Metro Sports Report

Henry shines as No.8 Lions top J-Hawks

Linn-Mar quarterback Mark Atwater offered a good scouting report a few weeks ago on his new favorite receiver.

Watch out for Andy Henry, he said shortly after practice began in early August. The kid can play.

True enough.

Atwater connected with Henry for three touchdown passes Thursday night as the eighth-ranked Lions topped Jefferson, 35-10, in the Mississippi Valley Conference opener at Kingston Stadium.

Henry had touchdown grabs of 23, 42 and 18 yards to help Linn-Mar shake a determined effort by the J-Hawks.

"The kid is really good," Atwater said after the game. "Now he's not the best-kept secret here anymore.

"He's fast, he's got athleticism, he goes up and gets the ball. He is going to be a target for us the rest of the season. Henry can flat-out play."

Henry ranked seventh on the team in receptions with four catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns last year. The six guys ahead of him graduated, leaving him Numero Uno.

"It was fun out there," he said after his big night.

Atwater and Henry worked together during the spring and summer on their timing. It showed Thursday.

Kohawks play football for love of the game

It was refreshing on Monday to go to Coe's football media day.

Number one, the program is eminently successful under Coach Steve Straker, but more importantly when 114 players show up for the love of the game without athletic scholarships it gives you a good feeling about the sport.

I sat down for a chat with Coe's All-American quarterback Brad Boyle, a young man from New Sharon who had a wonderful year in 2010, taking the Kohawks to the playoffs. He completed 64 percent of his passes, threw for 24 touchdowns and ran for 19 TDs.

Those are heady figures that bode well for Coe in the 2011 campaign. Aside from the numbers, I asked Boyle questions about what is going on with major college football, particularly the recent problems at Miami, Ohio State and USC.

"They're young men, some not as mature as others," Boyle said, noting some bad decisions that were made for the sake of money. "If they just stick it out, they're going to get money other ways. That's just cheating."

Boyle does not think paying players is the answer. "They bring in so much revenue for the schools, but I don't know about paying them," he said. "That would take away from the integrity."

Boyle would like to see the major colleges adopt a playoff formula to determine a true national champion.

"I'm in big favor of a playoff system in the BCS. I think that would be tremendous," he said.

The NCAA has a playoff system for Division III schools like Coe and all the others in the Iowa Conference.

Grief set aside at MVC/MAC Challenge

On a night marked by sadness, girls from six high school volleyball teams tried to set aside their collective grief for three hours Thursday night on the courts in both gyms at Prairie High School.

Before play started in the MVC/MAC Challenge round-robin matches, players from all the teams gathered solemnly, arm-in-arm in memory of one of their own, Iowa City West star and captain Caroline Found, killed in a moped accident two weeks ago.

The tragedy was compounded when the girl’s mother, Ellyn, died two days ago from pancreatic cancer.

“We grieve for the family,” said Prairie Athletic Director Rocky Bennett in calling for a moment of silent tribute.

Afterward, he noted, “It’s rough for all these teams, because a lot of the girls knew (Caroline).”

Prairie starts new era against Warriors

The Cedar Rapids Prairie football team has a vibrant new coach, a gorgeous new field and a new lease on life.

Cedar Rapids Washington could be walking into a trap.

The Prairie Hawks host the Warriors at refurbished John Wall Field Friday night in the first game for new coach Mike Morrissey, who was hired to breathe new life into the Hawks.

The initial results will be known by around 10 o'clock Friday night.

"They're going to come out sky-high, well prepared, excited to be there," predicted Washington Coach Tony Lombardi, who is taking a weakened team into battle.