Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – As soon as he walked out of the locker room following last year’s Battle for the Boot West High quarterback Evan Flitz put the 20-7 loss to City High behind him.

Just in case you aren’t buying the notion that a starting quarterback could manage to not let a loss to an arch rival eat away at him Flitz offers up the way West High closed the season as proof.

Flitz makes a strong point.

West High won seven straight games to reach the Class 4A state title game for the first time in nearly two decades.

“Last year as soon as it was over we really, really flushed it,” Flitz said. “I think that could be seen with how we turned it around in the second half of the season.”  

On Saturday, with the annual Battle for the Boot looming less than a week away Flitz allowed himself a rare opportunity to look back at the 20-7 loss to the Little Hawks last season.

A year later the performance by Flitz in his first Battle for the Boot wasn’t any easier to watch.  

“It was pretty hard to watch that tape,” Flitz said. “The focus now is on making a new tape that isn’t as ugly on Monday morning.”

Flitz will get that chance on Friday when Class 4A second-ranked West High (3-0) and City High (1-2) meet in the 49th Battle for the Boot at Frank Bates Field.

“I think personally I have, not something to prove but a little bit of a chip just because I didn’t play well last year in this game,” Flitz said. “It’s a game that I want to play in, it means a lot for this side of the community and this whole town so it’s a game that I certainly want to go out and perform well in.”

In his Battle for the Boot debut last season Flitz completed 13-of-27 passes for 79 yards with an interception and a touchdown.

West High scored a season-low seven points in last year’s Boot loss and finished with 159 total yards, nearly 100 fewer than its next lowest yardage output of the season.  

“(Evan) didn’t play well, we didn’t play well and credit City High for that,” West High coach Garrett Hartwig said. “They played very well, they had a great game play and they beat us fair and square but you can’t live in the past.”

The numbers for Flitz in last year’s Boot loss stick out, largely due to his sustained success over the rest of the season.

His 79-yard effort a rare struggle in a season filled with exceptional performances.

The City High game remains the lone time in 14 career starts that Flitz hasn’t thrown for more than 100 yards or completed better than 65 percent of his passes.

Flitz admits that making his fourth career start against City High the Little Hawks were able to make adjustments that caused confusion.

A year later Hartwig believes one of the biggest improvements Flitz has made is in his knowledge of the offense and the game.  

“I think an aspect he has really improved in is he understands the offense entirely,” Hartwig said. “That’s a cliché but I’m not talking about understanding the routes and the coverages I’m talking about getting guys in the proper places on shifts, getting lineman up to the proper running back and all of those things that he recognizes now.”

Flitz was impressive down the stretch last season while lead West High to a 4A runner-up finish.

This fall Flitz has cemented his status as one of the top signal callers in the state.

In three games Flitz is completing 70 percent of his passes for 781 yards and six touchdowns with one interception.

“Their quarterback is tough,” City High coach Dan Sabers said. “He is very good at feeling pressure and being able to run it or keep looking down field and with the receivers they’ve got that makes him very, very dangerous.”

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Flitz has rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns after rushing for a team-best 75 yards on 20 carries in a 32-31 come-from-behind win over No. 8 Cedar Falls last week.

“Physically he has more of a command of the game because he is bigger and stronger than he was last year,” Hartwig said. “I watched the City High game on tape from last year and he looked like a little boy at times out there. This year he is not a big guy by nature but he is a stronger more physically fit guy right now than he ever has been in his life.”

The always even keel Flitz took a quick peak back at the film from last season but isn’t dwelling on the loss or feeling pressure to atone.

As always his focus is on getting a win, and then moving on.

“I kind of go week by week and the focus this week is this year against City High and getting a win this week,” Flitz said. “I made some mistakes last year in this game so I’m trying to get those corrected.”