Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Jack Tierney thought he had his workload figured out for Friday night.

The Iowa City Regina junior receiver figured he might get a few chances to carry the ball or catch a couple of passes for the Regals’ offense.

But that all changed four plays into the game.

“I was going in with the mentality that my teammates have to step up,” Tierney said after being called into emergency duty at quarterback and leading Class 1A No. 3 Regina to a 34-0 rout of Mediapolis in the District 5 prep football opener for both schools at Regal Field. “And I have got to trust my teammates, because they are also going to help me do my job and move the ball down the field. It was a team effort on offense tonight. Quarterback goes down. Everyone has got to keep doing their job. Team effort.”

Regina sophomore quarterback Gentry Dumont started the game and had the Regals on the move on their first offensive possession.

But after a 17-yard gain on a quarterback keeper, Dumont emerged from the tackle favoring his left shoulder.

He did not return.

“We have had a great quarterback competition going on all year,” first-year Regina Coach Jason Dumont said. “And at the end of the day, we felt we were a better team with both Gentry and J.T. on the field, with J.T. out at receiver. So when Gentry went down, we really weren’t worried about it a whole lot as far as performance because J.T. has been there, we have been getting him reps and nothing changes with what we do.”

True to Dumont’s word, Regina (4-0, 1-0 District 5) did not miss a beat with the change under center.

Tierney completed all three of his pass attempts on the opening drive and mixed in three rush attempts of his own for 18 yards.

His three-yard scoring plunge gave the Regals a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

“That touchdown got the momentum rolling,” Tierney said. “We just rolled with it the rest of the game. Once we get going, it is hard to stop us. Everyone is giving 100 percent the whole time. It is great to be a part of.”

After the first drive, the Regina offense started to lean on junior tailback Levi Daniel.

Daniel collected 77 rushing yards in the first half, including a pair of short touchdowns as the Regals built a 21-0 halftime lead.

“The key to the success was definitely our coaches,” said Daniel, who finished the game with 142 yards and three scores. Jason Dumont, (offensive coordinator) Ed Hinkel, they are both amazing coaches. They tell me exactly where to go, exactly where I need to go. Halftime, they just told me, ‘backside’ and after they told me, ‘backside,’ it just opened up. And my line is amazing. They are so good.”

Regina turned the ball over four times.

The Regals lost a pair of fumbles in the first half, coughed up a third in the second and Tierney was intercepted in the end zone as the Regals were going in for another score just seconds before halftime.

“We have got some things we need to fix,” Dumont said. “We have got to hold onto the ball and we had some assignment errors, but what we did with errors we made up with effort.”

The turnovers put the Regina defense in a tough spot, having to defend Mediapolis drives that twice began on the Regals’ 13-yard-line, plus another on the 35.

Each time, the Regals’ defense bowed up. Tierney and fellow defensive back Sam Aitchison gave the ball right back to their offense with a pair of second-quarter interceptions.

Regina harassed Mediapolis into three total turnovers.

“It really took everyone doing their job,” Aitchison said. “When everyone does their jobs in the right spots, our coaches put us in great positions. It is just about doing our job.”

Mediapolis (3-1, 0-1) attempted to lean on junior tailback Anthony Isley, who entered the contest averaging nearly 200 rush yards per game.

Against Regina, Isley ran for 105 yards, the majority of which arrived after his team was down by four touchdowns.

“Just getting everyone to the football,” Aitchison said. “One thing we really preach is, ‘All 11.’ That is our mantra on defense. If we have got guys running to the football, it is hard to run if when you have got six, seven, eight guys at the ball.”

The Regina defense also held down the Mediapolis passing game as junior quarterback Ben Egan completed just five-of-19 passes for 35 yards with the aforementioned two interceptions.

Daniel also added a sack of Egan on defense.

Tierney threw for 148 yards, ran for 74 and accounted for a touchdown both on the ground and through the air.

Aitchison led the receivers with six receptions for 81 yards, while Jackson Naeve caught Tierney’s touchdown pass.

After not playing last week due to a Mid-Prairie forfeit, Regina will hit the road for just the second time this season Friday at Wilton who, like Mediapolis, is receiving votes in the most recent Associated Press 1A rankings.

“It was a good win, but still, we have got a lot of stuff to clean up,” Aitchison said. “Penalties, turnovers, just missing signals. Every week is an opportunity to get better. I feel like we got better coming into this week, but we have still got a long way to go to get to where we want to be.”

                                    MED               ICR

First Downs                15                    19

Rushes-yards              31-163             41-289

Comp-Att-Int              5-19-2             11-16-1

Passing yards              35                    158

Total yards                  198                  447

Punts-avg.                   2-48.0              2-31.5

Fumbles-lost               2-1                   3-3

Penalties-yards           9-73                 9-89

Mediapolis                 0    0  0  0  –   0

Iowa City Regina      7  14  6  7  –  34

ICR – Jack Tierney 3 run (Evan Lacina kick)

ICR – Levi Daniel 3 run (kick failed)

ICR – Daniel 1 run (Levi Daniel run)

ICR – Daniel 5 run (kick blocked)

ICR – Jackson Naeve 7 pass from Tierney (Lacina kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Mediapolis: Anthony Isley 21-105, Kadin Salek 4-17, Jackson Hutcheson 4-38, Ben Egan 13-38, Drew Miller 1-21, Owen May 1-(-18). Regina: Jack Tierney 12-74, Gentry Dumont 3-29, Chris Waikel 4-38, Levi Daniel 19-142, Jose Monestina 3-6.

PASSING – Mediapolis: Ben Egan 5-19-2-35. Regina: Gentry Dumont 1-1-0-8, Jack Tierney 10-15-1-148.

RECEIVING – Mediapolis: Kadin Salek 3-21, Cole Lipper 2-14. Regina: Jackson Naeve 1-7, Carson Jensen 3-63, Sam Aitchison 6-81, Levi Daniel 1-5.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.