Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Davenport Central (3-2) at City High (2-3)

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

Last Season: City High 49, Davenport Central 20

Player to Watch: Jatoviay Hill (5-8, 180) is coming off one of the best rushing performances in state history. The Davenport Central senior rushed for 407 yards and five touchdowns on 12 carries last week against Davenport North and has run for 875 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.

Key Stat: Hill averaged 33.9 yards per carry last week against Davenport North and is averaging 11.2 yards per carry this season.

About the Little Hawks: City High posted a season-high 502 yards of offense last week while snapping a three-game losing skid with a much-needed 41-29 win over Clinton.

Davonte Foster pumped some life into the Little Hawk ground game running for a career-high 211 yards and three touchdowns last week.

Foster had 95 yards in the opening against Linn-Mar but totaled just 24 yards over the next three games after sustaining an injury in a week-two loss to Pleasant Valley.

The 211 yards from Foster helped City High gain a season-high 249 yards on the ground against Clinton. 

About the Blue Devils: Hill helped Davenport Central snap a two-game losing skid last week running wild in a 58-0 win over Davenport North in the district opener for both teams.

The three wins for the Blue Devils have come over opponents with a combined 3-12 record while the two losses are to 4-1 teams.

Hill has been effective against every team he’s faced, averaging 125 yards a game in losses to Cedar Rapids Prairie and North Scott the key for Davenport Central is getting him some help on offense.

Junior quarterback Adin DeLaRosa has four touchdown passes and one interception in three wins and two touchdowns with four interceptions in a pair of losses.

4A No. 2 West High (5-0) at Burlington (0-5)

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

Last Season: West High 59, Burlington 7

Player to Watch: Burlington senior outside linebacker James Pleasant (6-1, 215) has a team-high 31.5 tackles, including 12.5 for loss and ranks second in Class 4A with eight sacks.  

Key Stat: West High ranks third in Class 4A averaging 467 yards of total offense per game.

About the Trojans: West High is off to its first 5-0 start since 2013 after 48-28 win over then sixth-ranked and previously unbeaten Cedar Rapids Prairie last week.

As good as the Trojans have been on offense, averaging 44 points and 467 yards per game, they have been equally impressive on defense.

West High is holding opponents to 19 points and 303 total yards per game and has been especially stingy against the run, allowed just 99 yards per game on the ground.

About the Grayhounds: Burlington had its losing streak reach seven straight dating back to last season with a 49-14 loss to Cedar Rapids Kennedy last week.

Since back-to-back seven-point losses to Davenport North and Davenport West in weeks two and three the Grayhounds have been outscored 96-40 in consecutive loss to Newton and Kennedy.

Senior quarterback LT Beck has passed for 698 yards and five touchdowns and has also run for five scores while junior Taven Harris leads Burlington with 250 rushing yards and averages 5.7 yards per carry.

Fort Madison (3-2) at 3A No. 1 Solon (5-0)

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

Last Season: Solon 56, Fort Madison 7  

Player to Watch: Fort Madison senior running back Alex Gully (5-11, 200) has rushed for 713 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 6.6 yards per carry.

Key Stat: Solon has given up 51 total rushing yards and is allowing less than one yard per carry (.94) in three district wins. 

About the Spartans: Solon is 5-0 for the first time since 2009 and has gotten there in impressive fashion outscoring opponents 182-14.

Defense has been the calling card for Solon as the Spartans are allowing 133 total yards and just 43 rushing yards per game while forcing 13 turnovers.

Sophomore quarterback Cam Miller commands a Spartan offense that is putting up better than 36 points per game.

Miller has completed better than 60 percent of his passes while throwing for 788 yards and 11 touchdowns with sophomore receiver AJ Coons his top target with 13 receptions for 226 yards and three scores.

About the Bloodhounds: Following a winless campaign last year, Fort Madison has taken major strides this season equally its win total from the previous three seasons combined.

The three wins for Fort Madison are the most since the Bloodhounds went 5-4 in 2010.

Junior quarterback Lennon Barker has been a key for the Fort Madison offense, passing for 839 yards and nine touchdowns but senior receiver Shance Redd-Donald has been the game-breaker.

Redd-Donald has 27 receptions for 470 yards and seven touchdowns ranking in the top five in Class 3A in all three categories

Class 1A No. 4 Regina (3-2) at Wilton (5-0)

Where: Wilton, 7 p.m.

Last Season: Regina 41, Wilton 17  

Player to Watch: Wilton junior quarterback Jerome Mays (5-9, 150) has passed for 807 yards and eight touchdowns and leads the Beavers with 503 rushing yards and eight scores.

Key Stat: Mays has accounted for 76 percent of the total offense for Wilton this season with a combined 1,310 rushing and passing yards.

About the Regals: Regina continued to roll through district play last week, pushing its winning streak to three with a 45-7 win over Highland.

After scoring six total points in back-to-back losses to open the season Regina has averaged 47.7 points and 434 yards of total offense in three district wins.

Senior running back Isaac Vollstedt is averaging 9.4 yards per carry while rushing for a team-high 515 yards and five touchdowns.

About the Beavers: Wilton is 5-0 for the second straight season after winning three consecutive district games by an average of 41 points.

The Beavers came up one win shy of the playoffs last season, finishing 7-2 with losses to Regina and Sigourney-Keota in the season-finale.

Wilton is averaging 38.4 points per game and has scored 46 points or more in three straight games.

Junior receiver Cory Anderson is the top target for Mays and leads Class 1A with 32 receptions good for a team-high 384 yards and three touchdowns.

Class 1A No. 8 West Branch (5-0) at Durant (2-3)

Where: Durant, 7:30 p.m.

Last Season: West Branch 50, Durant 22

Player to Watch: Durant junior quarterback Bryce Lafrenz (6-1, 175) has thrown for 568 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 98 yards and three scores.

Key Stat: West Branch has increased its total offensive output in each of its first five games this season. The Bears totaled 312 yards in a win over West Liberty and followed with performances of 335, 343, 442 and 524 total yards.

About the Bears: West Branch took control of the District 3 race with a wild 45-41 win over then eighth-ranked Bellevue last week.

The Bears are 5-0 for the third time in the past four seasons and close the season with four games against teams that currently own a combined 7-13 record.

Junior quarterback Beau Cornwell threw for a school-record 343 yards last week and has passed for 1,126 yards and 13 touchdowns with one interception while sophomore Tanner Lukavsky has rushed for 637 yards and nine scores.

About the Wildcats: Durant snapped a three-game losing skid with a 48-21 win at North Cedar last week behind 185 passing yards and two touchdowns from Lafrenz.

The Wildcats have been balanced on offense with junior Tristan Hughes (5-10, 195) rushing for 413 yards and six touchdowns and junior Mason Compton catching 17 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns.

Clear Creek Amana (2-3) at 3A No. 10 West Delaware (4-1)  

Where: Brown Field in Manchester, 7:15 p.m.

Last Season: Clear Creek Amana 30, West Delaware 14

Player to Watch: West Delaware senior receiver Tyler Kelley is a matchup problem at 6-foot-5 and has caught a team-high 27 passes for 409 yards and three touchdowns.

Key Stat: During a 1-1 start to the season West Delaware junior running back Caleb Kehrli (6-0, 176) had 22 carries for 71 yards and no touchdowns. In the Hawks three-game winning streak Kehrli has rushed for 513 yards and nine touchdowns on 89 carries.

About the Clippers: Clear Creek Amana logged its second straight dominating performance last week in a 35-14 road win at Center Point-Urbana.

Since opening 0-3 the Clippers have won back-to-back games by a combined score of 86-14 while outgaining opponents 899-345.

Senior quarterback Ethan Postler (1,015 yards, 7 TDs) and receiver Darius Moore (29 catches, 454 yards 3 TDs) give the Clippers one of the most dangerous passing combos in 3A but it’s been the ground game that has been key the past two weeks.

Clear Creek Amana averaged 91 yards a game on the ground during its 0-3 start but that number has soared to 233.5 yards per game in the Clippers back-to-back wins.

About the Hawks: Since a week two loss to Class 2A third-ranked Mount Vernon the Hawks have rattled off three straight wins starting with a key 21-14 victory over Davenport Assumption its District 4 opener.

The Hawks are alone in first place in the District 4 standings with a 3-0 record while four teams including Clear Creek Amana sit at 2-1.

West Delaware ranks fourth in Class 3A in total offense, averaging 440 yards per game behind junior quarterback Nick Casey.

Casey ranks third in 3A with 1,055 passing yards while completing 57 percent of his passes.