Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

It’s crazy to think about but week four marks the halfway point of the regular season for a pair of Your Prep Sports area teams.

West Branch and Regina both opened district play on Friday and hit the midpoint of the eight-game regular season for 1A teams.

Regina dropped a tough 17-7 game at Mediapolis while West Branch set a single game school record for points in an 86-0 win over Louisa-Muscatine to start 1A, District 5 play.

That was just a little bit of what happened in week four in the area.

What else did we see.

Let’s take a look.

What Stood Out?

Liberty High’s Offense

A Liberty High offense that was so impressive during a 2-0 start to the season had its least productive performance of the season last week in a 36-30 loss to Western Dubuque.

Least productive is a relative term considering the Lightning still scored 30 points and put up 319 total yards while averaging 5.2 yards per play but both were season lows.

On Friday the Lightning bounced back in a big-way behind its big play offense.

Liberty High rolled up season bests of 55 points, 223 rushing yards, 493 total yards and 8.9 yards per play in a convincing 55-7 win over Clear Creek Amana.

Junior Graham Beckman continued his stellar season going 20-of-25 for 252 yards and three touchdowns while completing passes to eight different receivers.

Trey Gregoire rushed for 85 yards and two scores and Garrett Gregoire caught two touchdown passes.

Liberty High had touchdown drives of 58, 71, 53, 66, 67, 62, 39 and 47 yards and punted just once against a CCA defense that hadn’t allowed more than 195 yards of offense or 13 points in a game this season.

Solon’s Composure

Following back-to-back losses to top-five teams Mount Vernon and Williamsburg the Spartans had their backs against the proverbial wall on Friday.

Facing a hungry Davenport Assumption team the Spartans turned in easily their best effort of the young season.

It wasn’t the stats or the score that necessarily stood out from Solon on Friday but the composure the Spartans showed while improving to 2-2 and snapping a two-game skid in what felt like a game they needed to win.

Solon took the opening kick and went 71 yards for a touchdown.

When Assumption cut the Solon lead to 14-7 the Spartans immediately answered back with a 28 second touchdown drive.

Solon was 6-for-10 converting on third down on Friday, they had just three penalties two of which came with reserves in on the final drive and had just one turnover.

The were efficient, poised and at times overpowering.

West High’s Defense

Much of the focus on West High during its current three-game winning streak has been on sophomore quarterback Jack Wallace and the offense.

On Thursday against Davenport North the West High defense turned in its best performance of the season.

The Trojans held Davenport North to 176 yards of total offense but gave up just 13 total yards in the first half while building a 42-0 lead.

West High had three sacks, forced three turnovers and notched eight tackles for loss.

Christian Janis (Again!)

Can’t let a good thing go away right?

At this point it has become almost expected that West High senior receiver Christian Janis balls out on Friday night and shows up on this list the next morning.

Janis and the Trojans played on Thursday this week but the senior receiver still did his thing making five receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-7 win at Davenport North.

Through four games Janis has 19 receptions for 482 yards and seven touchdowns and has returned an interception and a punt for a touchdown.

That stands out.

Who Stepped up?

Blake Timmons

Look, Brett White was fantastic on both sides of the ball on Friday rushing for 151 yards and two touchdowns and making a team-high 11 tackles including a sack.

But this game was all about Blake Timmons.

With his team on a two-game losing streak and facing a hungry team in a game both sides very much needed Timmons did exactly what a three-year starter and senior quarterback needs to do.

He controlled the game.

Timmons was 9-of-12 passing for 121 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 91 yards and a score.

He led scoring drives of 12 plays and 13 plays that lasted 5:03 and 7:08 and also led a 4-play, 64-yarder that took less than 30 seconds.

Timmons was clutch when clutch was required going 6-for-6 on third down passes for 66 yards with four of those completions going for first downs.

What’s Next

Three Games to Watch Next Week

5A No. 10 City High (2-1) at West High (3-1) – The Battle for the Boot. Nothing more to say.

4A No. 3 North Scott (3-1) at 4A No. 9 Liberty High (3-1) – The district opener for both teams will likely be the 4A, District 3 title game as defending district champ North Scott comes to Liberty Stadium.

Mediapolis (4-0) at Class 1A No. 4 West Branch (4-0) – The Bulldogs could very well come to the Little Rose Bowl a top-10 team next week after knocking off Regina 17-7 in its district opener.

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