Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Liberty High and Clear Creek Amana did what was required on Friday night to secure spots in the postseason.

Regina took care of business in its Class 1A playoff opener and Solon put the finishing touches on a second consecutive unbeaten regular season.

Liberty High (6-3) posted a 55-20 road win at Muscatine to secure a spot in the 5A postseason while Clear Creek Amana (6-3) won 49-13 at Oskaloosa to lock up a spot in the 4A playoffs.

Solon (9-0) rolled past Fort Madison 55-6 on Friday while Regina advanced to the second round of the 1A playoffs with a 50-7 home win over Waterloo Columbus.

All four area teams learned their postseason paths to the UNI-Dome on Saturday morning.

Liberty High is seeking a third consecutive trip to the Class 5A semifinals and will travel to Indianola (7-2) for its playoff opener on Friday.

With a win on Friday Liberty High would face the winner of Waukee (5-4) and Ankeny (7-2) in the Class 5A quarterfinals on November 6.

Clear Creek Amana will travel to Waverly-Shell Rock (7-2) for its opening-round contest in Class 4A.

The winner of Waverly-Shell Rock and Clear Creek Amana will face the winner of Ballard (6-3) and Western Dubuque (8-1) in the 4A quarterfinals.

Solon will host Fairfield (5-4) in its Class 3A playoff opener on Friday in a rematch of a regular season game won 47-8 by the Spartans on September 25.

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

Regina (9-0) will host Sigourney-Keota (5-4) in a rematch of a regular season game on Friday in the Class 1A Round of 16.

With a win the Regals would host the winner of Northeast (8-1) and Grundy Center (7-2) in a 1A quarterfinal.

News and Notes

1,000-yard Watch: Two more area players crossed the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the season as City High senior Savion Miller and Regina junior Gabe Hegeleheimer each eclipsed the 1,000-yard barrier on Friday.

Miller ran for 210 yards in a win over Ottumwa to close the season with 1,042 yards and 18 touchdowns in nine games.

Hegelheimer cracked the 1,000-yard mark for the season with a 131-yard performance in an opening-round win over Waterloo Columbus.

Hegelheimer has rushed for 1,101 yards and 17 touchdowns in nine games this season.

Solon senior quarterback Maddox Kelley has rushed for 843 yards through nine games this season.

Undefeated Update: The list of unbeaten teams in the state is down to 20 and a pair of area teams remain among the undefeated.

Solon (9-0) and Regina (9-0) are among the 20 teams without a loss this season as the playoff field is down to 16 teams in all classes.

Regina joins Aplington-Parkersburg as the lone remaining undefeated teams in Class 1A while Solon joins Clear Lake and Des Moines Christian as the lone remaining undefeated teams in Class 3A.

There are three unbeaten teams in Class 4A, one in Class 2A, five in Class A and six in eight-player.

Players of the Week

Offensive player of the week: Liberty High senior running back Brody Beaver had an impressively efficient day in a 55-20 win at Muscatine.

Beaver rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns on just four carries and also caught two passes for 49 yards as the Lightning closed the regular season with their second consecutive road win.

Defensive player of the week: West Branch senior linebacker Sawyer Jeffries had a big game as West Branch pushed No. 10 Osage to the limit in a 12-7 loss in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs.

Jeffries had seven tackles, including four solo stops and added a key second-half interception that set up a West Branch touchdown as the Bears limited Osage to 315 yards of total offense and a season-low 12 points.

Special teams player of the week: Regina junior Holt Hinkel provided a special teams spark in the Regals’ 50-7 win over Waterloo Columbus in the opening round of the Class 1A playoffs.

Hinkel returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and finished the game with 70 punt return yards on two attempts. On the season Hinkel has returned three punts for touchdowns and is averaging 21.4 yards per return.

Helmet stickers

Offense: Solon junior wide receiver Paxton Holtkamp caught four passes for 92 yards and a touchdown in a 55-6 win over Fort Madison.

Offense: Regina junior quarterback Aiden Gaffey completed 7-of-8 passes for 102 yards and three touchdowns in a 50-7 win over Waterloo Columbus.

Offense: Liberty High senior quarterback Emerson Berner completed 12-of-19 passes for 203 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-20 win over Muscatine.

Offense: West High junior running back Atari Brown rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in a 35-28 loss to Linn-Mar.

Offense: City High senior running back Savion Miller rushed for 210 yards and four touchdowns and caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in a 55-14 win over Ottumwa.

Defense: West Branch senior linebacker Keaton Gates had a team-high 11 tackles including seven solo stops and a tackle for loss in a 12-7 loss to Osage.

Defense: Liberty High senior linebacker Eric Strunk had two tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack and returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown in a 55-20 win over Muscatine.

Defense: Clear Creek Amana senior Silas Cobb had six tackles, including five solo stops and a tackle for loss and recovered a fumble in a 49-13 win over Oskaloosa.

Defense: Regina junior linebacker Zach Poe had 3.5 tackles, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a 50-7 win over Waterloo Columbus.

Defense: West High senior linebacker Jack Caylor had 6.5 tackles with three tackles for loss in a 35-28 loss at Linn-Mar.

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