Matt Coss

Your Prep Sports

BETTENDORF – City High’s football team could do no wrong when it waltzed into TouVelle Stadium and clobbered Bettendorf by three touchdowns last Friday.

The rematch did not produce a similar result.

Gavin Barta and Jacob Whipple combined for 235 rushing yards and three touchdowns as fifth-seeded Bettendorf ended City High’s season 32-21 in a Class 5A playoff opener.

It was a 32-point turnaround from City High’s 42-21 win in Week 9.

“The worst prep I’ve ever had in 15 years of coaching,” City High coach Mitch Moore said. “It was as hard a psychological battle as I’ve had as a coach all week knowing we dominated the game in the fashion we did and also knowing it wouldn’t be like that again.

“If it ever happens again (playing the same team in back-to-back weeks), it gives me a tremendous perspective on how to do it. Credit to Bettendorf, they did it a little better than we did tonight.”

Senior Sam Kueter admitted City High’s heads were “a little bit bigger than they should have been” for the rematch.

“They caught us off-guard and fought more,” Kueter said. “Their seniors wanted it more than we did.”

The Little Hawks (6-4) had opportunities.

City High marched 80 yards into the wind in 12 plays and tied the game at 14 before halftime on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Bobby Bacon to Drew Larson.

“We were confident coming out of the half,” Kueter said.

The Little Hawks drove to the Bulldogs’ 7-yard line on the opening possession of the third quarter before turning the ball over on downs.

Then, a penalty changed the complexion of the game.

With Bettendorf backed inside its own 10-yard line, Whipple carried the ball out to the 15 before losing it and City High pounced on it.

However, the Little Hawks were whistled for what Moore was told was an “illegal chop block” from their safety on the Bulldogs’ fullback.

“Pretty interesting call there,” Moore said. “It changed the momentum of the game.”

Instead of City High having the ball inside Bettendorf’s 20, the Bulldogs maintained possession at their own 30.

Three plays later, Bettendorf found the end zone after Whipple reeled off runs of 23, 10 and 37 yards.

Amari Washington ran in the two-point conversion try to make it 22-14 Bulldogs.

“Our (offensive) line was preaching we could run all over them,” Barta said. “We just had to wait for the holes to open up and we were ready to go.”

Whipple finished with 15 rushes for 118 yards and two scores. Barta compiled 15 carries for 117 yards and a first-quarter touchdown.

“(Jacob) is more outside, I’m more power through the middle,” Barta noted. “We’re both really good backs, can run the ball and get the job done.”

It was vital on a night with a stiff breeze and temperatures in the low 40s.

The Bulldogs attempted only seven passes and 248 of their 291 yards came on the ground.

“The best thing (Bettendorf) did in the run game was, ‘We’re not going to pass,’” Moore said. “They stuck with it. There were times last week we got them in obvious passing situations, we were all over it and made plays.

“Tonight, they said, ‘Stop us,’ even in some pass situations. That’s a credit to them.”

After accumulating more than 500 yards in last week’s game, City High totaled 412. Bacon completed 27 of 39 throws for 306 yards.

The Little Hawks were limited to 98 rushing yards on 36 attempts, an average of 2.7 per carry.

The Bulldogs came up with an interception in the end zone in the first half and turned the Little Hawks over on downs three times in the second half.

“We just executed the game plan better than we did the last time,” said Bettendorf coach Aaron Wiley, whose squad hosts Ankeny Centennial (6-4) in a quarterfinal next Friday. “Our kids are resilient.”

“We were really embarrassed when we walked off this field last week,” Whipple said.

So when the Bulldogs (8-2) saw the rematch revealed last Saturday morning, they were eager for redemption.

“It was an eye-opener last week, almost a deer in the headlights for us,” Barta said. “We regrouped, talked it out and figured things out as a team.”

While it marked the end of the season for City High, Moore was proud of how his team responded from back-to-back losses to open the season and overcame a slew of injuries to get back into the postseason.

“We really turned things around, so it says a lot about the culture of this team, this program and where we’re going,” Moore said. “We certainly think the playoffs need to be the standard around here.

“I told those guys, some of the best players to ever put on a Little Hawk uniform are in that locker room. Drew Larson is one of them. Miles Parlet etched his name in Little Hawk lore with the way he ran the ball. I’m proud of our offensive line.”

City High won six of its last seven regular-season games, including four straight.

“The character of this team showed all year long,” Moore said. “If we lose that (Ames game, 49-28 in Week 3) and we don’t get back to the playoffs, now you don’t have this momentum.

“Now we can still build on this.”

                                      ICH                BETT

First downs                20                    15

Rushes-yards             36-98               41-248

Comp-Att-Int             28-40-1           4-7-0

Passing yards             314                  43

Total yards                412                  291

Punts-avg.                  3-21.3              2-22.5

Fumbles-lost              0-0                   2-1

Penalties-yards         7-72                 3-15

City High                   7          7            0        7 –  21

Bettendorf                 7          7          11        7 – 32

Bett – Gavin Barta 9 run (Caden Buhr kick)

ICH – Jeremiah Madlock 30 pass from Bobby Bacon (Will Perrill kick)

Bett – Koen Fleming 19 pass from Charlie Zimmerman (Buhr kick)

ICH – Drew Larson 3 pass from Bacon (Perrill kick)

Bett – Jacob Whipple 37 run (Amari Washington run)

Bett – FG Caden Buhr 49

Bett – Whipple 18 run (Buhr kick)

ICH – Dominic Salibi 1 run (Perrill kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – City High: Miles Parlet 26-79, Dominic Salibi 2-10, Bobby Bacon 8-9. Bettendorf: Jacob Whipple 15-118, Gavin Barta 15-117, Charlie Zimmerman 8-19, Team 3-(-6)

PASSING – City High: Bacon 27-39-1, 306 yards; Carsen Newton 1-1-0, 8 yards. Bettendorf: Zimmerman 4-7-0, 43 yards.

RECEIVING – City High: Jeremiah Madlock 6-93, Newton 5-78, Parlet 8-62, Drew Larson 6-54, Parker Sutherland 1-17, Sam Kueter 1-8, Dax Judge 1-2. Bettendorf: Jake Schulz 1-21, Koen Fleming 1-9, Cole Odefey 2-3.

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