Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

'Little' brother leads the way in Kennedy win

It's not true that the dinner table at the Heitland household slopes away from Trevor and toward younger brother Drew.

It just seems that way.

Kennedy sophomore center Drew Heitland opened holes for his older, smaller brother, Trevor, that produced a pair of touchdowns and the Cougars whitewashed Jefferson, 32-0, Friday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference football game at Kingston Stadium.

Junior Alex Hillyer also rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns for Kennedy. The Cougars (3-3) capitalized on three bad Jefferson snaps out of punt formation that produced a touchdown and two safeties. The Cougars also were the beneficiaries of excellent field position. They had first-half touchdown drives of 65, 29, 16 and 25 yards that helped them to a 30-0 lead by halftime.

The loss extended Jefferson's losing streak to 19 games. The J-Hawks (0-6) own the longest current losing skid in Class 4A.

Trevor Heitland showed no ill effects from a broken finger suffered a week ago in the Cougars' 34-13 loss to City High. He carried the ball 14 times for 75 yards and caught four passes for 41 yards. He also ran the Kennedy offense at quarterback out of the Wildcat formation during a second-quarter touchdown drive.

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Cougars win Waterloo East golf quad

WATERLOO - Kennedy closed out the regular season with a 67-5 mark after winning the Waterloo East quadrangular boys golf meet Thursday at Gates Park.

The Cougars' score of 159 was six strokes better than second-place Cedar Falls. Washington was third and Waterloo East fourth.

Tyler Kalina led Kennedy with a 2-over par 38 and Harrison Moore had a 39.

Washington's Austin Bergstrom also shot a 38.

Jon Skarlis of Cedar Falls was medalist with a 37.

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Thompson, Little Hawks roll over Cougars

Kennedy Coach Tim Lewis said his Cougars played their best football of the season Thursday night against No. 2 Iowa City High.

And then came the second half.

Ronald Thompson ran for four second-half touchdowns to power City High past Kennedy, 34-13, in a Mississippi Valley Conference football game at Kingston Stadium.

The win was the 33rd straight in regular season play for City High (5-0). Kennedy (2-3) had its two-game winning streak stopped.

Despite running only 15 plays in three first-half possessions, Kennedy trailed only 6-0 at halftime. City High sophomore Drew Cornwell kicked field goals of 33 and 26 yards.

"That was as good of football as I've seen our kids play in the first half," Lewis said. "The problem is you play four quarters, not two.

"I don't think (City High) did anything in the second half, adjustment-wise."

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Kennedy girls capture Eastern Iowa Classic

The Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls cross country dominated the Eastern Iowa Classic at the Tuma Soccer Complex Thursday afternoon.

The 10th-ranked Cougars placed five runners in the top-10 to capture top honors out of eight teams.

Jessica Rodman, Katie Wampole and Alyssa Averhoff finished 3-4-5 for Kennedy, followed by Tara Mittelberg in eighth place and Lauren Meyer in ninth.

Kate Kaster of Clinton High School won the 4-kilomer race in 15 minutes, 5.70 seconds. Shannon Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington was second in 15:29.54.

Washington finished third in the girls team race, Xavier was seventh and the Linn-Mar junior varsity placed eighth.

Trevor Oates of Kennedy finished second in the boys 5-kilometer race in 16:30.88. Calvin Daack of Dubuque Hempstead won the race in 16:12.73.

Ryan Walker of Kennedy ran fifth, Tyler Chlystun of Linn-Mar was sixth and Jay Halverson of Linn-Mar was ninth.

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No spies needed: Heitland is double-threat for Cougars

Kennedy has a big football game with No.2 Iowa City High Thursday night, and for a while Tuesday it looked like somebody was spying on the Cougars during practice.

Coach Tim Lewis has seen him there before, perched on the deck of a condominium that borders the western side of the Kennedy practice field, peering at the Cougars through binoculars.

Lewis was startled the first time he spotted him. Now he laughs about it, because it's just a Kennedy fan with a keen interest in the team. He's not spying, he's just watching.

So no, the Iowa City Little Hawks are not spying on the Cougars. They don't have to, because Lewis is perfectly willing to share part of his game plan with anyone who asks.

There's nothing top-secret about it.

"I like our game plan," he said. "We're going to do what we do, what our kids are comfortable with.

"I thought we ran the ball well on them (the Little Hawks) last year. The key is to keep their offense off the field, so we'll take our time and make sure we don't snap the ball with 20 seconds left on the play clock."

The Cougars want to shorten the game, to keep City High and its high-powered running attack in neutral. Iowa City tailback Ronald Thompson has rushed for 833 yards in four games, giving him a gaudy average of 208.3 yards per game and 9.3 per carry.

"The more we keep him off the field, the better," Lewis said.

That's how the Cougars beat City High in the opening game of the 2007 season, 21-18. The Little Hawks don't lose Mississippi Valley Conference games very often, but they lost that night.

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Kennedy rams Dubuque Senior, 33-7

DUBUQUE - The H & H boys put on a show for the Kennedy Cougars Friday night.

Alex Hillyer carried the ball 28 times for 136 yards and Trevor Heitland rushed 15 times for 146 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Cougars stomped Dubuque Senior, 33-7, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at the University of Dubuque stadium.

The Kennedy running game dominated the game from start to finish.

Senior took the opening kickoff and went nowhere. Kennedy (2-2) got the ball on its own 21-yard line and promptly drove 79 yards in nine plays and scored on a 35-yard pass from Chico Lizarraga to Josh Jahlas.

Heitland rushed for 130 yards in the first half with touchdown runs of 21, 20 and 15 yards. The third TD came with only 30 seconds left in the opening half.

“We have a young and inexperienced line that is really getting better, and in these last two games, it has made all the difference,” said Heitland. “On the sweeps, the receivers really blocked well, too. We just keep trying to get better.”

Hillyer was the model of consistency. He rushed for 66 yards in the first half and 70 more in the second, all right up the middle. The combination of Hillyer and Heitland just battered the Dubuque defense.

“The more I run, the more I want to run,” said Hillyer. “The blocking is good and I just want the ball. I don’t wear down.”

The Cougar defense played a solid game with a particularly stingy first half. Dubuque Senior (1-3) managed only 27 yards rushing and 13 yards passing in the first half, allowing Kennedy to take a 26-0 lead into the break. The Cougars never looked back.

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Coach's wife was right: Hillyer is good player

Cedar Rapids Kennedy football coach Tim Lewis is a shrewd judge of talent. As it turns out, so is his wife.

Shelly Lewis has been convinced for several years that Alex Hillyer would be a good football player for the Cougars. Tim Lewis preferred to take a wait-and-see approach.

Hillyer ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns for Kennedy in its 41-28 upset victory over Washington last Friday, so Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were both happy.

You can't blame Tim Lewis for being cautious. He knew Hillyer was a star athlete at Harding Middle School, but it doesn't count until you perform for the varsity.

"I've heard about him since he was in seventh grade," Lewis said. "The Harding coaches said, 'Just wait until he gets up there.'

"I've heard that a lot in my years here," he said. "What happens a lot with those middle school guys, they mature early and everybody catches up and they end up being OK, but not what everybody thought they would be.

"That's not the case with this kid. In fact," Lewis said, smiling, "my wife just told me the other day, 'I knew at youth camp that Alex Hillyer was going to be a good player.' "

Lewis made Hillyer the featured tailback against Washington, switching Trevor Heitland to flanker and using Heitland as a hybrid receiver and running back. The moves sparked Kennedy after two sluggish outings against Xavier and Linn-Mar.

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Allie Hutcheson helps Kennedy sweep Warriors

Allie Hutcheson is 6-foot-1 and a superb athlete, so she probably could have become an excellent basketball player if she had stuck with that sport at Kennedy.

She fell in love with volleyball, however, and has developed into one of the top players in the state, good enough to have received a scholarship from the University of Northern Colorado last October when she was only a junior.

Hutcheson and her teammates were in good form Tuesday night as the fifth-ranked Cougars swept Washington, 25-18, 25-12, 25-20, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match at Kennedy.

Hutcheson, a left-handed setter and outside hitter, collected 25 assists and 13 kills. She had several vicious smashes against the Warriors and fed her teammates for others.

"I think we played great," she said. "We definitely came together. We passed well, we hit well."

Hutcheson made third team all-state last year and could be headed for higher honors this season. She played basketball at Kennedy as a freshman, but focused on volleyball after that.

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Cougar harriers run to Regina title

IOWA CITY - Trevor Oates and Ryan Walker ran 1-2 and Kennedy had four runners in the top 10 en route to the title of the Bob Brown Invitational boys cross country meet hosted by Regina High School.

Austin Trotter was seventh and Zach Grobstich eighth for the Cougars, who finished with 31 points, easily running past Solon and Regina, which each totaled 54 points.

Kennedy also won the JV meet with 21 points and five runners in the top seven.

BOB BROWN INVITATIONAL

Teams - 1. CR Kennedy 31, 2. Solon 54, 3. Iowa City Regina 54, 4. West Liberty 111, Wilton 134

Top 10 Individuals
1. Trevor Oates (CRK) 17:02.63, 2. Ryan Walker (CRK) 17:16.48, 3. Liam Hartley (ICR) 17:24.81, 4. David Crompton (ICR) 17:28.06, 5. Chase Hamilton (WL) 17:37.61, 6. Turner Wentzien (Solon) 17:58.26, 7. Austin Trotter (CRK) 18:03.51, 8. Zach Grobstich (CRK) 18:18.84, 9. Eoghan Hartley (ICR) 18:21.27, 10. Omar Longou (Solon) 18:24.75

KENNEDY - 1. Oates 17:02.63, 2. Walker 17:16.48, 7. Trotter 18:03.51, 8. Grobstich 18:18.84, 13. Seth Kirkegaard 18:42.02, 14. Matthew Stevens 18:42.90, 19. Bryton Heisler 18:56.87, 22. Chandler Heisler 19:15.87