Friday night lights Week 1 wrap-up

The first full week of the Iowa prep football season saw area teams go 4-2 on the year, with Columbus and WACO suffering the two area losses.

The game recaps from the Washington and Sigourney-Keota game can be found in Monday?s edition of The Journal. For results on the remaining area teams, continue reading below.

Highland 61 ? Danville 6

Everything went as well as possible for the Highland football team on Friday night, as they exploded for 61 points against Danville in the season-opening game.

Much of the Huskies? damage came from the ground, as sophomore running back Trey Lasek accounted for 153 rushing yards on seven attempts, scoring twice.

Billy Burton rushed three times for 61 yards and a touchdown, while Jake Wood recorded three rushes for 28 yards in the contest.

Through the air, Wood was strong for the Huskies, completing seven of his 11 attempts for 128 yards and four touchdowns.

Chase Rath was Wood?s favorite target on the day, catching four passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns, while Trent Lasek had one catch for 32 yards.

Burton and Cory Stewart both snagged touchdown passes in the contest.

Defensively, the Huskies were led by James Colbert in tackles, posting five on the day, while Brady Hahn also notched five tackles and added 2.5 sacks to his night.

Burton had two interceptions in the contest.

The Highland football team will look to keep the strong momentum going when they host West Liberty in their home opener, before they take on Sigourney-Keota in the district opener in two weeks.

Mid-Prairie 41 ? Louisa-Muscatine 14

It was a strong start to the season for the Mid-Prairie football team with a young squad.

The Golden Hawks used a strong first half to cruise to the 41-14 victory over the Falcons, opening the season 1-0.

New Mid-Prairie quarterback Karson Gingerich had a nice debut under center, completing 6-of-9 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown, while the Mid-Prairie rushing game flourished.

Ricky Vargas notched 10 rushing attempts for 84  yards and two scores, while Keaton Duwa rushed twice for 129 yards.

Gingerich recorded six rushes for 28 yards on the day, along with a touchdown of his own.

Justin Schwartz was Gingerich?s top target with a pair of catches for 66 yards, while senior Levi Duwa notched the lone touchdown catch on the day, a 9-yard score.

Vargas was also strong on the defensive end, adding an interception return for a touchdown, while leading the team with 6.5 tackles and two tackles for a loss.

Duwa notched 3.5 tackles and two sacks in the game.

Terrhyn Jacoby was strong for the Golden Hawks? special teams, making all seven kicks on the night, including a pair of field goals, with the longest coming from 35 yards out.

Mid-Prairie will renew its rivalry with Washington on Friday night at Case Field.

Twin Cedars 66 ? WACO 56

The WACO football team played their first-ever 8-man home game on Friday night, and it was everything that an 8-man game should be.

The Warriors played in an absolute shootout against Twin Cedars, eventually falling in the game by the score of 66-56.

Things started out bleak for the Warriors as Twin Cedars returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown and made it 8-0 right away with a two-point conversion.

The Warriors hit right back with a 78-yard kickoff return by Colton Horak. Horak made the extra point and it was 8-7 with no plays run from scrimmage.

The Sabers scored the next two touchdowns in the first quarter and made the two-point conversion both times to take a 24-7 lead.

Horak scored another touchdown, this time on a 1-yard rush, and hit the extra point to cut the lead to 10 points but another Twin Cedars touchdown run made it 32-14. Colton Wilson made the biggest defensive play of the game shortly after that with a safety that made it 32-16 after one quarter of play.

Gabe Black helped cut the lead to 32-23, with a 12-yard touchdown run to start the second quarter. Twin Cedars scored the next two, however, and it was 46-23 at halftime.

The Warriors got off to a hot start in the second half with two more touchdown runs by Horak. Both scores were from the 35-yard line. He made one of his two extra point attempts and the score was 46-36.

Twin Cedars struck back with a 65-yard touchdown rush on the next possession but the conversion attempt failed. Black scored another touchdown, on a 9-yard run, and it was 52-43 at halftime.

WACO started to put the pressure on in the fourth quarter with a couple of more touchdowns by Black. His first score of the quarter was a 5-yard run. After the extra point, it was 52-50, with Twin Cedars still on top.

The Sabers pushed the lead to eight points with a 40-yard punt return touchdown later in the quarter that made it 58-50, but the Warriors had a chance to tie it up after stopping the two-point conversion.

The Warriors drove down the field and eventually punched it in on a 1-yard touchdown run by Black, but their conversion attempt was no good and Twin Cedars still held a 58-56 lead.

Twin Cedars added some insurance in the final minutes with a touchdown and a two-point conversion to end all scoring at 66-56.

Despite the loss, both Horak and Black had monster days on the stat sheet.

Horak ran the ball 37 times for 243 yards and three touchdowns, and finished with 132 kickoff return yards and a score. Black had 139 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries.

Wyatt Harbison was 4-11 passing the ball for 34 yards and an interception. Matthew Leichty led the team in receiving yards, with 19.

Defensively, Horak led the team in tackles, with 11.5. Black had 7.5 tackles and Nolan Eubanks had four.

The Warriors fell to 0-2 with the loss and will try to get their first win at Tri-County on Friday.

Durant 22 ? Columbus 7

The offense struggled to get moving for the Columbus football team on Friday night in a season-opening contest at Durant.

The Wildcats were only able to reach the end zone once on the night, falling 22-7 to the Wildcats.

Carter Colby was responsible for the lone score, scoring from 7 yards out, accounting for most of his 15 rushing yards on the night.

The Wildcats were led by senior Ruben Paz out of the backfield, as he rushed five times for 38 yards, while Nick Hernandez and Abel Mena both reached 26 yards rushing.

Colby completed two passes for 47 yards on the night, finding Paz and junior Tommy Pretz for receptions.

Hernandez led the team defensively, recording 6.5 tackles on the day, while Abel Mena accounted for six tackles.

Columbus will face Danville on Friday night at home.

- WACO writeup courtesy of Andy Krutsinger, Mt. Pleasant News.