Metro Sports Report

How many touchdowns did he score? Storla lost count

Colton Storla spun the wrong way on a "398 Dipsy-Do" pass pattern in practice Monday, but Marion Coach Tony Perkins just smiled and joked about it.

That's what happens when you score seven touchdowns in a ballgame. The coach cuts you some slack.

Storla rushed for seven TDs for the Indians in their 58-35 victory over Anamosa last Friday. That tied Carey Bender's school record for the most touchdowns in one game, set in 1989, and broke Bender's mark for most rushing TDs in one game (5).

When Bender scored his seven touchdowns, he ran for five TDs and caught passes for two other scores. Bender is a football legend at Marion, with his picture on the wall and everything, so matching one of his feats is special.

"Yeah, it's pretty exciting, because I actually know the guy," Storla said after practice.

The whole night was exciting last Friday. It was Storla's 18th birthday, and friends in the crowd at Thomas Park Field sang "Happy Birthday" after every touchdown.

They got it right with Brooks and Campbell

Bob Brooks and John Campbell. Metro area journalistic jewels, they are.

Both recently have reeled in deserved personal honors. The Kingston Stadium press box was named for Brooks, who has distinguished himself for decades behind the microphone. Campbell, KCRG’s sports director, was honored Saturday at Kinnick Stadium as one of the newest members of the UI press box Wall of Fame.

Brooks, who writes a weekly column for Metro Sports Report among his other duties, has excelled at the most major of sporting events but he always has taken the time to cover local high school athletics. The booth on the north end of the Kingston Stadium press box was Brooks’ Friday night refuge for years.

If an athlete ever was summoned to his post after a game, you relished it and remembered it. Brooks also often asked sportswriters to be his guest at halftime. He asked me to join him for the first time when I was a very young writer and he calmed my nerves quickly by making me feel welcome.

Campbell is a bit of a throwback television reporter in that he’s not always looking for the best sound bites, despite having only a few minutes to be on the air. "Sideline Freddy," as he is called, always wants to capture the story of the game and be as thorough as possible.

Join the campaign to save Valley football

Let's save the Valley.

If you care about the Mississippi Valley Conference and want to see it continue as one of the premier football leagues in the state, take a stand and try to save it.

That's what the Metro Sports Report plans to do. We're going to try and save MVC football from extinction.

The MSR is proud to announce the "Save The Valley" campaign, aimed at preserving a league that was formed in 1935 and has a rich tradition in high school sports.

The move toward district football for Class 4A schools, if successful, would kill the Mississippi Valley Conference as a football league. The Valley would continue in other sports, but would cease to exist in football.

There wouldn't be any MVC football standings, no MVC champion, no MVC all-conference teams, no MVC Coach of the Year, no MVC statistics, no MVC anything in football.

The Board of Directors of the Iowa High School Athletic Association could vote in November or December to install district football for all Class 4A schools for the 2012 campaign. If they do, that means the end of the MVC as a football circuit.

We shouldn't let it happen, at least not without a fight. So let's Save the Valley.

Josh Evans climbs to No.1 in cross country

Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans has moved into the No.1 spot in the Class 4A cross country rankings after his impressive performance at the Heartland Classic in Ames Saturday.

Evans placed second at the Heartland Classic behind a runner from Minnesota, but he finished ahead of the runners from Iowa who were ranked 1-2 in the poll last week.

Evans was ranked No.3 last week, but he climbed past Cole Decker of Dowling Catholic and Ben Anderson of West Des Moines Valley this week. Decker fell from No.1 to No.3 and Anderson stayed in the No.2 spot.

Etienne Nzoyisaba and Robert Hogg of Washington are ranked 5th and 6th this week. Jacob Aune and Mitch Pritts of Prairie are ranked 17th and 20th. Chase Grabau of Linn-mar is ranked 23th and Trevor Oates of Kennedy is 24th.

Lukas Meese of Marion is ranked No.4 in Class 3A.

Five members of the Linn-Mar girls cross country team are ranked in the Top 25 in Class 4A with Carolyn Newhouse 4th, Brooklyn Kascel 18th, Morgan Uridil 19th, Maddie Saville 24th and Rachel Perry 25th.

Katie Wampole of Kennedy is ranked 29th and Shannon Gorman of Washington is 30th. Karissa Schweizer of Dowling Catholic is ranked No.1 in