By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
One of the state’s most successful schools for athletics is in the upper northeast corner of the Hawkeye State. Decorah sports teams have done well enough over the last school year to earn the first Challenge Cup trophy for Class 3-A.
The Vikings were one of four schools honored by the first-year traveling trophy, which goes to the top all-around athletic program in each classification. The award is based on a point system for every sport a school reaches state competition in, advances in a state competition or gets academic honors from either of Iowa’s governing sports bodies.
Bank Iowa and the Iowa High School Sports Network sponsored the award, which was presented this past week during a school assembly.
The winners in the other classes were Iowa City West in Class 4-A, Council Bluffs St. Albert’s in Class 2-A, and Fairbank-Wapsie Valley in Class 1-A.
Football: Top-Ranked Teams Keep Winning
Iowa’s No. 1-ranked football teams continued their winning ways this weekend. Class 4-A’s West Des Moines Valley, 3-A’s Sioux City Heelan, Solon in 2-A, Aplington-Parkersburg in Class 1-A, Madrid in Class A, and eight-man leader Stanton all posted wins.
West Des Moines Valley pounded Newton, 63-12, as Tigers’ running back Zach Cutkomp scored three rushing touchdowns in the victory, including an 80-yard run to start the contest. Valley led 49-0 at halftime. All 12 of Newton’s points came in the final quarter.
Sioux City Heelan stopped Estherville-Lincoln Central 41-7, running away from E-LC in the second half for the Class 3-A district victory. The Crusaders scored 34 second half points to break up a 7-7 halftime tie.
Brandon Wegher ran for 190 yards and three touchdowns for last year’s state 3-A runners-up. The Iowa Hawkeye recruit scored on runs of 27, 25, and 5 yards. He already has 990 yards and 15 touchdowns in his senior season at Heelan.
Solon defeated Tipton 27-7 as Iowa Hawkeye football recruit James Morris scored a trio of touchdowns in the second half for the Spartans. This was the closest victory Solon has had this season, having beaten its three previous opponents by an average of 38 points.
223 of Morris’ 279 rushing yards came in the second half for Solon, including touchdown runs of 31 and 74 yards in the third quarter. Morris added a 68-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Tipton fell to 2-2 with the loss.
Aplington-Parkersburg tamed Nashua-Plainfield in a wild affair, 50-32, as Colin Tenney set a school record for rushing yardage with 341 yards. The Falcons ran for a school record of 648 yards in the contest.
Madrid handled Colo-NESCO 33-13 to stay unbeaten in Class A football, and Stanton easily defeated Essex 66-6 to bolster its number one claim in eight-man football.
Football: Pollow Sets Sioux City East Passing Record
In the apparently pass-happy northwest corner of Iowa, where Cherokee’s Tyler Jones set the all-time Iowa career passing record last week against Okoboji, Sioux City East’s Taylor Pollow notched a school passing record Friday night against visiting Urbandale.
Pollow threw for an East High single-game record 410 yards, but the Black Raiders lost to the J-Hawks 34-27 on homecoming night in Sioux City. The loss was East’s third in a row, dropping the Raiders to 1-3, while Urbandale improved to 3-1 for the season.
Pollow completed 34 of 47 passes on the evening, with Britt Anderson catching 17 for 162 yards and one touchdown. Quenton James received 11 catches for 168 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Pollow broke a record that stood for 23 years, as Greg Adams tossed for 321 yards in a Black Raider game in 1985.
Football: Gifford Runs Wild for Algona
Algona running back John Gifford turned in an amazing performance at Webster City Friday night. Gifford ran for 418 yards as his Bulldogs defeated Webster City 39-14 in a Class 3-A contest.
The 418 yards came on 26 carries for an average of over 16 yards a crack. The Algona quarterback also scored three rushing touchdowns in the victory and passed for another. The win moved Algona’s record to 2-1 for the season and dropped Webster City to 2-2 overall.
Gifford’s rushing total is the eighth-best all-time single-game performance in Iowa and third-best among Class 3-A teams. Gifford’s 418 yards were part of a 500-yard offensive attack by the Bulldogs in the contest.