Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

City High

Head coach: Dan Sabers (19th season, 136-61)

Assistant coaches: Dennis Knoop, Tim Casey, Joe Wilcox, Greg Brown, JaKorey Walker  

Last season: 2-7

Returning starters: Raphael Hamilton, Jr., QB/LB; Kolbe Schnoebelen, Sr., C/DE; Maisha Sila, Sr., DB; Tonka Hickman, Sr., TB/LB; Jacob Means, Jr., DB

Playoff history: 27 appearances (1986, 1988-1990, 1992-2001, 2003-2013, 2015-2016). City High won 4A state titles in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 2009.

District: Class 4A, District 4

District favorites: West High remains the District 4 favorite but the race figures to be much tighter this season with Pleasant Valley, Muscatine and City High seeking to close the gap on the Trojans.

Circle the date: October 25 against West High. City High will be looking to snap a two-game losing skid its cross-town rival when the annual Battle for the Boot returns to Bates Field.

Headliner: When City High has been successful it has usually had a dynamic lead back and the Little Hawks have that this season in senior Tonka Hickman. The 5-foot-11, 186-pound Hickman average nearly five yards per carry last season while rushing for 832 yards and seven touchdowns.

Unsung hero: The strength of the City High team is up the middle and that starts at center Kolbe Schnoebelen. The senior captain will be the anchor of what figures to be an improve Little Hawk offensive line.

Keep an eye on: Junior quarterback Raph Hamilton is due for a breakthrough season after getting his feet wet at the varsity level a year ago. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Hamilton passed for 870 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 126 yard and two scores last season as a sophomore throwing for more than 140 yards twice in the final four games.  

Biggest question: Can City High its success through nine weeks? The Little Hawks have started 2-2 and 2-3 the last two seasons but lost five straight to close last season and four in a row to end 2017. The non-district schedule is challenging had a home game against defending state runner-up Cedar Falls and road games at Liberty High, Ames and Dubuque Hempstead but the district slate should be more manageable this season if City High can keep momentum through nine weeks.

Quotable: “We are getting some size, we have some guys up front now that can match up better with people,” Sabers said. “We have some young guys and some seniors coming back and they have been dedicated to each other, they hang out together, the kind of things that you want to see an offensive line do so I am excited about the possibilities of getting a running game established along with having some skill guys on the edges which we do and being able to hurt people that way.”  

2019 Schedule

Aug. 30: @Liberty High

Sept. 6: Cedar Falls

Sept. 13: @Ames

Sept. 20: @Dubuque Hempstead

Sept. 27: Muscatine*

Oct. 3: @Davenport North*

Oct. 11: @Pleasant Valley*

Oct. 18: Linn-Mar*

Oct. 25: West High*

*-District game

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