Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Mason Applegate didn’t know a thing about the single game rushing record at West High.

In fact, the West High senior had never given so much as a passing thought to the record.

“Honestly,” Applegate said with a smile. “I never thought about it.”
It makes sense.

The previous record for rushing yards in a game was set before many of the current Trojans were even born.

Ashton Winchel set the mark when he ran for 349 yards in a win over Linn-Mar on September 12 of 2003.

The real reason Applegate wasn’t thinking about rushing records is the fact the senior standout never imagined he would play running back.

A standout defensive lineman as a junior, Applegate entered his senior season without a varsity carry.

On Friday night the 6-foot, 190-pound speedster posted the best rushing performance in program history gaining 381 yards on just 16 carries in a 36-21 win over Davenport Central.

“My sophomore and junior year and played defense and honestly I never even thought I’d be running back,” Applegate said. “It just feels great.”

In his first season as a running back Applegate has been impressive.

After his 381-yard outburst on Friday Applegate leads Class 5A with 960 rushing yards and is averaging better than 10.4 yards per carry.

Applegate has four 100-yard games this season and has 11 touchdowns on 92 carries all while still starting on the Trojan defensive line.

“Mason is a guy that you always have to get on the field,” West High coach Garrett Hartwig said. “Last year he could have been a powerful and explosive running back for sure. He could have been the number one running back on almost every team he was just so good on defense we could afford to play him on defense only and this year he’s had his opportunity to play offense and it’s no surprise to us what he could.”

Running behind the West High offensive line of Liam Becher, Gary Chen, Brett Pelfrey, Mitch Frey and Will Towler on Friday Applegate was almost unstoppable.

He had touchdown runs of 72, 68, 93 and 87 yards.

Applegate had 46 yards on his first nine carries of the game but his final 7 carries resulted in 335 yards and four touchdowns.

“That’s always our game plan is to run it at people until we can beat them over the top,” Pelfrey said. “We come into every game ready to run the ball.”
Applegate had just four second-half carries on Friday but they accounted for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

Behind the performance from Applegate West High finished with 417 yards rushing, it’s highest rushing output since running for 563 yards against Dubuque Hempstead in the opening round of the 4A playoffs on Oct. 30 2013.

“Year in and year out there is always a player that you put in the upper echelone of talent and work ethic and he is in that category with his brother (Landon Green), Marcus (Morgan) Grahm Goering,” Hartwig said. “He’s as exciting as a football player to coach as we’ve had.”

News and Notes

More Rest for Regina: For the second time in four weeks Regina earned a victory without play a game as Louisa-Muscatine (0-6) opted to forfeit Friday’s scheduled contest with the Regals.

Class 4A fourth-ranked Regina (6-0) was rewarded a forfeit win over Mid-Prairie on September 10 and will host West Branch (5-1) on Friday in a battle of district unbeatens.

Undefeated Tracker: The list of undefeated teams across the state continues to shrink with 35 teams across all classes remaining unbeaten.

Three of those teams are from the Your Prep Sports area with Solon (6-0), Regina (6-0) and City High (6-0) all without a blemish on their records.

City High joins Cedar Rapids Kennedy as the lone remaining unbeaten teams in Class 5A while Solon is among six undefeated teams in 3A and Regina is one of eight unbeatens in 1A.

Another Shutout: City High posted its third shut in six games this season with a 42-0 blanking of Davenport North on Thursday in Davenport.

With the shutout on Thursday the Little Hawks have now allowed a total of 29 points in six games this season, an averaging of 4.8 per contest.

The three shutouts for City High this season equal the total number of shutouts for the Little Hawks over the past 10 seasons combined, a span for 97 games.

One-Point Magic: Clear Creek Amana won its third one-point game of the season on Thursday when it rallied for a 20-19 win over Cedar Rapids Washington at Kingston Stadium.

The Clippers edged Marion 36-35 in week one and rallied past Liberty High 31-30 on September 17.

In all three one-point wins Clear Creek Amana (5-1) has trailed in the fourth quarter and all three have come on the road.

Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week: West High senior tailback Mason Applegate has one of the most impressive performances of the season statewide on Friday running for a school-record 381 yards and four touchdowns in a 36-21 win over Davenport Central.

Applegate had touchdown runs of 68, 72, 87 and 93 yards and also had six tackles, including a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss.

Defensive Player of the Week: City High junior linebacker Ben Kueter continued to wreak absolute havoc on opposing offenses this season.

Kueter posted 10.5 tackles, including 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss on Thursday as City High held Davenport North to 122 yards of total offense in a 42-0 win.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Solon junior Sean Stahle was held to a 31 rushing yards on Friday but still managed to make a major impact in a win over Washington returning a punt 84-yards for a touchdown in a 44-21 Spartan win.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: Clear Creek Amana senior wide receiver Harrison Rosenberg caught five passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yarder in a 20-19 win over Cedar Rapids Washington.

Offense: West Branch junior tailback Andy Henson rushed for 226 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries in a 28-14 win over Durant.

Defense: Liberty High junior Garrett Gregoire returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown in a 56-0 shutout of Mount Pleasant.

Defense: City High senior defensive tackle TaeShon McDaniels had 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in a 42-0 win over Davenport North.

Defense: Solon senior Jacob Timmons had 5.5 tackles, including a tackle for loss and intercepted a pass in a 44-21 win over Washington.

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