Metro Sports Report

Cornell sweeps 22nd Mustang Gallop

The distance runners from Cornell College galloped faster than everybody else at the 22nd Annual Mustang Gallop on Tuesday at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids.

Cornell rode a 1-2 finish from Sanjuanita Martinez and Abrah Masterson to trim Mount Mercy, 27-36, for the championship in the women's division.

The Rams used their depth to top Coe, 54-63, for the men's title.

The Mount Mercy women got a 3-4-5 showing from Liz Mosbach, Molly Pruett and Kaite Hoffert to challenge Cornell in their race.

Mount Mercy freshman James Lindstrom finished second in the men's race in 16 minutes, 18 seconds. Evan Bowman of Mount Mercy finished third in 16:34. Alex Bass of the University of Dubuque won the 5K race in 16:10.

Dralle wins Metro Spotlight Award

Tyler Dralle of Kennedy is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Dralle, a senior, carried the ball 40 times for 265 yards and four touchdowns Thursday night when the Cougars opened the 2015 football season with an exciting 34-31 victory over Iowa City West.

Dralle averaged 6.6 yards per carry and scored touchdowns on runs of 10, 7, 1 and 2 yards behind Kennedy's talented offensive line.

Warriors escape Jeff's upset bid

Cedar Rapids Washington fullback Tavion Stewart had carried the ball only once all day when he took a simple handoff in the fourth quarter and saw nothing but daylight between him and the end zone far away.

He had one thought as he raced 75 yards to paydirt.

"Don't stop running. Keep going. Don't slow down," he said.

Stewart's long gallop snapped a 14-14 tie and helped the Warriors beat Jefferson, 27-14, in the season opener Saturday afternoon at Kingston Stadium.

The cross-town rivals were supposed to play Friday night, but a severe thunderstorm sent everyone home early and made the teams wait another day to knock heads.

Washington was ranked as high as No. 2 in some preseason polls after playing for the Class 4A state title last year, but the Warriors had their hands full for three quarters against a team that finished with a 4-6 record last season.

Hawks a winner in Bliss' debut

Mark Bliss' first quarter as Prairie's head football coach didn't go all that well.

But the final three of his first game were nothing but pure bliss for the first-year coach.

Bliss' Hawks fell behind Linn-Mar 10-0 and were in danger of falling down 13-0 late in the quarter as the Lions lined up for a field goal attempt.

Martavian Borseth broke through and blocked Alexy Boehm's 43-yard attempt and it was a different game from that point on.

“That was huge,” Bliss said. “Absolutely huge. It switched the field and gave us the field position in which we could go down and score.”