Jefferson High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

J-Hawks make breakthrough playoff flight

MOUNT VERNON – Valentino Green ran in fifth gear without brakes Wednesday night, as if he was trying to outrun the Union Pacific trains barreling alongside Ash Park.

“I had to fight for my team,” he explained, “they fight for me.”

Fittingly, Green and the Jefferson J-Hawks never stopped running full speed en route to a breakthrough playoff victory. For this victorious, special feeling and moment were 23 years in the making.

Playing the same brand of thunder-and-lightning running football that carried them here, the J-Hawks scored their first postseason victory since 1992 with a 61-43 super shootout victory over Dubuque Senior.

Quarterback Jared Eivins scored four touchdowns, the dazzling Green produced 234 yards of electric offense plus a hat trick of scores, and Devonte Taylor delivered a game-sealing 24-yard interception return as the J-Hawks (7-3) scored a milestone program victory.

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Football playoff pairings set by IHSAA

It took until 2 a.m. Saturday morning, but the first round of the high school football playoffs were finally announced by the IHSAA.

Six Metro teams have qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year. Four of them are set to play home games in the opening round Wednesday night, although Jefferson's "home" game will be in Mount Vernon due to overcrowding at Kingston Stadium.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Cedar Rapids Washington both claimed Class 4A district championships and will play in a doubleheader at Kingston.

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Jefferson will open playoffs at Cornell

The Jefferson football team will host a first-round playoff game Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Cornell College in Mount Vernon against a team yet to be determined, Chris Deam, associate principal of activities at Jefferson, said Friday.

The start time also is yet to be determined.

Kennedy and Washington will be No. 1 seeds in the Class 4A playoffs, and will play a doubleheader at 5:30 and 8 p.m. Wednesday at Kingston Stadium. Jefferson is expected to be a No. 2 seed, and playing at Cornell avoids a possible triple-header Wednesday at Kingston.

Complete playoff pairings will be announced later Friday night.

Resurgent J-Hawks roll by Lions

The strategy for the Jefferson football team for Thursday night's showdown with Linn-Mar didn't take long to figure out.

And J-Hawks coach Brian Webb wasn't trying to fool anyone.

"We knew all week our speed was quicker than them, so that is what we did. Pretty simple game plan," he said.

A simple plan that had remarkable results.

Jefferson unofficially rushed for 458 yards on 48 carries, gashing the Lions at every opportunity en route to a 43-16 triumph at Kingston Stadium.

The victory pushes the J-Hawks to 6-3 overall, 3-2 in Class 4A District 6. Linn-Mar falls to 4-5, 3-2. Cedar Falls also finished 3-2 in district play with a 70-13 win over Waterloo East on Thursday at the UNI-Dome.

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Prairie runs away with district title

For awhile Thursday afternoon, it looked like the Cedar Rapids Prairie boys cross country team was holding an intrasquad scrimmage at Seminole Valley Park with all those orange checkerboard jerseys at the front of the pack.

It pretty much ended that way, too.

Tysen VanDraska led a 1-2-3 finish by the Prairie Hawks as they ran away with top honors at the Class 4A district meet.

"That was the goal," said VanDraska, who covered the 5K layout in a swift 15 minutes, 39.34 seconds. "We came out and executed it as best we could. And it worked out."

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Gorman makes 'presidential' run to title

Reagan Gorman lived up to her first name Thursday and made a presidential run at the Class 4A district country meet at Seminole Valley Park.

Gorman, a talented freshman at Cedar Rapids Washington, was partially named after Ronald Reagan because her parents are fans of the former president.

"Yup. That's exactly it," she said.

Gorman's first name is pronounced Ree-gan, not Ray-gan like the president, but her parents confirmed it's a true story. Joe Gorman, her father, said he's "Celtic Irish" and that Reagan (or Regan) is a good Celtic Irish name, so naming her Reagan was partly because of Pres. Reagan and partly because of his ancestry.

Gorman's mother, Mitsue, is originally from Japan, and the Gormans have given all of their children good Irish names.

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Jasmine Blue will run at UNI

Jasmine Blue of Cedar Rapids Jefferson plans to continue her running career at the University of Northern Iowa.

Blue, a sprinter, has been a member of record-setting relay teams at Jefferson. The J-Hawks own the state record in the 4x200 relay and share the state record in the 4x100 relay with Des Moines Roosevelt.

Blue has performed on relay teams that have won seven major titles at the Drake Relays and Class 4A state meet in the 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay and sprint medley. She is a senior at Jefferson this year.

Blue announced her college plans on her Twitter account.

J-Hawks spiked by Little Hawks

IOWA CITY - The Cedar Rapids Jefferson volleyball team lost to Iowa City High, 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-18, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match Tuesday night in Iowa City.

Maddie Slagle led the J-Hawks with 16 kills. Sydney Kloubec had seven kills. Autumn Anderson and Kristen Naber had six apiece.

Maddy Baxter collected 36 assists and had four ace serves. Slagle led the J-Hawks with 16 digs. Kaylee Donner had 15, Lexi Moorer 12, Sam Kitterman 11 and Baxter 11.

Jefferson blows past winless Trojans

WATERLOO - Jefferson erupted for 249 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in the first quarter and the J-Hawks kept on rolling to a 50-3 victory over Waterloo East on Friday night at Waterloo Memorial Stadium.

Jefferson needed just five plays and 1:18 of elapsed time to get on the scoreboard.

Valentino Green grabbed a 27-yard touchdown pass from Jared Eivins, and the J-Hawk attack was off and running.

A 63-yard keeper by Eivins set up Valentine's 10-yard scoring run to cap off a two-play series. Still another big play, a 67-yard Eivins to Mason Short pass, moved Jefferson into the red zone. From there, Short scored on a 1-yard run and it was 22-0.

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