Jefferson Football

Saints host Regina in premier battle

All of the Class 4A football teams in the Metro area refused to play Xavier when the Saints dropped to Class 3A this year, so the Saints had to get creative and find some willing partners.

They succeeded beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

Xavier will host Iowa City Regina Friday night at Saints Field in an intriguing showdown of state powers.

The Saints reached the Class 4A finals in 2012 and 2013 before the advent of district play in Eastern Iowa allowed them to drop safely into their proper enrollment bracket in Class 3A. The Regals, meanwhile, are the premier program in Class 1A and have won four straight state titles under Coach Marv Cook.

Regina saw its 56-game winning streak come to an end against Solon - a Class 3A club - in the season opener this year, but the Regals have won six straight games since then and are averaging 43.4 points per game.

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Saints host Regina in premier battle

All of the Class 4A football teams in the Metro area refused to play Xavier when the Saints dropped to Class 3A this year, so the Saints had to get creative and find some willing partners.

They succeeded beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

Xavier will host Iowa City Regina Friday night at Saints Field in an intriguing showdown of state powers.

The Saints reached the Class 4A finals in 2012 and 2013 before the advent of district play in Eastern Iowa allowed them to drop safely into their proper enrollment bracket in Class 3A. The Regals, meanwhile, are the premier program in Class 1A and have won four straight state titles under Coach Marv Cook.

Regina saw its 56-game winning streak come to an end against Solon - a Class 3A club - in the season opener this year, but the Regals have won six straight games since then and are averaging 43.4 points per game.

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J-Hawks fumble away shot at victory

What a win it would have been.

But Jefferson’s high homecoming hopes died Friday night at Kingston Stadium on a fumbled hand-off five yards from the goal line with nine seconds left in the game.

Waterloo West, which seemed to have things sealed just 30 seconds earlier with a score of its own, jumped on the loose ball to save a 23-17 victory.

“Missed opportunities and lack of execution,” said Jefferson Coach Brian Webb in trying to explain what went wrong at the end and throughout the night as a whole.

Behind from the start, the J-Hawks rallied back to tie the score at 17-17 with 4:38 left on a 21-yard field goal by Caleb Kesterson. A dropped pass in the end zone would have given them a touchdown the play before.

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Cedar Falls too tough for J-Hawks

CEDAR FALLS - Nobody has to tell Brian Webb about the Cedar Falls Tigers and how good they are year after year.

Webb played his high school football at Cedar Falls and he coached for a year at his alma mater, so he knew exactly what to expect from the Tigers in the UNI-Dome Thursday night.

As it turned out, it was not good for Webb and his Jefferson J-Hawks.

Cedar Falls scored touchdowns on its first five possessions and raced by the J-Hawks, 35-17, in a Class 4A district game.

"From the day I left in '98 to what it is now - probably 15 years - their D-ends are all the same, their fullbacks are all the same, their line is all the same. It's just cookie-cutter," said Webb.

"What a great way to build a program, when you have cookie-cutter kids every year to replace the old ones. They're a good team."

Hall of Fame Coach Pat Mitchell retired at Cedar Falls after the 2013 season due to health reasons, but Brad Remmert - Mitchell's co-head coach for many years - succeeded his mentor and has led the Tigers to a 5-1 start this year.

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