Isaac Vollstedt runs against Solon on Sept. 2. Jackie Blake Jensen/IC Pixx.By Pat Harty
Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The gap separating the top-ranked team in Class 1A from the eighth-ranked team was as wide as some of the holes carved out by the Regina offensive line on Friday.

The top-ranked Regals overpowered No. 8 Wilton on the ground while cruising to a 41-17 homecoming victory. Regina racked up 401 rushing yards, including 304 yards in the first half, while improving to 5-1 overall.

Junior Isaac Vollstedt led the ground assault with 173 rushing yards on 15 carries. All but three of his yards came in the first half.

“Our offensive line did a great job the whole game up front of pushing the line and opening holes, which made my job real easy,” Vollstedt said.

Regina took the opening kick and marched down the field with little resistance. Vollstedt capped the drive by scoring from three yards barely 2 minutes into the game.

Regina did the same thing on its next possession, needing just five plays to score its second touchdown, which came on a 14-yard run by senior Jake Phillips with 6:57 left in the first quarter. Vollstedt rambled for 34 yards on the play before Phillips scored.

The Regals expanded the lead to 20-0 on a 9-yard run by junior quarterback Michael Conlon with 9:51 left in the second quarter.

Reserve running back Mason Simpson then blasted through a huge hole in the gut of the Wilton defense and scored from 18 yards with 8:54 left in the second quarter. Sam Stein made the point-after kick to push Regina’s lead to 27-0.

“Obviously, Isaac was pounding it in there hard,” said Regina coach Marv Cook. “He has no wasted motion. He’s just a physical runner. And our offensive line, when they can get to the next level on the double-teams, then we’re in business. And that was obviously what happened in the first half.”

Wilton didn’t wilt from Regina’s initial onslaught, but instead answered with back-to-back touchdowns, trimming the deficit to 27-14 late in the second quarter.

Senior Evan Reifert scored Wilton’s first touchdown on a 79-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jerome Mays with 7:59 left in the second quarter.

Mays then scored Wilton’s second touchdown on a 1-yard run late in the second quarter.

But the Beavers left 2:34 on the clock after scoring their second touchdown, and that was enough time for Regina to score its fifth touchdown in the opening half. It came on a 5-yard run by Conlon with 7.3 seconds left in the second quarter.

That gave Regina a 34-14 lead at halftime.

Conlon also played a part in Regina’s only touchdown in the second half. It came when he connected with Noah Felderman on a 20-yard scoring strike in the third quarter.

Wilton’s only points in the second half came on a 43-yard field goal by Kaleb Timmsen with 4:22 left to play.

Senior cornerback Trae Rogers sparked the Regina defense by intercepting two passes. He returned his first interception to the Wilton 18-yard line in the second quarter.

Simpson’s 18-yard touchdown run then came on the next play.

“We came out and we had a lot of fire under our butts,” Rogers said. “Homecoming week, a lot of alumni in town, we wanted to make a statement.”

Wilton entered Friday’s game undefeated and was considered perhaps Regina’s biggest threat in district play.

The threat didn’t last long, though, as Rogers and his cohorts were determined to silence any doubters.

“There were people saying that our defense wasn’t going to do well tonight and they were going to roll on us,” Rogers said. “But I think we made a statement. We had good intensity and played with a lot of grit, and I was pretty happy with what we did.”

Rogers also plays receiver on offense, but he thinks running back would be fun, too, because of Regina’s dominance in the trenches.

“Those guys, they work their butts off,” Rogers said of the Regina offensive line, which is led by seniors Jared Brinkman and Reagen Ries. “Whenever those running backs get big holes, they thank them after games.

“It would be an honor to run behind them.”

Regina’s first four touchdowns were scored by four different players. Conlon was the only Regal to score multiple touchdowns with two.

“It’s huge,” Cook said of the depth at running back. “When you have six or seven different guys who can take the ball and run it effectively, then it’s pretty tough to defend.”

Vollstedt barely played in the second half after suffering what he said was a minor elbow injury. He also played with his left hand in a cast.

                           Wilton        Regina
First downs          14               19
Rushes-yards       43-183        45-401
Passing yards       124             62
Penalties-yards     3-15           3-30
Fumbles-lost        0-0              1-0

Wilton   0  14 0 3 – 17
Regina  13 21 7 0 – 41

ICR – Isaac Vollstedt 3 run (Kick failed)
ICR – Jake Phillips 14 run (Sam Stein kick)
ICR – Michael Conlon 9 run (Stein kick)
ICR – Mason Simpson 18 run (Stein kick)
WIL – Evan Reifert 79 pass from Jerome Mays (Kaleb Timmsen kick)
WIL – Mays 1 run (Timmsen kick)
ICR – Conlon 5 run (Stein kick)
ICR – Noah Felderman 20 pass from Conlon (Stein kick)
WIL – Timmsen 43 FG

Individual statistics
Rushing – WIL: Jerome Mays 14-91, Bryce Oveson 21-70, Trey Brisker 8-22. ICR: Isaac Vollstedt 15-173, Jake Phillips 13-88, Mason Simpson 6-76, Michael Conlon 9-46, Tommy Rapp 2-minus-1.

Passing – WIL: Jerome Mays 4-10-1-103, Evan Reifert 1-1-21. ICR: Michael Conlon 2-3-57, Tommy Rapp 1-5-1-5.

Receiving – WIL: Evan Reifert 1-79, Kaleb Timmsen 2-38, Trey Brisker 1-5. ICR: Phillips 1-37, Noah Felderman 1-20, Jack Jensen 1-5.