Metro Sports Report

Football playoffs trimmed to 16 teams

DES MOINES - The Iowa High School Athletic Association's Board of Control voted Monday to adopt a nine game regular season schedule and a 16-team qualifier field for all football classes in the playoffs starting in 2016.

The change means a reduction from 32 teams which currently qualify for the post-season in each class.

The schedules for this fall and the 2015 regular season and playoffs remain unchanged as previously published at www.iahsaa.org.

The move came after review of the current playoff system which allows fewer days of rest and recovery between each game in the post-season. In a nod toward player safety and risk-minimization, the IHSAA had been looking at several options.

Olivia Garcia wins Metro Spotlight Award

Olivia Garcia of Linn-Mar is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday night.

Garcia, a senior, has been one of the top soccer players in the state during her entire four-year career with the Lions.

Garcia helped Linn-Mar reach the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state tournament this year. The Lions lost to West Des Moines Valley, 2-1, with 32 seconds left in the second half for a heartbreaking defeat.

Tyler Nunemaker wins Metro Spotlight Award

Tyler Nunemaker of Cedar Rapids Prairie is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday night.

Nunemaker, a junior, has burst onto the scene this season as one of the top baseball players in the Metro area

Nunemaker is batting .500 with three doubles, one home run, 13 RBIs and nine runs scored in 11 games. He is 16-for-32 at the plate so far.

Real is happy to be helping Kernels

Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher Alex Real says he made an innocent mistake when he used a banned substance last year and was suspended for 50 games at the start of the 2015 season.

The substance - methylhexaneamine - was originally developed as a nasal decongestant, but it's also believed to increase focus and energy and has been been banned for all minor leaguers, partially because one of the side effects is a stroke.