West Branch (1-0) at Regina (1-0)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Regal Field in Iowa City

One of the best small school rivalries in the state continues on Friday as West Branch makes the short drive West to Iowa City High take on Regina.

After splitting four games over the past four seasons as district rivals Regina and West Branch meet this season in a non-district game as West Branch makes the move up to Class 2A this season.

Regina won 26-8 in 2021 before West Branch won back-to-back games in 2022 and 2023 and the Regals won 28-10 last season in Iowa City.

Players to Watch

Regina

Tate Wallace

Wallace was impressive last season leading Regina with 51 receptions for 452 yards and eight touchdowns and making 27.5 tackles with four tackles for loss and a sack.

Entering this season the plan was for the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Wallace to be an even bigger factor on both sides of the ball.

That plan was evident in the season opener against Wilton as Wallace caught seven passes for 65 yards and a touchdown and had a team-high seven tackles with a sack.

Wallace had four receptions for 51 yards and made 3.5 tackles in a win over West Branch last season.

Look for Regina to make an effort to get Wallace involved early on offense and the junior linebacker will be big part of the Regals ability to defend a potent West Branch power running game.

West Branch

Cooper Gates

Gates is among the best linebackers in Class 2A and is coming off a monster junior season in which he was named Class 1A, District 5 defensive player of the year.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Gates led West Branch with 61.5 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and seven sacks last season and has 162 career tackles.

As good as Gates has been the past three seasons he has been at his best against Regina.

Gates has 19 tackles, 13 solo stops, nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in the previous two meetings with the Regals after making five tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in the loss at Regina last year.

Gates got off to a strong start with 3.5 tackles including two tackles for loss in a week-one win over West Liberty and will be a huge factor in West Branch attempting to slow a potent Regina offense.

Keys to the Game

Regina

Spread the Wealth

Regina has one of the deepest and most talented collection of skill players in Class 1A.

Running backs Savion Miller and Gabe Hegelheimer, pass catchers Tate Wallace, Drew Greve and Hudson Koch along with versatile seniors Edwin Gangba and Aaron Honore give senior quarterback Kyle Tracy a long list of offensive weapons.

A key for Regina on Friday will be using each and every one of those players.

It sounds simple but for when Regina is at its best on offense that deep group of offensive playmakers forces opponents to cover every inch of the field.

That makes for a dangerous offense.

Regina was balanced while putting up 353 total yards and averaging 6.7 yards per play in a 42-20 season-opening win over Wilton.

Miller (116 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Hegelheimer (66 yards, 1 touchdown) were both effective in the win over Wilton and Tracy (39 rushing yards) is a threat to tuck it and run as well.

Six different Regals had a reception in the week-one win led by Wallace with seven receptions for 65 yards and Greve with two catches for 13 yards.

A balanced Regina offense is a dangerous Regal offense.

West Branch

Find Some Balance

West Branch rolled out its new power run offense under first-year head coach Matt Hughes to impressive results last week.

The Bears rolled up 372 rushing yards, averaged 7.9 yards per carry and had five rushing touchdowns in a 35-21 season-opening win over West Liberty.

Junior Keaton Gates did a bulk of the heavy lifting in the running game rushing for a career-high 274 yards and two touchdowns.

West Branch made it clear it is focused on running the football this season after averaging just 81.9 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry last season.

The Bears will need to establish the run against Regina on Friday but a key for West Branch will be finding some offensive balance.

West Branch quarterbacks Nolan Staker and Brennen Dale combined to complete 1-of-6 passes for -1 yard in the opener.

Both quarterbacks are capable throwers, combining for 637 yards and five touchdowns last season, and keep Regina honest in the secondary will open up the running game on Friday.

Both Teams

Red Zone Efficiency

These two long-time rivals appear as even on paper as they have been in several seasons.

In what expects to be another close game in the rivalry series the team that better finishes drives will have an advantage.

Both teams have electric playmakers and long touchdowns and big plays will likely happen.

However, with West Branch wanting to focus on running the football and Regina with a pair of talented running backs as well this game has the potential to be low possession.

In a game that could have limited opportunities for each offense and has two teams featuring strong kickers look for the team that cashes in with touchdowns when it gets inside the 20 to come out on top.

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