Iowa Valley scores early, wins big

NORTH ENGLISH — Iowa Valley set the tone early, scoring on three of their first four offensive possessions, and rolled to a 48-16 victory over English Valleys in Class 8 District 6 football action last Friday at North English.

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Dawson Smith’s 2-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game got things started for the Tigers. Karter Theissen followed with a 32-yard TD run, and Nolan Kriegel tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Caleb Haack as IV bolted to an 18-0 lead.

The Bears had a chance to cut into that lead with a first down and the ball inside the Tigers’ six-yard line, but IV’s defense mounted a goal-line stand.

The Tigers then drove the length of the field and scored on a 27-yard keeper by Kriegel, making it 26-0 at the end of one quarter.

Smith’s second touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run midway through the second period, and Kriegel’s 2-point conversion extended the Tigers’ lead to 34-0.

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EV finally got on the board just before halftime on a 4th-and-goal, three-yard pass from Myles Grove to Drake Axmear. The 2-point conversion made it 34-8.

“We started off the game really well, making plays on both sides of the ball and building a good lead,” Tigers Coach Casey Kull said, “but we struggled a little in the second quarter and made some defensive adjustments at halftime that helped us.”

IV’s defense gave up hardly anything to EV in the second half until late when Grove hooked up with Kayeden Lown for a 6-yard touchdown pass.

The Tigers’ offense tacked on two more TDs in the third quarter on runs of 40 and 39 yards by Theissen. IV’s senior finished the night with 113 yards rushing on just four carries and three TDs.

Kriegel, a freshman, had another strong performance at quarterback, rushing for a team-high 115 yards on 12 carries, and completing 6-of-12 passes for 123 yards.

A 6-foot-9 junior, Haack was Kriegel’s favorite target through the air, towering over EV’s smaller secondary to catch five balls for 91 yards.

The Tigers finished the game with 417 yards of total offense compared to 157 for the Bears, who hurt themselves with two turnovers — interceptions by Smith and freshman Layne Peska, each theft leading to IV points.

Defensively, six Tiger players made four or more tackles, led by senior Colton Huedepohl with 7.5 stops, five of those for lost yardage. Sophomore Josh Read had six tackles, five solos.

With back-to-back wins, Iowa Valley improved its record to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the district. The Tigers have this week off and welcome second-ranked Winfield-Mount Union to Marengo for Homecoming Sept. 29.

EV, which fell to 2-2 and 1-1, will get to see the 4-0 Wolves this week when they make the hour-plus bus trip to Winfield. The Bears are back in North English Sept. 29 for Homecoming 2023 against Colo-Nesco.

BP WINS, HLV FALLS

Elsewhere, Belle Plaine beat BGM 66-35 at Brooklyn, and HLV lost to WACO 59-12 at Wayland.

The Plainsmen trailed the Bears 9-6 after one quarter, 23-22 at halftime and 35-28 through three periods before rallying in the final 12 minutes to score 38 unanswered points.

BGM quarterback Beau Burns accounted for 594 yards of total offense, rushing 34 times for 175 yards and one TD, and completing 33-of-55 passes for 419 yards and four scores.

Individual and team statistics were not available for Belle Plaine at press time. The Plainsmen, who have this Friday off, improved their record to 2-1 in the district and 3-2 overall.

BP will return to action Sept. 29 at home against Montezuma.

HLV faced quarter deficits of 18-0, 46-0 and 53-0 against WACO, turning the ball over three times and getting outgained in total yards, 307-132.

Freshman Cael Weisskopf scored both of HLV’s touchdowns, one on a 47-yard pass from fellow freshman Bryer Jack and the other a 52-yard run.

“This was a tough game to try to bounce back from after such a disheartening loss to Cal-Wheatland,” said HLV Coach Kevin Smith. ‘The kids battled though and their attitude and effort is what we had hoped for. We’ll look to build from that.”