By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Iowa’s big school class has three unbeaten (10-0) teams remaining to start the playoff run toward a state championship. West Des Moines Valley stopped Des Moines Lincoln 55-14 in Wednesday’s sub-state round, Iowa City High eliminated Davenport Assumption 24-10 and Bettendorf edged Clinton 28-21.
Valley’s offense averaged over 10 yards a play in their win over the Railsplitters. They scored points (touchdowns or field goals) on all of their first eight possessions. They are in the playoffs for the 17th straight year, the longest active run of any team in Iowa and tied for second all-time.
Third-ranked City High ended Assumption’s season with its sub-state contest win in Iowa City. The Little Hawks opened up a big lead early in the second half with touchdowns on their first two drives of the third quarter.
Quarterback A.J. Derby threw touchdown passes of 13 and 15 yards to open the game up to 24-3 for the Little Hawks with a little more than five minutes left in the third quarter.
However, the Little Hawks are playing in the postseason without fullback and linebacker Adam Prybil, who broke a leg in the regular season finale and is out for the rest of the year.
Bettendorf, last year’s state 4-A champions, became the only Mississippi Athletic Conference team to get past the sub-state round Wednesday, but just barely. The Bulldogs, which had defeated Clinton 35-14 in the regular season, advanced with their 28-21 win in Bettendorf’s TouVille Stadium. Jared Masterson led the Bettendorf offense with 133 rushing yards.
Valley next plays host to 7-3 Ottumwa, City High hosts 7-3 Cedar Rapids Xavier and Bettendorf is the home team against Cedar Rapids Prairie.
Football: Six Unbeatens Remain in Class 3-A
Six teams remain undefeated going into the first round of playoffs in the Class 3-A football season. They include top-ranked Sioux City Heelan, who beat ADM 44-6 in the sub-state round Wednesday. That means a rematch with Sergeant Bluff-Luton in Sergeant Bluff Monday night. The Warriors lost to Heelan in Sioux City in the season finale.
Clear Lake risks its undefeated record against 8-2 Charles City after a pair of shutout wins in the sub-states. Clear Lake blanked Ballard of Huxley 42-0, while Charles City ousted Boone 31-0.
Carroll went to 10-0 with a 35-0 win over Algona in the sub-state round Wednesday night. It will play Webster City (7-3) in the first round of the playoffs on Monday.
Decorah edged Van Horne-Benton 21-19 to stay unbeaten and will meet 7-3 West Delaware in the first round. The Hawks upset once-beaten Marion 35-2 in the sub-states.
Mount Pleasant defeated Norwalk 31-14 in the sub-states to remain without a loss for the season and will play in the first round Monday against Centerville (9-1), a 30-16 winner over Clear Creek-Amana Wednesday night.
Pella plastered Oskaloosa 61-14 in the sub-states to move to 10-0 and will host Williamsburg in the playoff first round. Williamsburg eliminated Grinnell 31-28 in overtime Wednesday night.
Football: More Unbeatens Advance to Playoffs
Among the other football teams advancing with an unbeaten record into next week’s playoffs are Central Lyon-George-Little Rock, IKM-Manning, Roland-Story, and Solon in Class 2-A. The Class 1-A teams with unblemished records includes Emmetsburg and Aplington-Parkersburg. They will play each other in the quarterfinals if they advance past Monday’s first-round.
In Class A, unbeatens include AHST, East Buchanan, and North Tama, and in eight-man football, favorites without a loss include Stanton, CAM, and North Sentral.
Aplington-Parkersburg Tornado Recovery Attracts More Donations
The school and the athletic program at Aplington-Parkersburg continue to receive donations to help in the rebuilding and recovery from a deadly tornado this spring.
An F-5 tornado leveled much of the Parkersburg community last May, leaving a destroyed school and football/track stadium among its victims. The efforts to rebuild the Falcons football field, named for veteran coach Ed Thomas, has received national attention and the fundraising has been helped by a handful of NFL players who played high school football for Thomas.
This past week, Thomas was surprised by a donation of over $16,000 during a pep rally for the football team. The money comes from the high school fundraising company Varsity Gold. It matched donations from 10 Iowa and Illinois high schools and gave all the money to the A-P athletics fund.
The eastern Iowa high school is also getting $25,000 after winning a nationwide contest by the Henkel Corporation.
The Falcons are unbeaten going into Monday’s first-round of the Class 1-A playoffs.