Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Since a loss in the state title game last season Regina has waited for a return trip to the UNI-Dome and a shot at redemption.

The Regals earned that opportunity in emphatic fashion on Friday.

Top-ranked Regina built a 35-0 halftime and rolled to a 42-14 win over ninth-ranked Grundy Center in a Class 1A quarterfinal on a chilly evening at Regal Field.

Regina (11-0) will face fourth-ranked Treynor (10-1) in a 1A semifinal on Friday at 10 a.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

“We expected to be here, we expected to be back in the Dome it was just a matter of going out and doing it and now that we’ve gotten there the job doesn’t stop,” Regina senior Tate Wallace said. “We have to have a great week of preparation this week but we are super excited after the way last year ended, we have that motivation in the back of our minds and we are ready to go to the Dome and finish on the right side of it.”

Regina secured its second consecutive semifinal appearance with a dominating win over the team it beat in last year’s semifinal.

Senior Kaleb Moeller scored three touchdowns, two rushing and two receiving, and junior tailback Gabe Hegelheimer ran for two scores as Regina denied Grundy Center an eighth straight semifinal appearance.

Regina forced three turnovers and held a Grundy Center offense that entered averaging 31 points and 323 total yards per game to just 174 yards.

“Looking back at film last year we saw tendencies, we saw what they did and we knew how we needed to react to those,” Moeller said. “We knew they wanted to run the ball and we fit the run well so we just did our job, did what we knew we could do and just went from there.”

Regina put the game away before halftime, scoring 35 points in a span of nine and half minutes in the first half.

Moeller caught a 67-yard strike from junior quarterback Aiden Gaffey to start the scoring with 6:35 remaining in the first quarter.

“Great throw by Aiden Gaffey, that was fun,” Moeller said. “It was great way to start the game especially my last game here at Regina Field.”

After the Regina forced Grundy Center to go three-and-out Hegelheimer scored on a 14-yard run to push the lead to 14-0.

Following another Spartan punt Hegelheimer raced 23 yards for a touchdown set up by a 24-yard Holt Hinkel punt return.

Hegelheimer rushed for 62 yards on five carries, all in the first half.

“We’ve been on a mission all year long and the mission will not be completed until the state championship is won,” Hegelheimer said. “We still have work to do and next week we have to handled business.”

That was just the start of the Regina onslaught.

Following another Grundy Center three-and-out Moeller took a direct snap and raced 57 yards untouched for a touchdown.

On the ensuing Grundy Center possession junior linebacker Zach Poe picked off a Lake Schrage pass and raced 32 yards for a touchdown to give Regina a 35-0 lead that triggered the continuous clock.

“I just have to give all the credit to the defensive line, putting pressure on the QB, they were giving him no time to throw at all and I was just in the right place at the right time,” Poe said. “Roan Eckhoff had an amazing lead block and my guys walked me right in.”

Regina limited Grundy Center to 95 total yards in the first half and picked off two passes with Gabe Schuessler ending a Spartan drive with an interception in the end zone.

“I think we set the tone as a defense,” Wallace said. “All 11 guys flying to the football and playing for each other I can’t say enough about this group of guys everyone is so bought in and playing for each other.”

Moeller added a 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 42-0.

Moeller finished with 81 rushing yards on four carries and caught three passes for 95 yards as Regina averaged 11 yards per play.

“It’s our blockers, that third touchdown, our line did a great job of creating a hole for me,” Moeller said. “Having a line like that, I personally believe we have one of the best lines in the state, and them being able to create holes it makes it so much easier for me.”

                                       ICR                 GC

First downs                11                    9

Rushes-yards             18-175             33-129

Comp-Att-Int            5-9-1               5-13-2

Passing yards             121                  45

Total yards                296                  174

Punts-Avg.                 1-29                 5-27.2

Fumbles-lost              2-2                   1-1

Penalties-yards          0-0                   6-60                     

Grundy Center          0   0   0  14  –  14

Regina                        21  14 7   0   –  42

ICR – Kaleb Moeller 67 pass from Aiden Gaffey (Gabe Hegelheimer kick)

ICR – Hegelheimer 14 run (Hegelheimer kick)

ICR – Hegelheimer 23 run (Hegelheimer kick)

ICR – Moeller 57 run (Kick failed0

ICR – Zach Poe 32 interception return (Hegelheimer run)

ICR – Moeller 21 run (Thermtem Meyer kick)

GC – Hayden Geerdes 36 run (Cooper Keller kick)

GC – Keller 29 run (Keller kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – ICR: Kaleb Moeller 4-81, Gabe Hegelheimer 5-62, Jarrett Naeve 4-21, Kevin Garcia Castro 2-8, Conor Keech 1-7, Tate Wallace 1-3, Aiden Gaffey 1-(-7). GC: Hayden Geerdes 10-68, Cooper Keller 9-51, Ethan Meester 11-23, Lake Schrage 3-(-13).

PASSING – ICR: Aiden Gaffey 4-8-1 121, Conor Keech 0-1-0 0. GC: Ethan Meester 3-8-1 33, Lake Schrage 2-4-1 12,

RECEIVING – ICR: Kaleb Moeller 3-95, Tate Wallace 1-16, Holt Hinkel 1-10. GC: Hayden Geerdes 3-18, Lake Schrage 1-16, Aiden Hook 1-11.

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