Here are the area’s top 10 football matchups in high school sports this Friday.
Time & place: 7:15 p.m., at Kingston Stadium (Washington is the home team and its fans will sit on the west side).
Records: Kennedy is 0-2; Washington is 2-0.
Notable: Kennedy opened the season with losses to Cedar Rapids Xavier and Linn-Mar, and it gets no easier this week. Washington, rated 10th in Class 4A, has been explosive offensively, tallying 90 points in the first two weeks. Alex Carr has racked up 408 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. The Warriors posted two wins over Kennedy last year, including one in the first round of the 4A playoffs.
Time & place: 7:15 p.m., at Saints Field
Records: Hempstead is 1-1; Xavier is 2-0.
Notable: Class 4A fifth-rated Xavier has peeled off two consecutive wins over Metro rivals, but had to sweat out a 17-10 decision over Cedar Rapids Prairie last week. Quarterback Andy Didio has been extremely efficent, completing 74 percent of his passes for three touchdowns and no interceptions. Hempstead rallied to beat Iowa City West, 21-17, last week, scoring the winning touchdown in the final minute.
Time & place: 7:15 p.m., at Trojan Field
Records: City High is 2-0; West is 1-1.
Notable: Solon’s loss last week means that City High now is the co-owner of the state’s longest winning streak (along with Council Bluffs St. Albert), with 16 in a row. The Little Hawks breezed through the first two weeks, putting up 48 points against both Dubuque Senior and Waterloo West. City has won “The Battle for the Boot” five straight years, and defeated the Trojans twice last year. West’s Charles Rogers has rushed for 247 yards and passed for 206.
Time & place: 7:15 p.m., at Armstrong Field
Records: Wahlert is 2-0; Linn-Mar is 2-0.
Notable: Wahlert has been impressive on its march to 2-0, though the Golden Eagles have trampled a pair of teams that are 0-2. Riley McCarron has rushed for 265 yards and six touchdowns. Class 4A No. 9 Linn-Mar has wins over Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Cedar Rapids Kennedy under its belt. Mark Atwater has passed for 347 yards and rushed for 224. Jer Garman has netted 251 yards on the ground.
Time & place: 7:30 p.m., at Thomas Park Field
Records: Western Dubuque is 1-1 overall, 0-0 Class 3A District 5; Marion is 2-0, 0-0.
Notable: Marion boasts the second stingiest scoring defense in Class 3A. The eighth-ranked Indians have allowed just 10 points in two games. Junior Colton Storla has been the featured back in the Indians’ attack, netting 446 yards (11.4 per carry) with five touchdowns. Western Dubuque’s attack has been pass-oriented; QB Matt Kass has completed 25 of 42 aerials for 325 yards and five TDs; Nick Lenstra has 11 receptions for 171 yards and two scores.
Time & place: 7:30 p.m., at Van Horne
Records: Solon is 1-1 overall, 0-0 Class 3A District 6; Benton is 1-1, 0-0.
Notable: How will Solon respond to its 21-15 defeat to Iowa City Regina, its first loss since 2006? The Spartans stumbled because they couldn’t execute inside 10-yard line. Three times, they were held to field goals. Benton’s Zach Twedt has been effective on both sides of the ball, accumulating 250 rushing yards and 24 tackles.
Time & place: 7:30 p.m., at Grinnell
Records: Washington is 2-0 overall, 0-0 Class 3A District 6; Grinnell is 2-0, 0-0.
Notable: The Demons don’t possess outlandish stats (no rushers over 150 yards), but they’ve found a way to win a pair of close games on the way to 2-0. They beat Mid-Prairie (21-13) and Keokuk (14-7) behind stout defense. No. 9 Grinnell has posted nearly identical scores (34-13 over Oskaloosa; 34-14 over Des Moines Roosevelt) and is led by RB Jordan Ferch at 315 rushing yards on 36 carries.
Time & place: 7:30 p.m., at West Union
Records: Beckman is 1-1 overall, 0-0 Class 2A District 4; Beckman is 2-0, 0-0.
Notable: Second-rated North Fayette begins pursuit of a seventh consecutive district crown. The Hawks are typically potent; they have scored 89 points in the two-week non-district slate. Beckman’s pre-district schedule contained two lopside games — a 28-0 loss to West Delaware and a 40-0 win over Center Point-Urbana. Connor Golden has passed for 320 yards.
Time & place: 7:30 p.m., at Arlington
Records: Clayton Ridge is 3-0 overall, 0-0 Class 1A District 5; Starmont is 2-0, 0-0.
Notable: This is one of two 1A-5 games that match up two unbeaten teams (Northeast at Turkey Valley is the other). No. 8 Clayton Ridge has posted impressive offensive numbers, averaging 34.7 points and 436 yards per week. The Eagles enjoyed their most impressive win last week, handling Elkader Central, 38-13. Starmont has pounded its first two foes, 94-13. Three rushers were over the 100-yard plateau last week, and Vinnie Otdoerfer leads the team with 306 yards on 31 carries and six TDs.
Time & place: 7 p.m., at Brooklyn
Records: Montezuma is 2-0 overall, 0-0 Class A District 6; BGM is 1-1, 0-0.
Notable: Montezuma moved into the Class A poll this week at No. 7. The Braves have been strong defensively, allowing 10.5 points per game. Kirk Salnave has rushed for 190 yards. BGM bounced back from a Week 1 beating at Iowa City Regina by hammering English Valleys. Jevohn Miller has collected 24 tackles and recovered two fumbles, one for a touchdown.
Cedar Rapids Jefferson (0-2) at Waterloo East (2-0), 7:15 p.m.
Cedar Rapids Prairie (0-2) at Cedar Falls (2-0), 7:15 p.m.
Iowa City Regina (2-0) at Wilton (0-2), 7 p.m.
At least North Fayette wont have to worry about the field causing injuries like the new Beckman field did last week. Similar problem were had last year at Kingston and are happening this year at the Giants/Jets new field. It seems that new artificial fields have a tendency to make some injuries more likely until the fiel matures and settles a bit. When new, it appears to be too soft. Good luck and god blees to anyone else that has to play on that field this season.
Heard it here first, the best shot at a metro upset is DBQ Wahlert over Linn-Mar. McCarron will need to carry the load!
i agree mvc fan, eagles rb hasnt even played in the 2nd half of either game. 4 quarters he could put up some impressive numbers. but they havent faced a good defenses yet.
They aren’t going to face one this week either?
The “Battle for the Boot” between City and West may be the best rivalry in the state of Iowa. Always a fierce battle.
good joke, JackB
Prairie will beat Cedar Falls tomorrow. You heard it here first.
Prairie might just do it. I’m a CF guy and everyone in town knows the Tigers are a little overrated at #2 or #3. They might be one of the best teams in the state by the end of the year, but there are not there yet. I would guess this will be a battle and would not be shocked to see Prairie nip the Tigers.
I will be interested to see how the sophomore game shakes out. The Tiger Sophs have a really good squad, and the Prairie Sophs look to be one of the better 3-4 teams in the Mississippi Valley along with Xaivier (who beat Prairie in a heart- stopper last Friday) and Iowa City High.
Hudl is fantastic! I have been able to see nearly every team in the conference play – both varsity and sophs. If your a highschool football junkie, you couldn’t ask for more.
These 2 3A match ups againist Sumner Fredericksburg have put them in a tough position. But the win againist South Winn put the Cougars in the running with Beckman and maybe even Monicello. North Fayette are doing a great job as always but what happened to Cascade? 0-3 their are not making the playoffs. I also think a suprise turn around from Jesup might be what 2A district 4 needs. This district might be the best with team like Jesup, Dyersville, Monicello, Sumner, and of course North Fayette