waukee Northwest.

Defense: Solon senior linebacker Tripp Johnson had 12 tackles, including six solo stops, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery in a 29-10 loss to Nevada.

Defense: Regina junior defensive end Tate Wallace had seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups a quarterback hurry in a 31-12 win over Grundy Center.

Defense: Regina junior defensive Will Litton had six tackle, with 2.5 tackles for loss and half a sack in a 31-12 win over Grundy Center.

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