Metro Sports Report

Dralle, Cougars aiming for Bettendorf

Kennedy tailback Tyler Dralle has his school record. Now he dearly wants a state title.

The twin pursuits have gone hand-in-hand all year during a magical campaign for the Cougars.

Dralle has rushed for 1,951 yards this season, smashing the school record of 1,662 set by Alex Hillyer in 2012. Now Dralle and the Cougars are two victories away from the first state title in school history.

Kennedy (12-0) meets Bettendorf (12-0) in the semifinals of the Class 4A playoffs Friday at 4:06 p.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The winner will play for the championship next Friday and that's where the Cougars want to be.

Dralle is certainly not a "me-first" player, but he wanted that school record for himself and his teammates.

"My goal coming in was to beat Alex Hillyer's record of 1,662. And I did that," he said Wednesday during practice inside the Kennedy gym. "I'm just trying to set the bar as high as I can.

"In the playoffs the yards don't even matter anymore," he said. "It's just getting the 'W' any way we can. Anything I get is just extra now."

Boehm leaving L-M early for college

Linn-Mar senior Alexy Boehm got an early start in soccer when he began playing the game when he was just 4 years old.

Now he plans to get an early start on his college soccer career as well.

Boehm plans to graduate from Linn-Mar High School in December and enroll at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in January for the start of the new semester as a college freshman.

An excellent student with a 3.57 GPA, Boehm said he will be getting financial aid from George Washington for athletics and academics. He committed to GWU in August and decided it would be a good idea to get an early start in college.

"I committed to a college pretty far away from home and going there early will give me a head-start above the other freshmen to get my classes settled, knowing the layout of the campus, getting to know the team early," he said.

Linn-Mar won the Class 3A state title last season with Boehm playing a prominent role on defense. He would have enjoyed trying to win another state crown with the Lions, but the tug for college was too strong.

"I was thinking about that," he said. "I think we have a good chance of winning it again this year, but I feel like I'd like to pursue the next step in my soccer career.

Mount Mercy soccer makes nationals

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Mount Mercy men's soccer team defeated Georgia Gwinnett, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Association of Independent Institutions tournament Thursday and earned an automatic spot in the NAIA national tournament.

Mount Mercy will face Ashford in the AII finals Saturday at the Grizzly Soccer Complex, with both teams advancing to the national meet.

Marco Fichtner scored in the 69th minute Thursday to snap a scoreless tie with an assist from Haris Hadzalic. It was Fichtner's 15th goal of the season.

Tomas Zajfert pitched a shutout in goal for the Mustangs.

Mount Mercy raised its record to 15-4, tying the school record for victories. The Mustangs will be making their second trip to the NAIA national tournament in school history.

Cedar Valley changes basketball coaches

Jeff Pospisil has stepped aside as the boys basketball coach at Cedar Valley Christian after 23 years as the head coach.

Pospisil, who is the principal at Cedar Valley, was the coach of the Huskies ever since the team was started in 1992.

Craig Foote, who was the girls basketball coach at Cedar Valley for seven years, has succeeded Pospisil as the boys basketball coach. Ron Slagle, who was Foote's assistant with the girls program, has succeeded Foote as head coach.

Slagle has been the club basketball coach for the Cedar Valley girls in the Class of 2018.