Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

West Branch and Regina got the wins they needed on Friday to advance in the playoffs.

City High and Solon didn’t need wins to extend their seasons on Friday but each picked up impressive victories any way.

All four of those teams find themselves in the Round of 16 in their respective classes this week, two wins away from a spot in the state semifinals at the UNI-Dome next week.

West Branch and Regina each won Class 1A postseason openers on Friday.

Regina (8-1) earned a 48-20 home win over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and West Branch (6-3) with a 35-20 win over Pleasantville at the Little Rose Bowl.

“We all worked our butts off knowing this could be our last game on this field,” West Branch senior two-way lineman Logan Wright said. “We put everything on the table and laid it all for tonight.”

City High and Solon capped the regular season with wins on Friday.

Solon (8-1) defeated South Tama 52-0 for its eighth consecutive victory to close the regular season.

City High (6-3) earned the biggest win of the week in Class 5A, a 42-21 win at Bettendorf (7-2).

The Round of 16 is the round of rematches for area teams.

Fifth-ranked Regina hosts Wilton (8-1) for a second meeting in two weeks after the Regals won a 35-0 victory at Wilton in the regular season finale.

West Branch travels to fourth-ranked MFL Mar-Mac (8-1) in a rematch of last year’s 1A quarterfinal won by the Bears 27-24 at the Little Rose Bowl.

Regina and West Branch are both in Pod D in Class 1A meaning they would meet for a second time this season if both win on Friday.

City High heads straight back to Bettendorf for a rematch with the Bulldogs.

The Little Hawks jumped to a 20-0 lead after one quarter and led 28-0 at halftime in a 42-21 win that snapped a seven-game winning streak for Bettendorf at TouVelle Stadium.

City High is in Pod D in Class 5A and the winner of Friday’s rematch will play the winner of the opening-round contest between Ankeny Centennial (5-4) and Waukee Northwest (7-2).

Solon (8-1) hosts Fort Madison (6-3) in a 3A Pod B opening-round game on Friday at Spartan Stadium.

With a win on Friday Solon would face the winner of Davenport Assumption (7-2) and West Delaware (6-3) in the quarterfinals.

News and Notes

Bears Run Wild: West Branch went to a new formation and leaned on its running in the second half of a 35-20 win over Pleasantville Friday and the move paid off in the form of a historic rushing performance.

Using a freshly unveiled heavy wildcat formation West Branch had three 100-yard rushers for the first time in program history while racking up a season-high 398 yards on the ground.

Caley Seydel (22-160), Brennen Dal (10-134) and Auron Marsh (18-105) all rushed for at least 100 yards and had a touchdown on Friday.

The 398 rushing yards were the most for West Branch since October 29 or 2014 when the Bears ran for 402 against Sigourney-Keota in the opening-round of the playoffs.

Perfect Good Bye for Beckman: The final prep game Graham Beckman proved to be one of the best for the Liberty High standout quarterback.

Beckman completed 15-of-22 passes while throwing for 384 yards and matched his career-high with five touchdowns in a 56-0 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson on Friday.

The senior signal caller threw touchdown passes to four different receivers on Friday and also rushed for 16 yards and a touchdown as Liberty High rolled up 551 yards of total offense.

Beckman leads the state in passing through nine games, finishing the season with 2,593 yards and 28 touchdowns while completing 60 percent of his passes.

West High’s Wallace Goes Off: West High junior quarterback Jack Wallace went wild on Friday in a 45-38 season-ending loss to Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Wallace completed 27-of-44 passes while throwing for a career-high 458 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown as West High put up more than 580 yards of total offense for the second time in the last three games.

The 458 yards for Wallace was the fifth highest single game passing total in the state this season.

A three-year starter, Wallace completed 57 percent of his passes throwing for a career-high 1,807 yards and 13 touchdowns with 10 interceptions as a junior.

Tracking the Trojans’ Offensive Outbursts: The big game from Wallace was a big piece of a huge offensive night for West High that saw the Trojans pull off an impressive season feat.

West High is the only team in the state this season to have a game with 400 rushing yards and a game with 400 passing yards and the Trojans did it in a span of three weeks.

The Trojans ran for 467 yards in a win over Cedar Rapids Washington in week seven and followed with a 458-yard passing effort on Friday against Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Over the final three games of the season West High averaged 485 yards of total offense and 40.3 points.

Special Shutout: Beckman stole the offensive show for Liberty High in its season finale on Friday but the Lightning defense had its own special performance.

Liberty High posted the first back-to-back shutouts in school history on Friday following up a 44-0 win over Waterloo West in week eight with a 56-0 blanking of Cedar Rapids Jefferson on Friday.

It was the second time the Lightning have posted two shutouts in the same and the first since 2019.

Steven’s Soars Past 1,000: Jackson Stevens needed 128 yards in the season finale against Clinton to crack the 1,000-yard mark.

Stevens soared past 1,000 yards with his second 200-yard effort of the season in a 49-0 win over the River Kings at Coan Field in Clinton.

The senior tailback rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns to finish the season with 1,082 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Stevens had more than 100 yards in four of the final five games of the season, racking up 812 yards during that stretch to become the first 1,000-yard rusher for Clear Creek Amana since Andrew Rohret rushed for 1,099 yards in 2018.

In his final game the do-everything Stevens also returned a fumble for a touchdown and had seven tackles including two for loss.

Players of the Week

Offensive player of the week: City High junior quarterback Bobby Bacon came up with perhaps the best game of his career in a key road contest against Bettendorf. Bacon completed 18-of-21 passes for 336 yard and three touchdowns in a 42-21 win over the Bulldogs.

Defensive player of the week: Liberty High senior linebacker Gavin Benton was one of many Bolts to come up big in their final game. Benton had a team-high 7.5 tackles, including six solo stops and 4.5 for loss in a 56-0 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Special teams player of the week: Clear Creek Amana senior place kicker Carson Cecak converted all seven PAT attempts in a 49-0 win over Clinton.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: Liberty High senior tailback Anyhlan Peoples rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries in a 56-0 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Offense: West High senior wide receiver Izaiah Loveless caught eight passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-38 loss to Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Offense: Solon sophomore running back Conlan Poynton rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on six carries in a 52-0 win over South Tama.

Offense: Regina senior quarterback Gentry Dumont completed 10-of-13 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown in a 48-20 win over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.

Defense: Clear Creek Amana junior defensive lineman Vinnie Keller had five tackles, with three solo stops and two tackles for loss in a 49-0 win over Clinton.

Defense: West Branch senior defensive tackle Logan Wright had three tackles, two tackles for loss and recovered a fumble in a 35-20 win over Pleasantville.

Defense: City High senior linebacker Sam Kueter had eight tackles, with six solo stops, a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss in a 42-21 win over Bettendorf.

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