Cougars vs Warriors: A week too soon?
The showdown between the Kennedy and Washington football teams in the Class 4A playoffs Friday night should be great fun, but could be coming a week too soon.
That's the only "negative" comment you can make about their impending battle at Kingston Stadium. It's coming in the quarterfinals of the postseason tournament instead of the semifinals.
Both teams are worthy of advancing to the Final 4 next Friday night in the UNI-Dome instead of having one of their seasons end this week. The Cougars (11-0) are ranked No. 3 in the state by the Des Moines Register and the Warriors (10-1) are ranked No. 5.
Washington's only loss was to Kennedy, 28-24, in the second game of the season two months ago. Otherwise, neither team has lost.
The other quarterfinal game in the Class 4A playoffs in Eastern Iowa features Iowa City High (8-3) at Bettendorf (11-0). Clearly, the Iowa High School Athletic Association used geography when it arranged the pairings for our side of the state.