Metro Sports Report

Marion handles Mt Vernon in opener

MOUNT VERNON – Diving headfirst into the “Schedule of Death,” the Marion Indians swam in their 2014 season opener.

In Game 1 of a slate that offers no off-weeks, Marion rode its new-look offensive attack to a mud-ugly but hard-earned 28-6 victory over a game Mount Vernon team.

Kory Walsh ran for two touchdowns, new starting quarterback Hayden Meister connected with Derek Smith on a 38-yard touchdown strike and the late-awakening Indians took control of the game in the third quarter to score an opening-night win that was as pretty as an offensive line trying to perform a ballet routine.

“That was the definition of winning ugly,” Indians Coach Tony Perkins said.

In a fitting image of just how daunting Marion's 2014 season figures to be, the sky opened wide with three minutes left in the third quarter, forcing the Indians to put the game away in the pouring rain.

Saints drop rematch to No.1 Dowling, 24-2

WEST DES MOINES - The season-opener between Xavier and Dowling Catholic played out much differently than last year's state championship game in the UNI-Dome, but the end result was very much the same as the Maroons put a stranglehold on a new-look Saints offense throughout a 24-2 victory.

Although the Saints owned more than a five-minute edge in time of possession and first-year starting quarterback Bryce Schulte got plenty of reps against one of the best defenses in the state, the sophomore threw a pair of costly interceptions to Dowling's Dante Campero and Xavier never really threatened against the Maroon defense.

It was a marathon day for a Saints team that traveled two hours to central Iowa, only to deal with an hour-long rain delay late in the second quarter.

"They're a well-coached team with great players, but I think our kids battled hard," said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. "They had to go to school all day, get on a bus and come down here with the weather the way it was. They tried to stay focused and play the number-one ranked team in the biggest classification."

Big openers on tap for Metro gridders

There was no grand design. Nobody sat down and tried to fill the opening night of the 2014 high school football season with intriguing matchups, but that's how it turned out.

No matter where you look, all of the eight Metro teams will have an interesting battle on their hands when they open the campaign Friday night.

You've got the ancient rivalry of Washington vs. Jefferson at Kingston Stadium, with the Warriors looking to build on last year's momentum and the improved J-Hawks looking to accomplish big things this year with newcomer Jesse Furrow at quarterback.

You've got Linn-Mar at Prairie, where the Lions are hoping to rebound from a couple of sub-par campaigns and the Hawks are looking to improve upon a .500 season behind 300-pound lineman Bryce Meeker, a future Iowa State Cyclone.

There's Kennedy at Iowa City West, where both teams have new head coaches who were promoted from within the program.

There's Marion at Mount Vernon, where the Indians will be tackling the start of a demanding schedule.

Kernels have pitching issues for playoffs

The Cedar Rapids Kernels have made the Midwest League playoffs, but who's going to be their starting pitchers in those games?

Chih-Wei Hu will start the playoff opener against Burlington next week despite a shaky first inning in a 3-2 loss to Kane County Thursday night, but Manager Jake Mauer is not sure who will be available after that.

Left-handers Mat Batts, Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe are all approaching their maximum number of innings for the season, as prescribed by the parent Minnesota Twins, and bonus baby Kohl Stewart is on the disabled list.

That leaves Hu, Ryan Eades and a bunch of question marks.

Hu allowed three runs in the first inning Thursday and walked two straight batters with the bases loaded, but he settled down after that.