Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

1A No. 1 Regina (0-1) at 3A No. 4 Solon (1-0) 

Where: Spartan Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: Regina 34, Solon 0

Player to Watch: Regina senior running back Isaac Vollstedt (6-0, 200) was the bright spot for the Regal offense in a season-opening loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier rushing for 160 yards on 18 carries.

Key Stat: Regina has outgained Solon 470 to 147 in rushing yards in back-to-back wins over the Spartans.  

About the Spartans: Solon posted its fourth shutout in its past 10 games in the season opener, blanking Class 2A ninth-ranked Mount Vernon 19-0.

Sophomore Cam Miller completed 6-of-14 passes for 67 yards in his first career start last week in the rivalry win over the Mustangs and will now get his first taste of the Regina rivalry.

Solon has lost back-to-back games to Regina by a combined score of 55-13 but won the last meeting at Spartan Stadium 29-28 in overtime in 2014.

About the Regals: For the second straight season Regina enters its annual rivalry showdown with the Spartans coming off a season-opening loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Regina allowed 16 points in the final five minutes of the first half in a 23-6 loss to the 3A second-ranked Saints.

The Regals had 290 total yards against a Xavier defense that annual ranks among the best in Class 3A but couldn’t find the end zone until the final seconds.

Senior quarterback Michael Conlon threw for 149 yards and a touchdown, completing passes to six different receivers.

Muscatine (0-1) at 4A No. 3 West High (1-0)

Where: Trojan Stadium, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: West High 31, Muscatine 27

Player to Watch: West High senior quarterback Evan Flitz completed 15-of-23 passes for a career-high 363 yards in a season-opening win over Southeast Polk. It was the second 300-yard game of his career.

Key Stat: Muscatine allowed 185 yards passing in a week one loss as Cedar Rapids Kennedy quarterback BJ White completed 12-of-13 passes. The Muskies now face one of the state’s most efficient passers in Flitz who owns a career completion percentage of 70.  

About the Muskies: Muscatine lost 26 seniors including its top rusher, passer and receiver from a team that went 5-4 last season with three losses by a touchdown or less.

The Muskies returned just three starters this season and it showed early with a 50-6 week-one loss to Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Senior quarterback Jackson Foulk passed for 42 yards and led Muscatine with 49 yards rushing in the season-opening loss.

About the Trojans: The defending 4A runner-up, West High fell into a 14-0 hole in its season opener against Southeast Polk but scored 37 of the next 43 points on its way to a 37-27 win.

Third-ranked West High rolled up 517 yards of total offense in the win, it’s most since putting up 541 yards against the Rams in last year’s 42-17 season-opening win.

Traevis Buchanan and Jalen Gaudet each went over 100 yards receiving in the opener with Buchanan catching seven passes for 137 yards and Gaudet snagging four for 114.

Pleasant Valley (1-0) at City High (1-0)

Where: Bates Field, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: City High 19, Pleasant Valley 17

Player to Watch: Senior Arthur Braden (5-10, 200) has been the top rusher in the Spartan triple option attack the last two seasons rushing for 1,910 yards and 18 touchdowns and got off to a strong start in week one with 106 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

Key Stat: Pleasant Valley has averaged 280 rushing yards per game the past two seasons but has rushed for just 204 yards a game in a pair of losses to City High during that span.  

About the Spartans: Pleasant Valley was an uncharacteristic 4-5 last season, the first season with less than seven wins for the Spartans since 2011 but opened the season with an impressive 41-20 victory over Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

The Spartans rushed for 288 yards while racking up 414 yards of total offense in the win over the J-Hawks

Junior quarterback Max Slaven (5-9, 175) completed just six of 14 attempts in his first career start but tossed scoring strikes of 59 and 38 yards to Grant Sexson while throwing for 126 yards.

About the Little Hawks: City High outscored Linn-Mar 13-0 in the second half in a 26-13 win over the Lions in week one.

In his first career start at quarterback senior Bryce Hunger passed for 229 yards and a touchdown and Davonte Foster rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

The key for the Little Hawks is senior Zach Jones who caught ten passes for 128 yards and a touchdown and also returned a punt 65 yards for a score.

West Branch (1-0) at West Burlington/Notre Dame (0-1)

Where: Bill Nelson Field in West Burlington, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: West Burlington Notre Dame 27, West Branch 18

Player to Watch: West Burlington/Notre Dame junior Tanner Snodgrass (6-2, 180) was the second leading receiver, fourth leading tackler and even played a little quarterback for the Falcons last season. Snodgrass had a team-high 12 tackles in a season-opening loss to Mediapolis.

Key Stat: West Burlington/Notre Dame averaged better than 38 yards per kickoff return in a win over West Branch last season with Snodgrass returning three kicks for just under 32 yards per return.

About the Falcons: West Burlington/Notre Dame has lost six straight games following a promising 4-0 start to last season that included a win over West Branch at the Little Rose Bowl.

The Falcons fell to Mediapolis 19-12 in the season opener, their fifth straight game without scoring more than 14 points.

In the opener against Mediapolis the Falcons were held to 108 yards of total offense and had a pair of turnovers.

About the Bears: Beau Cornwell threw for four touchdowns and Tanner Lukavsky rushed for 119 yards in his first start at running back as West Branch knocked off West Liberty 35-20 in week one.

The Bears turn their attention to 3A West Burlington/Notre Dame which handed the Bears a rare home loss last season.

West Branch outgained the Falcons 377 to 217 last season but committed three turnovers and gave up several big plays on special teams.

Clear Creek Amana (0-1) at Independence (0-2)

Where: Independence, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: Clear Creek Amana 26, Independence 0

Player to Watch: Sophomore quarterback Logan Schmitt has passed for 273 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also leads Independence with 191 rushing yards.

Key Stat: Clear Creek Amana held Independence to 193 total yards in a 26-0 win last season.

About the Mustangs: The losing skid for Independence reached 12 with a 37-0 loss to West Delaware last week. A playoff team in 2015 the Mustangs went winless last season and opened the season with back-to-back losses to Dike-New Hartford and 3A No. 5 West Delaware.  

The wins haven’t come yet but the Mustangs are certainly improved in 2017 thanks in part to the play of Schmitt. Zach Snyder is averaging 21.3 yards on six receptions as Schmitt’s favorite target.

About the Clippers: The Gabe Bakker era at Clear Creek Amana got off to a tough start last week in the form of a 14-7 loss to Mount Pleasant.

There were positives to take from the loss as the Clippers held Mount Pleasant to 296 yards of offense and forced two turnovers.

This week offers a chance for the offense to get on track against an Independence defense that enters allowing 422 total yards and 38.5 points per game.