Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The head coaching debut for Mitch Wieland hadn’t even kicked off and the Liberty High first-year head coach was already admittedly a bit flummoxed.

A late start on its bus trip to Cedar Falls for its season opener and had a missed turn along the way led to a truncated pregame timetable for the Lightning.

All missteps Wieland put on himself.

“There were a few rookie mistakes from the first-year head coach before the game,” Wieland explained.” I scheduled the bus departure right when school got out so we were late getting out and we missed our exit on the way there so right off the bat we got completely derailed and our whole pregame we had to speed up. I was just thinking, ‘man I’m not doing anybody any favors right now’.

Despite a few early hiccups Liberty High eventually gave Wieland a debut to remember.

Liberty High overcame an early 7-0 deficit with 21 unanswered points to earn a 21-7 road win at Cedar Falls on Friday and give Wieland career victory number one.

“We overcame some adversity in the game with some turnovers and some penalties along with the pregame stuff but it’s just those kind of things that added to the whole culmination of the night,” Wieland said. “It was an amazing feeling at the end.”

Senior quarterback Emerson Berner passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a touchdown in his first career start as Liberty High won its season opener for the third consecutive season.

“It exceeded my wildest expectations,” Wieland said. “I’ve been a part of a lot of football games but it was definitely something I’ll always remember and to get that monkey off my back right away definitely took a weight off my shoulders.”

Cedar Falls took an early lead when senior Brayden Hanks picked off a Berner pass late in the first quarter and returned it 93 yards for a touchdown.

The rest of the game was all Liberty High.

Berner bounced back from the early interception and finished 20-of-29 for 246 yards and two touchdowns.

He also rushed for 27 yards and a touchdown as Liberty High put up 450 yards of total offense.

“He’s such a high-character professional,” Wieland said of Berner. “Right after the (coin) toss he comes over to me and says ‘we are in this together man’. He’s a ride or die kid. I thought he played exceptionally well.”

Senior Pryor Reiners had 10 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns including a 1-handed snag 39-yard touchdown grab before the half that tied the game at 7-7.

“He’s just a dawg, the kid is freaking gamer,” Wieland said of Reiners. “That was the absolutely spark we needed, third and 10 just before half and they gave us a look that Emerson made a great read on and the throw was a little high and he snagged it and that completely flipped the script.”

The Liberty High defense took care of the rest holding Cedar Falls scoreless over the final three quarters.

Liberty High forced three turnovers and limited the Tigers to 214 yards of total offense.

Junior Asher Eisenbach had a team-high six tackles for Liberty High including two for loss and a sack.

Hank Thompson had three tackles for loss and two of the Lightning’s five sacks while sophomore Carter Lester had four tackles including 2.5 for loss.

Junior Santos Coreas had four tackles with a tackle for loss.

“Some of our rising guys that didn’t play a whole lot of football last year came out and competed their tails off,” Wieland said. “Carter Lester and Santos Coreas are a little undersized playing in the front seven and they just played their absolute tails off. Hank Thompson continues to lead by example and is a steady force for us that continues to make big plays. I was blown away by our defense.”

News and Notes

Another Thriller in the Boot: For the second time in the past three seasons the annual Battle for the Boot was decided by a single point.

This time it was West High that came out on top.

West High won its second straight meeting in the series with a 30-29 come-from-behind win over City High at West High.

Two seasons ago City High won 40-39 at West High before West High won 30-0 last season at City High.

On Friday West High rallied from a 16-0 halftime deficit for its first back-to-back wins in the series since winning four in a row from 2017 to 2020.

Clipper Post Second Straight Shutout: The Clear Creek Amana defense picked up where it left off late last season.

After closing last season with a 43-0 shutout of Oskaloosa the Clippers blanked Davenport West 59-0 in its opener on Friday.

It was the third shutout in 10 games for Clear Creek Amana dating back to last season.

Clear Creek Amana limited 133 total yards on 3 yards per play in its second consecutive season-opening shutout of the Falcons.

Regina Defense Makes a Statement: Speaking of defense Regina made a defensive statement in a 36-0 season-opening shutout of 2025 2A semifinalist Wilton.

It was the third shutout in the last seven games for Regina dating back to last season and the Regals blanked Louisa-Muscatine in week eight Northeast in the opening round of the 1A playoffs last season.

Players of the Week

Offensive player of the week: Solon senior Maddox Kelley sparkled in his first career start at quarterback accounting for 355 yards of total offense and six touchdowns. Kelley completed 7-of-13 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 189 yards and four touchdowns on seven carries.

Defensive player of the week: Liberty High senior defensive lineman Hank Thompson had a huge game in a 21-7 road win at Cedar Falls. Thompson had 4.5 tackles with three tackles for loss and two sacks and forced a fumble as Liberty High held the Tigers without an offensive touchdown.

Special teams player of the week: West High junior place kicker Jadon Vanderpuye converted both PAT attempts and also ran for a two-point conversion and had a pair of touchbacks on four kick offs.

Helmet stickers

Offense: West Branch senior Keaton Gates rushed for 218 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries and also had a team-high 10.5 tackles with six solo stops in a 26-21 loss at West Liberty.

Offense: City High senior Savion Miller rushed for 149 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries and also caught a pass for eight yards in a 30-29 loss to West High.

Offense: West High senior Neil James had five receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns and also had 3.5 tackles and the game-sealing interception in 30-29 win over City High.

Offense: Clear Creek Amana junior Texton Bollers completed 7-of-9 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown in a 59-0 win over Davenport West.

Offense: West High senior quarterback Reece Wheeler completed 17-of-33 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 23 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in a 30-29 win over City High.

Defense: Regina senior Tate Wallace had five tackles including a tackle for loss, caught five passes for 22 yards and rushed for 26 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-0 win over Wilton.

Defense: West High junior defensive lineman Ashten Holmes had 7.5 tackles with 1.5 sacks and recovered a fumble in a 30-29 win over City High.

Defense: City High junior linebacker Marshall Sheldon had nine tackles with six solo stops, two tackles for loss and a sack in a 30-29 loss to West High.

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