Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – West High snapped a four-game losing streak to cross-town rival City High on Friday night.

And the Trojans did it in emphatic and dominating fashion.

West High rolled up 262 rushing yards and dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball in a 30-0 win over City High at Bates Field in Iowa City.

“It feels amazing,” West High senior Ethan Headings said. “The past few years we’d fallen short to them but we knew we were better than them and we took out everything from the past couple years in this game.”

Senior Campbell Janis rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown in his first career start and three different Trojans had rushing touchdowns as West High won the Battle for the Boot for the first time since 2020.

West High held City High to 85 rushing yards and 170 total yards while posting its first shutout in the Battle for the Boot since a 44-0 win in 2012.

“I think we did our thing today especially on defense,” West High senior Julian Manson said. “We had a shutout and we are going to get donuts tomorrow so I am excited for that.”

City High (0-1) had won the previous four meetings in the series including a 40-39 win over West High last season at Trojan Field.

West High earned a measure of revenge on Friday in the season opener for both teams.

“You never know game one and then you throw the emotion of City and West in there and it makes it even that much more chaotic I guess,” West High coach Garrett Hartwig said. “You have to be prepared for everything, our boys played hard, I am very proud of them. This senior class they deserve this opportunity.”

West High set the tone on defense early, forcing a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession.

The Trojans took a 3-0 lead on the first of three Adam Salem field goals with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter.

City High turned the ball over on downs at the West High 40 on its next possession and the Trojans went 60 yards in six plays, all runs, taking a 10-0 lead when Manson scored on a 7-yard touchdown run on a direct snap.

“There has been a lot of build up this week, a lot of feelings going into this game,” West High junior quarterback Reece Wheeler said. “The coaches were serious about this and wanted this one bad, the whole team did.”

West High led 13-0 at the half after Salem capped a 19-play drive with a 25 yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.

The Trojans all but put the game out of reach on the opening drive of the second half.

West High marched 65 yards on nine consecutive running plays on the first drive after halftime taking a 19-0 lead on a 6-yard touchdown run by Janis.

“We had a little rough start but we really got down to it and halftime,” Janis said. “Those guys up front they put in work all summer, they know what they are doing and they controlled the line of scrimmage all night.”

Janis had seven carries for 53 yards on the opening drive of the second half.

“The coaches told me they were going to hand it to me and I said, ‘I got you coach’,” Janis said. “When I saw red I hit red.”

The West High defense took care of the rest.

West High limited City High to eight first downs, forced a turnover as Henry Elser picked off a Coden Kurtz pass in the first half and stopped the Little Hawks six times on fourth down.

“We talked about it was more about us than it was about them,” Manson said. “We just had to do our thing, read our keys and execute and be physical and then just dominate.”

Wheeler passed for 106 yards and rushed for 28 yards in his first career start while splitting time with Moody who rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown.

West High had 140 of its 262 rushing yards in the second half.

“They stuck with it,” Hartwig said of his offensive line. “We had a couple of first-time starters up there and there is only one way to find out about varsity speed and that’s the play, the got that speed figured out by the second quarter and that showed.”

Marshall Sheldon rushed for 88 yards for City High which travels to Bettendorf next Friday.

West High will host Dubuque Hempstead in its home opener on Friday.

“There will be things we see on film we have to get corrected, week one to week two is the biggest jump a team needs to make,” Hartwig said. “I feel like we beat a team that is well-coached tonight which makes me feel good but it’s step one of a long season.”

ICH                ICW

First downs                8                      21

Rushes-yards             31-85               51-262

Comp-Att-Int            14-22-1           8-16-0

Passing yards             85                    102

Total yards                170                  364

Punts-Avg.                 3-36.7              2-30

Fumbles-lost              1-0                   1-0

Penalties-yards          5-25                 4-40

West High            10  3  14  3  –  30

City High              0   0   0   0  –   0

ICW – Adam Salem 25 field goal

ICW – Julian Manson 7 run (Salem kick)

ICW – Salem 25 field goal

ICW – Campbell Janis 6 run (Kick failed)

ICW – Mikey Moody 3 run (Janis run)

ICW – Salem 33 field goal

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – ICW: Campbell Janis 20-111, Mikey Moody 13-49, Adrian DeWaard 7-32, Reece Wheeler 6-28, Kingstone Ross 3-12, Julian Manson 1-7, Ashten Holmes 1-3. ICH: Marshall Sheldon 12-88, Dominic Roe 3-16, Coden Kurtz 4-5, Damari Lacy 1-1, Tytearion Carruthers 3-1, Blaine Heick 1-(-4), Chris Kabaiza 7-(-22).

PASSING – ICW: Reece Wheeler 7-14-0 106, Mikey Moody 1-2-0 (-4). ICH: Chris Kabaiza 12-17-0 73, Coden Kurtz 2-5-1 12.

RECEIVING – ICW: Ethan Headings 4-77, Henry Elser 2-31, Julian Manson 1-(-2), Carter Spark 1-(-4). ICH: Chayse Newton 5-21, Jack Lampe 3-29, Damari Lacy 2-12, Marshall Sheldon 1-10, Kale Muhlenbruch 1-5, Dominic Roe 1-4, Blaine Heick 1-4.

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