Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CEDAR FALLS – Regina got a rematch with the last team it faced at the UNI-Dome in its return to the state semifinals on Saturday.

Unfortunately for Regina the rematch of the 2017 title game with Van Meter came with a similar result.

Senior quarterback Anthony Potthoff accounted for five touchdowns as second-ranked Van Meter (12-0) returned to the title game for the second time in three seasons with a 49-17 win over Regina (9-3) at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Van Meter knocked off Regina 28-7 in the 2017 title game and will be seeking the second title in program history next Friday at 10 a.m. against the winner of second 1A semifinal between West Lyon and West Sioux.

“They are great football team and that’s why they are where they are,” Regina coach Marv Cook said. “We didn’t make enough plays and they made plays in the first half that kind of got us behind the eight ball.”

Van Meter scored touchdowns on its first four possessions on drives of 9, 3, 1 and 2 plays while building a 28-10 halftime lead.

Potthoff accounted for all four first-half Bulldog touchdowns with scoring runs of 18 and 62 yards and touchdown passes of 63 yards to Parker Fryar and 52 yards to Blade Koons.

Led by Potthoff Van Meter had 272 of its 472 yards of total offense in the first half while averaging better than 14 yards per snap.

Potthoff finished with 306 yards of total offense (167 passing and 139 rushing) and five touchdowns, adding a 13-yard touchdown run on the Bulldogs opening possession of the second half.

Running backs Dalten Van Pelt and Carter Durflinger combined for 152 yards in relief of injured starter Ian Abrahamson as Van Meter rushed for 305 yards.

“We lost Ian (Abrahamson) but Dalten is nothing to mess with,” Potthoff said. “They had to bring a couple of extra guys to bring him down and the really opened things up for me.”

With its leading rusher Theo Kolie leaving in the first half with an injury and facing an early 21-3 second-quarter deficit Regina was forced to turn almost entirely to Ashton Cook and the passing game.

Cook completed 22-of-30 for 208 yards and two touchdowns but Regina could muster just 86 yards rushing on 30 carries against the Bulldogs.

“I felt like coming in we’d have some chances, I thought we run the ball better than we did, hats off to them their front four was a lot stouter than I thought,” Marv Cook said. “I knew they were good but I didn’t think they were as stout as they were because we’ve run the ball pretty well all year. Take your hats off to them.”

Potthoff capped a nine-play, 61-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown run that put Van Meter up 7-0 with 5:37 left in the opening quarter.

Regina answered with a strong drive of its own but settled for a 27-yard field goal by Michael Dunn.

Van Meter took control of the game with three touchdowns on its next six offensive plays over a span of eight minutes.

Potthoff was the catalyst with the two long touchdown passes and a 62-yard scoring run.

“It was some bad tackling by us and great execution on their part,” Marv Cook said. “A lot of times we aren’t setting the edge we aren’t using the sideline as our friend and we had four opportunities to get the guy to the ground and we couldn’t do it.”

Trailing 28-10 at the half Regina recovered an onside kick to open the second half but went three-and-out.

Potthoff made it 35-10 when he capped a 14-play, 78-yard drive with his fifth touchdown of the game.

“We tried the onside after halftime to get back in it and we just couldn’t do it,” Marv Cook said. “We went three-and-out. It was that kind of game.”

The 49 points matched a season-high for Van Meter and were more than the Bulldogs scored in their first two playoff games combined.

Van Meter’s offensive outburst followed a 10-6 quarterfinal win over South Central Calhoun.

“It was real nice to give our defense a break,” Potthoff said. “We’ve had a lot of games where our defense came up big and really carried our offense so it was nice to give them a cushion today.”

Regina, which rattled off back-to-back road playoff wins to return to the state semifinals after a one-year playoff absence, finished the season 9-3.

“This just shows how hard we worked, no one thought we would be in the Dome playing in the semifinals against the number one team,” Regina senior Josh Dutchik said. “That’s amazing and it shows how hard this team worked.”

Dutchik finished with a team-high nine receptions for 69 yards while Chase Becker caught seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.

“I’m really, really excited about this group and really proud of our seniors,” Cook said. “It’s  a small group of seniors, nine guys, but I’m really proud of what they brought to the table and how they led this team and set the tone for this season.”

                                    ICR                     VM

First downs                13                        23

Rushes-yards             30-86               43-305

Comp-Att-Int             22-31-0              8-10-1

Passing yards            208                     167

Total yards                294                       472

Punts-avg.                  5-39.2                  0-0

Fumbles-lost              2-1                       0-0

Penalties-yards         6-64                     7-54

Regina                       3    7    0   7   –  17

Van Meter                 14  14  14  7   –  49 

VM – Anthony Potthoff 18 run (Zach Madden kick)

ICR – Michael Dunn 27 field goal

VM – Parker Fryar 63 pass from Potthoff (Madden kick)

VM – Blade Koons 52 pass from Potthoff (Madden kick)

ICR – Casey Daniel 4 pass from Ashton Cook (Dunn kick)

VM – Potthoff 62 run (Madden kick)

VM – Potthoff 13 run (Madden kick)

VM – Carter Durflinger 6 run (Madden kick)  

VM – Durflinger 2 run (Caden Tost kick)

ICR – Chase Becker 62 pass from Cook (Dunn kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – ICR: Theo Kolie 6-32, Ashton Cook 15-28, Will Bobst 4-11, Levi Quinlan 4-8, Jack Tierney 1-7. VM: Anthony Potthoff 9-139, Dalten Van Pelt 15-72. Carter Durflinger 12-80, Ganon Archer 2-6, Isaac Roeder 5-6.

PASSING – ICR: VM: Anthony Potthoff 8-10-1 167. Ashton Cook 22-30-0 208, Jack Tierney 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING – ICR: Josh Dutchik 9-69, Chase Becker 7-113, Nick Hein 2-1, Levi Quinlan 1-12, Sam Aitchison 1-7, Casey Daniel 1-4, Will Bobst 1-2. VM: Cody Coffman 3-30, Chris Schreck 2-18, Parker Fryar 1-63, Blade Koons 1-52, Dalten Van Pelt 1-4.

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