Metro Sports Report

Junior Riders excited for new year

It’s a new season with a new coach.

And the hope for the Cedar Rapids Junior RoughRiders is that there also will be a new result.

The Junior RoughRiders are made up of players from 14 different area high schools, including six of the eight Metro schools. They are coming off the worst season in team history.

Cougars enjoy banner game against Hawks

The Kennedy Cougars can go ahead and order their playoff T-shirts now and hang a banner in their gym.

The Cougars earned their postseason awards Wednesday night by thrashing Prairie, 42-14, in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs at Kingston Stadium.

Kennedy Coach Tim Lewis, an old-school guy, does not let his team get their playoff T-shirts or hang a banner until they've actually won a playoff game. He's felt that way ever since the IHSAA expanded the tournament from 16 to 32 teams a few years ago, because merely making the playoffs is not good enough for the boss.

Now it's official.

Saints stroll in playoff opener, 45-0

Xavier kicker Ryan Persick shanked his first punt out of bounds for a two-yard net gain.

Other than that, Saints Coach Duane Schulte was asked Wednesday night after a home field 45-0 shellacking of Clinton, was there anything his team did wrong?

“Well,” the laconic veteran said after a pause, “we did fumble once but we jumped right on it.”

In a Class 4A first-round playoff game that wasn't as close as the score might indicate, sixth-ranked Xavier scored the first six times it had the ball and led 42-0 at halftime.

Magic season ends for Warriors

Cedar Falls put a saddle on its big offensive line and rode it over Cedar Rapids Washington for a 27-10 first-round Class 4A playoff victory Wednesday on a rainy night at Kingston Stadium.

"Rather than taking chances (passing) on a night like this, when you have perhaps the best offensive lineman in the country ... if you have a horse, might as well ride it," Cedar Falls Coach Pat Mitchell said.

Mitchell was referring to top-ranked offensive line recruit Ross Pierschbacher. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound tackle has verbally committed to defending national champion Alabama.

Cedar Falls (7-3) attempted just one pass play, and instead kept the ball on the ground and pounded out 289 yards on 68 attempts. The Tigers had 21 first downs.