By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
It took watching film to make it official, but Algona quarterback John Gifford was credited with 418 rushing yards in last Friday’s 39-14 victory over Webster City.
There had been some question about exactly how many yards Gifford racked up, so the film of the game was used to make it more exact. The film review came on the request of Iowa High School Athletic Association Information Director Bud Legg.
Gifford now has the No. 8 spot all-time for single-game rushing efforts. The IHSAA says Don Larson of Alden ran for 455 yards in a game back in 1954 to set the state record for rushing performances in 11-man football. Andrew Leeper of Adair-Casey rushed for 492 yards in a game two years ago for the state’s career total for eight-man football.
Football: 57 Unbeaten Teams Remain
The Iowa High School Athletic Association also reports there are a total of 57 undefeated football teams in the state after four weeks of the regular season. That number will definitely drop by seven after this weekend’s play, because that same number of games will pit two unbeatens against each other.
Two of those games will be in Class 4-A, as Bettendorf plays at North Scott and Southeast Polk travels to Indianola. The pair of games between unbeatens in Class 3-A will have Dallas Center-Grimes at Carroll and Charles City at Clear Lake.
In 2-A, the unbeaten matchup is Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove at IKM/Manning, while in Class 1-A Fort Dodge St. Edmond heads to Emmetsburg in a tussle of teams without a loss. Armstrong-Ringsted is at North Sentral Kossuth in eight-man football as the other contest involving a pair of unbeaten squads.
Football: Also of Note…..
* Iowa high school coaches who reached milestones last weekend included Roland-Story coach Kerry Van Winkle reaching win No. 250 in a 31-0 victory over South Hardin and Les Penick of BCLUW getting career win No. 100 in a 38-6 conquest of Grundy Center.
* Coon Rapids-Bayard quarterback Johnny Schwaller is now fifth all-time for eight-man pass completions after finishing with 389 following a victory over Elk Horn-Kimballton Friday night. Schwaller is one completion short of the No. 4 all-time mark.
Boys Golf: Waterloo West Sets Record
The Wahawks of Waterloo West set a school record nine-hole round of 135 during a meet in Cedar Rapids last Thursday.
Fifth-year coach Larry Daniels considered that a bit of a surprise, considering the Wahawks have won enough state championships to count on both hands…10 to be exact.
"It was one of those days where ... they were one-putting just about everything,” Daniels told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
A group of four players shot par or better for the meet, led by Sam Cooley’s 32. Nine members of the team have nine-hole averages in the 30s for the season.
Cross Country: Family Affair at Glenwood
The Glenwood boys cross country team looks at itself as a family. One of the biggest squads in the state, Glenwood has 50 runners on the varsity team and another 20 middle schoolers who run with the varsity.
But “family” has another meaning for the Rams, who have nine sets of brothers and two pairs of twins on the team. Add to that the husband-wife tandem of Todd and LuAnn Peverill who coach the team.
It’s the second season that the Peverills have officially been a coaching duo, although LuAnn has been assisting Todd even before she was hired to help out. They’ve been married for 26 years.
The formula must be working, because the Glenwood “family” cross country team has been ranked as high as third in the state for 3-A schools this fall.
Volleyball: Johnston Stops Ankeny
Expect a new No. 1 in Iowa Class 4-A volleyball later in the week, as top-ranked Ankeny was defeated by fifth-ranked Johnston in a Central Iowa Metropolitan League Central Conference meet Tuesday night at Johnston. It was a bit of revenge for Johnston in defeating the No. 1-ranked team, as the Dragons were the top dog in 4-A before being beaten themselves by West Des Moines Valley one week before.
Johnston improved to 9-1 for the season, while the Hawkettes fell to 13-1. Chelsey Semprini of Ankeny led the match with 17 kills. Abby Sonner paced Johnston with 14 kills.
