Jefferson High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cougars deserve cheers, not jeers

It would be easy to make fun of the Kennedy Cougars for making the Class 4A football playoffs with a 2-7 record, but that would be a big mistake.

First of all, the Kennedy players are not responsible for the new district format this year that made it possible for 2-7 clubs to advance. Administrators did that, not the athletes.

Secondly, the Cougars should be applauded for sticking with it and playing hard after a rough 0-6 start. They had to adjust to a new head coach and new offensive scheme, and they lost a couple of games they could have - maybe should have - won.

Kennedy began the season with a 12-9 setback at Iowa City City when the Trojans threw a 33-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-15 with 1:59 left in the game. Four weeks later, the Cougars missed a 33-yard field on the final play of the fourth quarter and fell to Jefferson, 27-24, in overtime

Two weeks ago, the Cougars scored a touchdown with 71 seconds left against Cedar Falls to pull within 21-20, but they unable to convert a two-point conversion and lost by a single point.

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No. 6 Lions roll; Jeff makes playoffs

Good football teams get big plays when they need them from their key players.

Linn-Mar is a good football team and its key players on offense have been Trevor Noble and Ryan Schmidt. The senior tandem came to the front when the Lions needed them most in Friday's regular-season finale against Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Schmidt and Noble hooked up for four touchdown passes as the Lions rallied from a 14-7 deficit to win going away, 42-21, on a foggy Friday night at Linn-Mar Stadium.

The Lions (8-1, 5-0) had already locked up the Class 4A District 5 title after Week 8. Coach Bob Forsyth's team will host a No. 4 seed Davenport Central in a first-round playoff game on Wednesday night.

Jefferson (4-5, 2-3) got into the playoffs as a No. 4 seed. The J-Hawks will be on the road against a No. 1 seed and unbeaten Bettendorf on Wednesday night.

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Altemeier, Eck run to state meet

CEDAR FALLS - Sarah Altemeier and Sam Eck of Cedar Rapids Washington placed in the top 10 at the district cross country meet in Cedar Falls Thursday and qualified for the Class 4A state meet in Fort Dodge Nov. 1.

Altemeier finished fifth in the girls 4K race in 15 minutes, 38 seconds. Eck placed 10th in the boys 5K event in 16 minutes, 46 seconds.

The top three teams and top 10 individuals advance to state. Washington, Jefferson and Kennedy did not qualify their boys teams or girls teams for state.

CLASS 4A DISTRICT MEET
Birdsall Park, Cedar Falls

BOYS RESULTS

Team Standings

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3 Metro teams seek playoff berths

It will be interesting to see how many high school football teams with 2-and-7 records make the Class 4A playoffs this year.

The Kennedy Cougars will make the 32-team field with a 2-7 mark if they defeat Waterloo West at Kingston Stadium Friday night, but they're not the only ones who could advance with a 2-7 record.

Iowa City High, Clinton and Mason City also could "earn" spots in the Class 4A tournament with 2-7 marks. That would be an improvement for Mason City, which qualified a few years ago with a 1-8 record.

We can thank - or blame - the district format for all this. The only results that count are district games. The non-district games are simply exhibitions, as far as making the playoffs, so it's a lot easier to make the playoffs now.

You can lose all of your non-district games, finish fourth in your district with a wobbly record and march into the playoffs at 2-7 (and sometimes even 1-8).

Under the old conference format, it normally took at least four victories to make the playoffs, although occasionally a team would slip through with a 3-6 mark. The schools voted for this system, so now everyone has to live with it.

Washington, Linn-Mar and Xavier have clinched playoff berths. The top-ranked Warriors are 8-0 and rolling along. The sixth-ranked Lions are 7-1, with the only loss to Washington. The Saints are 5-3, but have struggled on offense in their losses to Dowling (24-2), Western Dubuque (7-6) and Iowa City Regina (21-7) with only one touchdown on offense.

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Cougars make strong run in MVC tourney

After winning  five straight matches Saturday, the Kennedy girls finally ran out of steam and had to settle for second place to Iowa City High in the 14-team Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball tournament.

Along the way, the Cougars got revenge for regular-season losses to Iowa City West and Linn-Mar. And they beat City High in three games in pool play during the morning session.

But in the championship final the Little Hawks found their groove and posted a dominating 25-16 25-16 victory.

“I think the kids were kind of zapped at the end,” said Kennedy Coach Michelle Goodall. “And Iowa City came out on fire.”

Ranked eighth in Class 5A, City High (21-9) came into the tourney as the top seed with the only unblemished MVC record of 6-0. The Class 5A 10th-ranked Cougars (25-11) were seeded eighth based on their 4-2 conference mark.

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Drake, Lions shatter 3 MVC records

It's too bad they don't have a decathlon for high school swimmers.

If anyone could win 10 events at one meet, it would be Linn-Mar sophomore Kelsey Drake.

Freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke. Sprints, middle distances, long distances. It wouldn't matter.

Drake, Drake, Drake, Drake.

"It would be her," Linn-Mar Coach Chad Derlein confirmed Saturday. "It doesn't matter, she can swim it. Whatever event.

"She's probably the most versatile swimmer I know."

Drake starred at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet at Kennedy Saturday. She broke meet records in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly, then had a sizzling anchor on the 400 freestyle relay to help Jenn Jenks, Lizzie Adams and Stephanie Jenks shatter another record.

High school swimmers are limited to four events at one meet. The closest Drake ever came to a "decathlon" in swimming was at the 12-and-under state meet a few years back, when she recalls winning nine events.

Drake enjoys all four strokes, although the butterfly is her favorite. "I could swim butterfly and never got bored with it, I love it so much," she remarked.

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6 Metro teams could make playoffs

Three Metro football teams have clinched spots in the football playoffs and three more Metro clubs are still alive heading into the final week of the regular season.

Washington and Linn-Mar have clinched Class 4A district titles and the Xavier Saints can win their Class 3A district crown with a victory over Marion Friday night.

Jefferson, Prairie and Kennedy are still in contention for Class 4A playoff spots heading into decisive contests.

The top-ranked Washington Warriors and sixth-ranked Linn-Mar Lions will be No. 1 seeds for the playoffs and will face a No. 4 seed in the opening round.

The fifth-ranked Xavier Saints are tied for first place in their district with Solon and Western Dubuque, but the Saints own the tiebreaker and will draw a No. 1 seed by topping Marion.

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Rashed nets 3 TDs as J-Hawks roll

Don't close the book on Jefferson's comeback season.

Bouncing back from one of the most discouraging losses in recent program history, the J-Hawks fought back into the Iowa Class 4A playoff picture Friday night.

A week after squandering a game-winning touchdown chance on a first-and-goal play from the 5-yard line, Jefferson returned to Kingston Stadium wiser, even more driven and in complete control from first snap to last in a no-doubt, penalty-plagued 35-0 throttling of winless and punchless Waterloo East.

Tavian Rashed turned a touchdown hat trick with scores of 13, 19 and 8 yards, Bryce Lund added a pair of touchdowns and Jefferson (4-4, 2-2 District 5) delivered a powerful rebound that kept it in contention for District 5's fourth and final playoff spot and its first postseason berth in six years.

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Murphy, Mather lead Lions to MVC title

CEDAR FALLS - Daniel Murphy and Michael Mather of Linn-Mar finished in nearly a dead heat Thursday to help the Lions capture the Valley Division cross country title at Birdsall Park in Cedar Falls.

Murphy and Mather were both timed in 16 minutes, 10 seconds in a photo finish, but Murphy was declared the winner.

Ryan Murphy placed fourth for Linn-Mar as the Lions edged Cedar Falls for the title, 37-39.

Linn-Mar junior Amber Decker, who won the title at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet last week, had to settle for third place in the Valley Division race behind Bailey Nock and Emmie Skopec of Iowa City West.

Iowa City West topped Linn-Mar for the girls team championship, 19-37.

Hannah Fusselman of Kennedy finished 10th.

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