prep football

High school football playoff change proposed

Published by admin on Tue, 12/24/2019 - 10:44am

BOONE – A new proposal was made to expand the playoff field in high school football in Iowa back to 32 teams at a Dec. 19 regular meeting of the Iowa High School Athletic Association's Board of Control.

Two recommendations for the 32-team format were made by the Iowa Football Coaches Association and approved by the football advisory committee for a format that would affect all classes in Iowa except for Class 4A.

The proposal that was tabled was an eight-game regular season with five rounds of playoffs, with all postseason games on Fridays until reaching the semifinals.

That came after a first recommendation was outright denied that proposed a nine-game regular season and five rounds of playoffs with six days between rounds. Both recommendations proposed Aug. 28 as the beginning of the regular season.

No decision was made on any postseason changes as no recommendations were made for Class 4A, currently comprised of the 42 schools with the largest enrollments in the state.

D-NH coach Betts to enter IFCA Hall of Fame

Published by admin on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 8:53am

Don Betts remembers graduating from the University of Northern Iowa thinking he had everything figured out about what it meant to be a great football coach.

The LeMars native had to learn the hard way about what he truly knew at that point in his life, but he remains grateful for all the lessons he's learned to this point.

All-state football: D-NH, Grundy Center trios on first team

Published by admin on Fri, 11/29/2019 - 9:31am

The Iowa Print Sports Writers Association released all-state football teams on Tuesday morning in all six classes.

There were 13 total players from the Grundy Register coverage area recognized, including seven first-team selections.

Dike-New Hartford's Parker Kiewiet, Cade Bennett and Nathan Graves received first-team recognition on the Class 1A team. Grundy Center's Logan Knaack, Wes Willis and Kolby Muller were first-team selections in Class A. Gladbrook-Reinbeck's Aidan Walters earned a first-team spot on the 8-Man team.

View the full all-state football teams for every class

West Hancock defeats Grundy Center football in hard-fought title game (PHOTOS)

Published by admin on Fri, 11/22/2019 - 1:35pm

CEDAR FALLS – The Grundy Center football team has set the bar for expectations to come.

On Thursday evening, the Spartans didn't come home with the Class A state championship they craved, and the young talent may clench and gnaw on that loss like rawhide in preparation for putting the shoulder pads back on next August.

Travis Zajac, in his first year as head coach in Grundy Center, acknowledged a more immediate difficulty in the 21-17 loss to undefeated West Hancock in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls: the finality of it all.

"I know I'll struggle with that," Zajac said. "I'm gonna want to schedule practice next week and keep it rolling. But unfortunately, it's ended."

VIEW MORE PHOTOS: Grundy Center vs. West Hancock football

Since arriving to town with his wife and two children over the summer from Dubuque Wahlert, Zajac has been effusive with praise and gratefulness for the talent that surrounded him this season, whether between the hash-marks or alongside him on the sideline. The six Spartan seniors are no exception.

The future is undoubtedly bright in Grundy Center. But the soft-spoken Zajac is unlikely to forget his first senior class at Grundy Center.

"Thanks for giving a guy a chance," Zajac said. "I was an 0-9 football coach last year at Wahlert Catholic. To accept me like they [the seniors] did, to be willing to do everything I asked of them and then some, I can't tell you what kind of character these six young men have and they're a product of the families that raised them. I'm a better man for having spent five-plus months around them."

RELATED: Zajac tabbed as Spartan football coach

Grundy Center finished the season 11-2, allowing no more than 21 points in a single game and losing both games by a combined five points – the Spartans' other loss was to state quarterfinalist North Tama, 14-13, on a last-second play.

Thursday's football state finals capsule: Grundy Center (11-1) vs. West Hancock (12-0)

Published by admin on Wed, 11/20/2019 - 2:36pm

GRUNDY CENTER (11-1)

VS.

WEST HANCOCK (12-0)

 

What: Class A football championship game

Where: UNI-Dome, Cedar Falls

When: 1:30 p.m., Nov. 21

Grundy Center football stops Saints, advances to Class A state championship game

Published by admin on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 1:38pm

CEDAR FALLS – Matt Jansen could hear the Saint Ansgar sideline yelling for someone to cover him.

The Saints were out of position, and Jansen and the Grundy Center football team made them pay.

Trailing Saint Ansgar early in the second quarter, Jansen hauled in a screen pass from Logan Knaack, slipped around a quick block from Jensen Clapp and sprinted down the Grundy Center sideline to the end zone.

The Spartans never trailed again in what would be a 23-21 victory over Saint Ansgar in a Class A state semifinal at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls on Friday afternoon.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS: Grundy Center vs. Saint Ansgar football (11/15/19)

"In that moment, I think we let them know that we weren't going to roll over," Grundy Center head coach Travis Zajac said of the Jansen touchdown, which followed a lengthy Saint Ansgar scoring drive.

Grundy Center (11-1) advances to the Class A championship game on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 1:30 p.m. in the UNI-Dome against West Hancock (12-0), 49-20 winners against Woodbury Central in the other Friday semifinal.

It's the first state title game appearance from Grundy Center since a 1988 victory against Pekin, and a makeshift rematch of the 1987 state title game won by Grundy Center against Britt prior to the consolidation with Kanawha that formed West Hancock. Grundy Center also defeated Britt in the 1988 semifinals.

Zajac – in his first year as head coach coming over from Dubuque Wahlert – couldn't help getting choked up thinking about what the victory meant to Grundy Center.

"To see their faces after the game, it's pretty special," Zajac said. "… Part of our job as coaches is to help raise young men, and I take that very seriously."

The city of Grundy Center has had the football fever all fall long and a loud and proud group roared in victory from the sideline to the stands on Friday afternoon.

And when the Spartans are going for a fourth state championship?

"It's gonna be big," Jansen said. "If we put all our effort into this, anything can happen."

Grundy Center's Zach Opheim rushed 21 times for 62 yards and a score, Knaack added 10 runs for 21 yards and a rushing touchdown and completed 8 of 13 passes for 140 yards and the score to Jansen.

Cale Hendricks hauled in five catches for 57 yards and kicked what was the eventual game-winning field goal, a 24-yard boot with 9:57 left in the fourth quarter that put Grundy Center up 23-14.

The Saints averaged nearly 400 rushing yards per game coming into Friday's contest, but the Spartans held Saint Ansgar to 222 yards on the ground. Jack Sievert carried the ball 39 times for 173 yards and three scores.

Jansen's touchdown highlighted an all-around...

D-NH football falls behind West Lyon in quarterfinal loss

Published by admin on Wed, 11/13/2019 - 10:21am

DIKE — Already trailing 14-7 and No. 8 West Lyon starting another drive in which it would score, top-ranked Dike-New Hartford’s prolific starting quarterback Drew Sonnenberg went down hard playing defense.

The senior apparently suffered a concussion after hitting his head hard, getting hit by another player and hitting his head on the ground again.

Sonnenberg never returned as West Lyon, Inwood, went on to turn in a 36-14 Class 1A state quarterfinal victory at Dike-New Hartford High School.

State football notebook: Dole provides bridge between Spartan Dome teams

Published by admin on Wed, 11/13/2019 - 10:17am

Jeff Dole, a first-team all-state defensive back for the mighty 1984 Grundy Center football team, returns to the UNI-Dome on Friday.

This time, he'll be on the sideline as a member of the Grundy Center football team's coaching staff.

Dole, who helps coach the Spartans' running backs and defensive backs with Nathan Hunt, was a first-team all-state selection at defensive back on Grundy Center's 1984 state championship team.

"It's been so long ago at this point," Dole said. "The things we went through in the 80s were different – we were ranked No. 1 the whole year [in 1984] so the target was on our back. For this group of guys, there weren't a lot of expectations, to be honest. But they've taken on every challenge, they've worked their butts off and they're at where they're at because of their dedication. It's been a fun ride."

Road warriors to the Dome: Spartans beat MFL MarMac, 35-20

Published by admin on Fri, 11/08/2019 - 9:14pm

MONONA – The Grundy Center football team embarked on a long road trip to a frigid MFL MarMac High School on Friday night to face an undefeated Bulldogs team.

MFL MarMac, in the midst of a once-in-a-generation undefeated season unseen in the history of the school district, presented the latest in a lengthy string of challenges laid at the feet of the Grundy Center football team in recent weeks.

Once again, the Spartans have answered the call.

Grundy Center claimed a 35-20 victory against the Bulldogs in a Class A state quarterfinal. The Spartans play Saint Ansgar (11-0) in a Class A state semifinal at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 15.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS: Grundy Center football vs. MFL MarMac

This will be the Spartans' first UNI-Dome appearance since 1988, when the Spartans went back-to-back as Class 1A champions. 

They will be the only non-district champion in the final four of Class A in Cedar Falls next Friday. Another challenge? Bring it on.

"We bring it up daily that anything that's worth it has to be earned the hard way," Zajac said. "We've earned our way in, there have been no freebies. ... Whatever happens next week in the Dome, we'll be well prepared for it and the kids are going to relish the opportunity to compete there."

Grundy Center improves to 10-1 on the season.

"I think we just stuck together and believed in each other that we could do the job," Grundy Center senior Jensen Clapp said. "We did it tonight against a hell of a football team."

The Spartan offense mixed well with...

D-NH football advances with unbelievable finish

Published by admin on Tue, 11/05/2019 - 12:33pm

DIKE — Parker Kiewiet couldn’t believe it.

The Dike-New Hartford senior wide receiver couldn’t get open against a stout Panorama defense all game long.

In the fourth quarter, a breakthrough: senior quarterback Drew Sonnenberg somehow eluded the grasp of a Panther defender and launched the ball to Kiewiet, who made a catch-and-run for 60 yards to the end zone.

That would be the game-winning touchdown for the Wolverines, 21-14 victors on Friday, Nov. 1 to improve to 10-0. Panorama ends its season at 8-2.

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