Metro Sports Report

No.2 Bettendorf stops Cougars

BETTENDORF – They remarkably went from winless to reaching the show in 30 days. Chia Pets don't mature this fast.

But the true test of how far the Kennedy Cougars have come in their late autumn surge from an 0-6 club to a playoff team came Monday night.

And as far as the Cougars have come over the last month and as far as they traveled in a marvelous first-half performance at TouVelle Stadium Monday, they couldn't overcome second-ranked Bettendorf on its home turf in this daunting Class 4A playoff exam.

Bettendorf won, 31-7

Continuing to look like one of the teams to beat for the 4A state championship, unbeaten Bettendorf again rode its powerful defense to victory. Iowa sack leader Jack Kallenberger fronted a Bulldogs defense that limited Kennedy to a single touchdown.

Bettendorf quarterback Cyle Cox produced 247 offensive yards – including 116 rushing yards – and a touchdown pass, and tailback Justice O'Conner added a hat trick of rushing touchdowns in a decisive triumph in the second round of the playoffs.

Linn-Mar claims 4A state title

FORT DODGE - Daniel Murphy has lived with a nightmare the past year after collapsing at the state cross country meet in 2013 and needing medical attention.

Now he's living a dream.

Murphy and the Linn-Mar Lions raced to the first state title in school history Saturday when they captured top honors at the Class 4A meet in Fort Dodge.

The Lions nudged Cedar Rapids Prairie, 85-98, in the team standings. Prairie won the state title last year, making it back-to-back crowns for Metro schools.

Murphy finished dead-last in 2013 after he collapsed several times and staggered to the finish line, due to dehydration and a possible virus. Linn-Mar might have challenged Prairie for the state title last year if Murphy had been in top form.

"I felt like I let the team down," he said Saturday.

That's all in the past now. Linn-Mar came home with the top prize this time thanks to Daniel Murphy, Michael Mather, Ryan Murphy, Bryan Fogerty, Jay Halverson and the entire program of coaches, runners, trainers and managers.

"It's amazing," said Murphy, who finished sixth. "That's all you can say. Amazing."

Battle-tested Cougars face No. 2 Bulldogs

Nobody can accuse the Kennedy Cougars of ducking any of the top Class 4A football teams in Eastern Iowa this season.

In fact, the Cougars have played the toughest schedule of anyone in these parts. By far.

Kennedy will try to upset second-ranked Bettendorf in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs Monday night. But win or lose, it will mean the Cougars will have faced all four of the No. 1 seeds from Eastern Iowa and all four of the No. 2 seeds.

Nobody else can say that.

Kennedy played Washington, Linn-Mar and Pleasant Valley during the regular season, and all three of them are No. 1 seeds in the playoffs as district champions. Now Bettendorf will complete the set as another No. 1 seed and district champ.

The Cougars also have faced Cedar Falls, Iowa City West, North Scott and Muscatine this year. All four of them were No. 2 seeds in the playoffs as a district runner-up.

Cougars win title; Drake sets record

Not even a state-record performance from Linn-Mar's Kelsey Drake could overshadow a dominant team effort from Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Drake, the Lions' super sophomore, set an all-time Iowa best in winning the 100-yard butterfly in Saturday's district meet at the Linn-Mar Aquatics Center. While Drake was the individual star, Kennedy was the team turning in good swim after good swim.

For one of the few times this season, veteran Cougars Coach John Ross was able to look on the deck and see his team at full strength. They responded by winning five events and had at least three top-six finishers in four events to take the team title.

Kennedy finished with 485 points to outdistance Metro rivals Linn-Mar (430) and Cedar Rapids Washington (307). All champions from the six districts around the state along with the next-best 18 finishers qualified for the state meet next Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA.

"I can't tell you how happy I am with the way we swam today," Ross said. "This is what swimming is about to me. We swam as a team and we had so many people swim so well today.

"We have battled health issues all season," he continued. "This was the meet for us this year. Winning this was our goal."