Week 3 roundup

Here’s our Week 3 roundup with Iowa high school football scores, stats and complete Gazette-area coverage.

Read more

Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s football metamorphosis continues

Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s football program has followed a 26-game, multiple-season losing streak with a three-game win streak to begin the 2023 season. The J-Hawks rolled to a 35-0 halftime lead and plastered Des Moines North, 41-8, Friday night at Kingston Stadium.

Read more

Xavier bounces back with 2nd-half mentality shift

Ronan Thomas passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another in the second half, helping Class 4A No. 5 Xavier to a 22-20 victory over No. 3 Western Dubuque in a slobberknocker of a non-district prep football game Friday night at Saints Field.

Read more

Kennedy breaks through in a big way

Cedar Rapids Kennedy piled up 412 yards of total offense and held the Lions to 233 yards en route to a convincing 34-0 victory before a near-capacity crowd at Linn-Mar Stadium.

Read more

Marion Stadium opens with a win for the Wolves

Marion put up 384 first-half yards and opened Marion Stadium with a 34-19 win over Center Point-Urbana.

Read more

How the ranked teams fared

Two No. 1 teams fell. Here's a look at how all 73 teams ranked in this week's Gazette poll fared Friday night.

Read more

Mount Vernon wins the ground battle, tops Benton Community

A pair of top-five defenses lived up to their reputation. A couple of big breaks and a little versatility made the difference. Class 3A second-ranked Mount Vernon outlasted Benton Community in a battle of unbeatens, 19-7.

Read more

FINAL: Class 4A No. 5 C.R. XAVIER 22, No. 3 Western Dubuque 20

Final: West Delaware 42, Union Community 12

Brent Yonkovic passed for 183 yards and 2 TDs and rushed for 150 yards and three TDs as West Delaware notched its first win of the season.

Final: West Branch 30, Waterloo Columbus 23

Logan Wright rumbled 39 yards on an interception return as West Branch completed a dramatic comeback against the 1A No. 4-ranked Sailors.

Final: North Linn 27, Starmont 0

Jake Van Etten passed for 145 yards  and a touchdown and rushed for 87 more and another TD.

FINAL: Marion 34, CPU 19.

Wolves 2-1, Pointers 0-3.

CENTER POINT-URBANA TOUCHDOWN.

Jackson Brincks 1 run (kick failed).

Marion with a fumbled snap on a punt and two unsportsmanlike penalties in the sequence.

5:22 4th: Marion 34, CPU 19.

C.R. XAVIER 22, WESTERN DUBUQUE 20, 4:45 4th Quarter

Western Dubuque drives 61 yards on 9 plays. Andersen hits Putz for a 5-yard TD pass. Conversion run is stopped short. 

Two top-ranked teams fall

Class 4A: No. 8 Lewis Central 38, No. 1 ADM 31

Class A: No. 5 Saint Ansgar 24, No. 1 West Hancock 15

Final: Mount Vernon 19, Benton Community 7

CENTER POINT-URBANA TOUCHDOWN. 

Carter Andrews 27 pass from Jackson Brincks (Drew Schellhorn kick).

4 plays, 24 yards, 1:51.

10:03 4th: Marion 34, CPU 13.

C.R. XAVIER 22, WESTERN DUBUQUE 14, 10:03 4th Quarter

Xavier takes its first lead of the game on a 63-yard deep post from Ronan Thomas to Coleton Beasler-Weber. Beasler-Weber rushes in with conversion.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 14, C.R. XAVIER 14, End 3rd

Western Dubuque has the ball and faces 2nd and 5 from midfield

Final: Monticello 35, Cascade 0

Monticello quarterback Preston Ries threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to Peyton Schilling.

End-3: Marion 34, CPU 6.

Final: Cedar Rapids Kennedy 34, No. 4 Linn-Mar 0

WESTERN DUBUQUE 14, C.R. XAVIER 14, 3:20 3RD

Xavier goes 70 yards on 11 plays. Ronan Thomas caps it off with a 1-yard TD run. He rushed 4 times for 29 yards and passed for 24 more on that drive. Coleton Beasler-Weber with the conversion rush to tie it.

Xavier defense has been on the field a lot this game. We'll see if that plays a factor.

East Buchanan 31, Maquoketa Valley 14 (4th)

Tanner Thurn's third rushing TD of the night, this one from 8 yards out, gives the No. 4 Buccaneers their largest lead of the night against the No. 9 Wildcats.5

End 3rd: Mount Vernon 19, Benton Community 7

Mount Vernon's 14-play, 84-yard drive stalls at the Benton 3-yard line. It takes 8 minutes off the clock.

Entering the 4th, Benton will have third-and-8 at its own 36.

MARION TOUCHDOWN.

Griffith 7 pass from Diers (kick failed).

7 plays, 84 yards, 3:20.

6:36 3rd: Marion 34, CPU 6.

Fairfield 23, Washington 20 (6:10 4th)

TD Washington: McDole sets it up with a bomb to Morgan, then runs it in from 1 yard out. 2-point try good.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 14, C.R. XAVIER 6, 8:34 3rd

Bobcats answer with a 93-yard kickoff return from Colin McDermott. First PAT was no good. Bobcats get a second chance from a personal foul penalty by Xavier and it was made.

East Buchanan 24, Maquoketa Valley 14 (3:23 3rd)

Tanner Thurn's 5-yard TD run on third-and-1 gives No. 4 East Buc a two-score lead against No. 9 Maquoketa Valley. That drive came after a Wildcat fumble.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 7, C.R. XAVIER 6, 8:50 3rd

Saints goes 80 yards on six plays. Ronan THomas has extended plays with rolling and scrambling. He did that before hitting Carter Hoffman on a 57-yard TD pass. Saints miscues continue to occur with the PAT failing.

C.R. XAVIER STATS

Rushing (16-7): Noah Schimberg 6-17, Coleton Beasler-Weber 5-16, Ronan Thomas 4-(-24), Team 1-(-2)

Passing (37): Thomas 5-7-0-37

Receiving: Carter Hoffman 2-19, Beasler-Weber 1-8, Lucas Frost 1-5, Jack Stevenson 1-5

Des Moines North stops continuous clock on a 74-yard touchdown run by Teagen O'Brien. Quarterback Jadrian Naab runs in the two-point conversion. Cedar Rapids Jefferson leads, 35-8, as we meander to the fourth quarter. 

Fairfield 23, Washington 12 (0:43 3rd)

Cason Miller just eating yards on the ground. Scores again, 1 yard TD that he set up himself.

WESTERN DUBUQUE STATS

Rushing (11-38): Grant Glausser 11-38.

Passing (112): Tanner Andersen 6-12-0-112

Receiving: Brock Carpenter 1-59, Colin McDermott 1-35, Hunter Quagliano 1-13, Payton Putz 2-4, Brandon Decker 1-1

Southeast Polk 42, Prairie 0 (2:29 3rd)

Another Prairie turnover, this one an interception that Emmanuel Gaye returns 40 yards to the Prairie 15. CJ Phillip punches in a 1-yard TD run three plays later.

Southeast Polk 35, Prairie 0 (5:40 3rd)

After a Prairie fumble, Southeast Polk QB Connor Moberly fires his fifth TD pass of the game, a 26-yard delivery to Sam Zelenovich.

Half: Waukon 7, Independence 0

Kole McCormick scores on a 22-yard pass from Jaxon Brinkman to put Waukon on the board just before halftime.

HALF: Marion 28, CPU 6.

Rushing: CPU 53, Marion 203.

Passing: CPU 16, Marion 181.

Total: CPU 69, Marion 384.

Southeast Polk 28, Prairie 0 (8:17 3rd)

Rams march 85 yards on the first possession of the second half and Connor Moberly delivers his fourth TD pass of the game with a 4-yard strike to a leaping Carson Robbins.

MARION TOUCHDOWN.

Franck 2 run (Rompot kick). 

7 plays, 80 yards, 0:56.

0:08 2nd: Marion 28, CPU 6.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 7, C.R. XAVIER 0, HALFTIME

Defense is ruling the game, so far. Bobcats lead 7-0 on the 59-yard catch-and-run by Brock Carpenter from Tanner Andersen in the second quarter. Bobcats have lived on the Saints side of the field, crossing midfield on 4 of 6 series.

Xavier will receive the second half kickoff

Half: Mount Vernon 19, Benton Community 7

With 1:12 left in the half Nova Lane blocked a punt to set Mount Vernon up at the Benton Community 30.

On fourth-and-4 from the 15, Joey Rhomberg hit Evan Brase with a perfect strike for the touchdown.

WMU 34, WACO 0 (6:55 3rd)

Winfield-Mt. Union’s Cole Milks with the one handed interception at about the 20 and returns it to WACO territory.

Abram Edwards punches it in from a yard out. Two-point conversion good. No. 2 Winfield-Mt. Union in control of No. 5 WACO.

Washington rallies against Fairfield

Wow. Logan McDole busts out a 68-yard TD run on the first play of the third quarter. Demons now in the lead, 12-10 over Fairfield after trailing 10-0 in the first half.

We are at halftime here at Kingston Stadium. Cedar Rapids Jefferson leads Des Moines North, 35-0. Two touchdown runs for Ishara Kalolero in the first half for CRJ. Daunte Robinson with a TD run. Quarterback Jeremiah Peiffer with a TD run and pass (to Carter Bronson), as well as a two-point pass to Aidan O'Connor. Jefferson about to go to 3-0. J-Hawks came into this season on a 26-game losing streak. Stunning turnaround. 

WMU extends its lead

First play from scrimmage in the second half and Winfield-Mt. Union’s Cam Buffington takes it to the house with a 41-yard touchdown. Two-point conversion is good, 26-0 Wolves over WACO.

MARION TOUCHDOWN.

Kaiden Griffith 37 pass from Diers (Rompot kick).

3 plays, 92 yards, 0:45.

6:22 2nd: Marion 21, CPU 6.

^{WESTERN DUBUQUE 7, C.R. Xavier 0, 11:11 2nd Quarter}

On 3rd and 4 from own 41, Western Dubuque dials up a bubble screen to Brock Turner, who finds a seam and races 59 yards for TD.

Mount Vernon 13, Benton Community 7 (8:44 2nd)

Mount Vernon picks up 39 on fourth-and-1. Then Ethan Wood catches a 4-yard TD pass.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 0, C.R. XAVIER 0, End 1st

Bobcats face 2nd and 7 from own  35. Bobcats have been winning the battles on both sides. Just haven't been able to finish drives.

MARION TOUCHDOWN.

Trey Franck 1 run (Rompot kick)

10 plays, 84 yards, 4:03.

9:00 2nd: Marion 14, CPU 6.

Half: Kennedy 13, Linn-Mar 0

Kennedy scores before half. Calvin White 8-yard pass from Vincenzo Gianforte. Kick good.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 0, C.R. XAVIER 0, 2:22 1st Quarter

Scoreless still but Western Dubuque has had two good chances in three drives into Xavier territory. One drive ended with a field goal doinked off an upright and the other was a turn over on downs.
Xavier suffered a fumble and haven't moved the ball much. Bobcats winning time of possession 

End 1st: Mount Vernon 7, Benton Community 7

On his 11th carry of the first quarter, Benton's Carson Bruns scores from 2 yards out.

The Mustangs will have it at their own 43 to start the second quarter.

Half: Fairfield 10, Washington 6

Huge momentum swing for Washington. Fairfield pushed back from its own 20, doesn't score. Then Demons drive down and score on a 9-yard pass from Logan McDole to Mason Morgan with under 10 ticks left. 2-point conversion fails but Fairfield's lead down to 10-6 at the break.

Southeast Polk 21, Prairie 0 (0:27 2nd)

That's a dagger just before halftime.

Connor Moberly's 9-yard touchdown pass to Braden Lundgren gives the top-ranked Rams a three-score lead. That's Moberly's third TD pass of the half.

End-1: Marion 7, CPU 6.

Wolves on the move again at the CPU 25.

Winfield-Mount Union 18, WACO 0 (0:04 2nd)

After stagnant offensive drives by both No. 5 WACO and No. 2 WMU in the final minutes of the second quarter. WMU’s Cam Buffington runs through a slew of defenders for a 27-yard touchdown run.

WACO finding some success with Clayton Miller through the air, but the Wolves have made just enough stops.

MARION TOUCHDOWN.

Kaleb Diers 4 run (Klayton Rompot kick)

Set up by a long pass to Kaiden Griffith.

7 plays, 73 yards, 3:14.

2:46 1st: Marion 7, CPU 6.

A 22-yard punt return by Wardley Phanord set up Jefferson at the North 28 on its second drive. Quarterback Jeremiah Peiffer hit Carter Bronson with an 18-yard slot slant for touchdown. J-Hawks 14, North 0. 

Mount Vernon 7, Benton Community 0 (10:39 1st)

The Mustangs recovey a botched snap in the end zone to grab an early lead.

CPU TOUCHDOWN (on fourth and 1).

Trevor Antes 8 pass from Jarret Koppedryer (kick blocked.

5 plays, 29 yards, 2:22.

6:00 1st: CPU 6, Marion 0.

Southeast Polk 14, Prairie 0 (6:11 2nd)

Rams quickly drive 80 yards in less than three minutes after a Prairie turnover. Connor Moberly finds Cooper Bueltel for a 10-yard TD.

Prairie drives, but can't score

Cedar Rapids Prairie went for the end zone on fourth-and-14 from the Southeast Polk 27, but the Rams had it covered and Kaden Hills came up with an interception.

Top-ranked SEP leads No. 3 Prairie 7-0, 8:59 Q2.

WESTERN DUBUQUE AT XAVIER

Xavier won the toss and deferred. Western Dubuque will receive the opening kickoff.

Xavier student body dressed in pink to honor late Regis school teacher Andrea Henley, who recently passed.

8:51 1st: Marion 0, CPU 0.

Marion has a piped-in wolf houl after each first down, and I gotta admit, it's a bit spooky. First down at the 27.

Class A football at its best

Big game in north Iowa tonight between Class A No. 1 West Hancock and No. 5 Saint Ansgar and you just have to see the sunset providing the setting.

Saint Ansgar takes a 3-0 lead on West Hancock after this 32-yard FG from Connor King. 10:21 2Q. #iahsfb pic.twitter.com/ppBFo3oHfI

— Nate Thomas (@natethomas01) September 9, 2023

Jefferson drives 80 yards on 11 plays to pick up the game's first touchdown. Daunte Washington with the 18-yard TD run. J-Hawks 7, Des Moines North 0 (8:14 1st). 

12:00 1st: Marion 0, CPU 0.

Marion wins the flip, will receive. CPU will defend the north goal.

Fairfield 7, Washington 0 (6:11 1st)

Sam Weaton punches one in from 4 yards out. Trojans running it well.

Kennedy 6, Linn-Mar 0 (7:29 1st)

Cougars drive down on their opening drive. QB Vincenzo Gianforte 2-yard TD run. Kick blocked.

Winfield-Mount Union takes early lead

Here in Winfield, No. 2 Winfield-Mt. Union strikes first against No. 5 WACO with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Abram Edwards.

The Wolves recovered the opening onside kick and marched it down the field.

F/S: CPU 35, Marion 0.

We should be kicking off by 7:30.

At Kingston Stadium tonight. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (2-0) hosts Des Moines North (1-1). J-Hawks are on a two-game winning streak after losing 26 straight. The freshman game has just concluded. Jefferson won that one, 59-0. 

CENTER POINT-URBANA at MARION

Howdy from brand-new Marion Stadium. Non-district football in a little while ... Center Point-Urbana (0-2) vs. Marion (1-1).

WESTERN DUBUQUE AT C.R. XAVIER

Here at Saints Field for the Class 4A matchup between No. 3 Western Dubuque and No. 5 Cedar Rapids Xavier. The Bobcats average 48 points a game. The Saints haven't lost consecutive games since falling to Linn-Mar and Pleasant Valley to end the 2011 season.

 

Mount Vernon all-stater Joey Rhomberg doesn't take anything for granted

An injury suffered late in the state semifinal victory relegated Mount Vernon quarterback Joey Rhomberg to a support role for the school’s 10th state finals appearance. Rhomberg has made a major impact to open his senior campaign for the 3A second-ranked Mustangs.

Read more

Week 3 preview

Here's a closer look at some of the best Gazette-area games.

We'll be keeping up with a lot tonight, but here is where we have reporters stationed for more in-depth updates:

• Cedar Rapids Kennedy at 5A No. 4 Linn-Mar: Mike Condon

• 4A No. 3 Western Dubuque at 4A No. 5 Cedar Rapids Xavier: K.J. Pilcher

• Benton Community at 3A No. 2 Mount Vernon: Culley Kline

• Center Point-Urbana at Marion: Jeff Linder

• Des Moines North at Cedar Rapids Jefferson: Jeff Johnson

Live scoreboard

Stay up to date with every Gazette area game via our live scoreboard.