Metro Sports Report

Jahlas pick ignites Cougars, 36-14

Josh Jahlas spied a chance.

Jahlas, a senior linebacker for the Kennedy football team, had as his assignment Friday night to keep an eye on Dubuque Wahlert quarterback Riley McCarron, a versatile runner and passer who led the Mississippi Valley Conference in total offense.

So after McCarron, who also plays cornerback and performs on special teams, returned a punt to the Kennedy 14 late in the first half with a chance to give Wahlert a two-score cushion, Jahlas said he was especially vigilant.

"We were in dime coverage, so I was 'spying' on McCarron," Jahlas said. "I really wasn't in coverage, I was just shuffling across the middle and he just threw it right to me. I just caught it and ran."

Jahlas intercepted McCarron's pass and returned it 34 yards to the Kennedy 47. Eight plays later, Chico Lizarraga tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Heitland that started a 29-0 Kennedy surge and the Cougars ended the regular season with a 36-14 win at Kingston Stadium.

City High knocks Prairie out of playoffs

IOWA CITY - The air was a comfortable place for Cedar Rapids Prairie for one half of football Friday night.

In the first half against Iowa City High, Prairie threw for 224 yards. However, there was a problem for the Prairie Hawks: Iowa City High was more comfortable in the end zone than Prairie.

Iowa City High rushed for 308 yards and topped Prairie, 44-14, at Bates Field in a Mississippi Valley Conference game that ended Prairie's hopes of making the Class 4A playoffs.

The Little Hawks (7-2) will host Cedar Rapids Kennedy (5-4) in the opening round of the playoffs Wednesday night at 7.

Prairie (2-7) scored on the first drive of the game, but nearly 3 1/2 quarters went by before the next Prairie touchdown.

The Hawks threw early and threw often as quarterback Jace Hanna attemped 29 passes in the first half alone. But they couldn’t capitalize on the yards they were getting.

J-Hawks drop season finale, 35-24

DUBUQUE -- Sept. 25, 2009 is a date loyal J-Hawk fans would love to forget.

Sept. 25, 2009 is the last time the Jefferson J-Hawks won a varsity football contest.

Despite a gritty, never-say-die effort, the J-Hawks will have to wait another year for a chance to end the streak no one wants.

Jefferson traveled to the University of Dubuque football field Friday night to play host Dubuque Hempstead and attempt to end their 21-game losing streak. Despite a valiant effort, the J-Hawks came up short, dropping their season finale 35-24 and extending their Class 4A longest losing streak in the state to 22 games.

“We improved this year, we had a long way to go and just didn’t improve enough,” Jefferson Coach Jim Womochil said.

Marion ends season with 4th straight loss

With their fourth straight loss, the Marion Indians closed a once-promising season Friday night at Thomas Park by falling to Class 3A eighth-ranked Maquoketa, 31-7.

The story was the same as it has been throughout the tailspin that saw a playoff-contending 4-1 team finish at 4-5 and compile a 2-5 record in district competition.

"We just shot ourself in the foot again," said rock-solid senior linebacker Jake McDonald. "We gave up three games this season we should have won. And we made too many mistakes tonight."

In fairness to Maquoketa, which won its eighth in a row and claimed the District 5 title, the best team did come out on top. Cardinals senior quarterback Chase Coakley was razor-sharp on his passes all night, finishing 12 for 19 for 231 yards.

Three more of his laser-like liners would have gone for sure touchdowns if they hadn't been flat-out dropped. Even so, the lanky Coakley led his team to three second-quarter scores to turn a close game into a 31-7 lead at halftime that stuck for the rest of the contest.

Once again, Marion Coach Tony Perkins was left to wonder "what if" his team had not committed so many blunders early in the contest.

"We gave them 21 points on two bad snaps over the head and a fumble. And we had two really costly penalties," he said. "But in football you make your own breaks, and it's been that way all year for us."