Metro Sports Report

Beyer accepts offer from Hawkeyes

Cancel the commitment to North Dakota State. Forget the trip to Nebraska this week. Chalk up another victory for Kirk Ferentz.

Kennedy football star Shaun Beyer is going to be an Iowa Hawkeye.

Beyer visited Iowa on Wednesday and made the big announcement on his social media account.

"Extremely blessed to receive an offer and to commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes!," Beyer declared. "Truly a dream come true!"

Beyer committed to FCS power North Dakota State over the summer and was scheduled to attend Iowa's game at Nebraska this Friday as a guest of the Cornhuskers, who offered him a scholarship a few weeks ago. Instead, he'll wear black-and-gold in college.

Beyer is one of the most versatile football players in the state, capable of playing just about every position on the field and excelling at everything he tried. He helped Kennedy as a wide receiver, tight end, running back, quarterback, defensive end, linebacker, defensive back and punter this season.

Kennedy cagers welcome gridders to team

Jon McKowen cheered for the Cedar Rapids Kennedy football team all the way to the Class 4A championship game in the UNI-Dome Monday night and relished the team's success along the way.

Now he's glad the football season is finally over so several of those guys can trade their cleats for sneakers and join McKowen's basketball team at Kennedy.

Matt Gardner, Nick Duehr, Carter Krall and Kai Jenkins will be making the switch from football to basketball in the next few days after they've had a chance to mentally and physically recover from the rigors of a long season.

They'll get a late start in basketball with the season opener set for next Friday, Dec. 4 against Sioux City North on the road, but McKowen feels the benefits of a successful football season far out-weigh the detriments in terms of school pride and spirit.

Beyer named captain of INA football team

Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Shaun Beyer has been named the captain of the Class 4A all-state football team by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Beyer starred as a receiver, running back, punter and linebacker for the Cougars, who reached the championship game of the state playoffs for the first time in school history and finished with a 13-1 record.

A total of 19 players from Metro teams were saluted on the INA honors squads.

Kennedy had five first-team selections with Mason Jacobs (offensive line), Tyler Dralle (running back), Beyer (utility), Dalles Jacobus (defensive line) and Austin Coates (defensive back). O'Rien Vance of Washington was named a first-team linebacker.

The Washington Warriors had four second-team choices with Isaiah Nimmers (wide receiver), Aries Davis (offensive line), Tavian Patrick (running back) and Dallas Hobbs (defensive line). Kennedy had two second-team picks with Jackson Coker (offensive line) and Johnson Mator (linebacker). Valentino Green of Jefferson was named second team all-state as a defensive back.

Cougars made it too easy for Dowling

CEDAR FALLS - Maybe the real Cedar Rapids Kennedy football team got lost in that snowstorm last Friday night.

Maybe they got kidnapped. Or locked in their gym. Or grounded by their parents for not doing their chores.