Class 1A — Iowa City Regina Regals vs. West Lyon Wildcats

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Two blue bloods in Iowa high school football get together on an unusually warm afternoon from Cedar Falls. As we welcome you to the UNI-Dome, the campus, the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa City, Regina, in search of their ninth title. Ready to take on the state champs from a year ago. West Lyon down a Class 2A. They look to repeat in Class 1A and a pleasant. Good afternoon Shawn Kenney alongside longtime coach Kevin Bowman. So great to have you with us, coach. You look at this matchup. It truly is two two Blue Bloods. Really in the whole scheme of things for Iowa high school football you bet.

Traditional powerhouses number one ranked West Lyon. It's no stranger to the title game. And you know what they have six state titles coming in tonight and all under the direction of Coach Jay Rozeboom. And then on the other side of the field, you have Regina, who's had just a tremendous run. And I'm telling you, they have eight state titles coming into this game. Also. Both teams have great traditions and we should have a barnburner today.

Take a look at the impact players this afternoon. Savion Miller what a year he has had. Regina can beat you in a number of different ways. Coming off a huge semifinal performance where he rushed for over 160 yards and a touchdown, and then Easton DeJong. He is the orchestrator of the offense for Jay Rozeboom and perennial power West Lyon. Let's get to the keys of the game today. Coach, let's start with Iowa City. Regina.

Well, Regina needs to start fast. There's no doubt about that. And get on the board and establish their their run game and be able to throw the ball in the air also. But the big thing I've seen is they need to limit penalties in their tournament run here in the postseason. They've had a lot of flags. And we know once you get into the playoffs, into these championship games, you have to limit the the penalties for West Lyon. They need that bounce, attack, run and pass 50 over 50 as much as possible and then dominate the line of scrimmage. Offensive lineman two 2255, 225, 265 and 290. There's a lot of girth.

Iowa City Regina won the toss. They elected to receive. They want the football first. Savion Miller one of the top backs in the state of Iowa awaiting the kick. As we get ready. Class 1A state championship underway from Cedar Falls on the return. Out past the ten up to the 15 crossing. The 20 to the 22 yard line. And that is where we will see the Regina Catholic offense. Go to work. led by Kyle Tracy Tracy, the five foot, 11 inch, 180 pound senior two year starter at quarterback. And he has weapons including number two Savion Miller Miller has been an impact player all year long. Both he and Tate Wallace, both juniors and both getting a lot of Division One attention. The offensive line number of first year starters blended with a couple of two year starters, and they will go to the air and they will get Miller involved in the passing game. Good pursuit by West Lyon as they drag Miller out of bounds. Up ahead to the 25.

They started trips, formation and swing route out to the running back to the trip side. Well defended which leads to a second down and my my scenario here is that you're going to see Regina chuck this ball as much as possible to get this thing going.

It is a hard hitting defense for West Lyon that has generated 20 turnovers throughout the course of the year. Cooper Schoening a player they really like second down. Patient run, but nothing really opens up over the a-gap and Regina. Faced with an early third down.

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And in the semifinal game, Savion Miller had a slow start in the first half and really kicked it into another gear in the second half. Maybe that's just kind of the thing that happens with Regina. They're not fast starters, but you want to be on the board first. First.

Third down opportunity. They put a receiver, right? That's Carter Slager they have receiver at the bottom pistol set. They will give it to Miller. And he is bottled up. Hit initially on the play by Ben Meyer, one of the team leaders. The third leading tackler of this defense. And Regina trying to play a little power football. But the boys from northwest Iowa said, no, not on this drive.

And Ben Meyer has been very active. Semifinal game. He had eight tackles, three tackles for loss, and he also had a sack. He's been playing extremely well.

Wildcats to get the football for the first time. Emmett Burke on the punt. They set up the return line drive, returnable kick. Look at the special teams coverage flying downfield. That was Edwin Gangba first one downfield following the punt of 36 yards.

And we're going to see Gangba Gangba quite a bit defensively. He had an interception last week, six tackles, 42 tackles on the season, excellent defensive back with great speed. I know he's a track man.

Nothing really changes despite different years for Jay Rozeboom. He has this thing working flawlessly. The offense, headlined by Easton DeJong. It is a physical football team that wants to pound it right down your throat. That has been their M.O. for years in northwest Iowa. Yes, Koch.

Coach Rozeboom isn't going to change much. You're going to see them go under center here eventually and really try to pound it. And with that offensive line, there's no doubt that that's what they're going to be doing. But they're trying to set something up. And you are really kind of cautious on this opening drive. You see that?

Early flag on Regina. So this will take it to the 41 first and five. For Easton DeJong six foot three inch junior, 175 pounder. He's going to throw a little out pattern. It is caught. River Kramer with the catch pushed out of bounds at the 48. It's a gain of seven and a first down.

And this is what you like about Easton DeJong three steps. Boom! The ball is out right away. It's a it's an out route five yards. And the ball is delivered right on spot. That's just great football.

This is the Regina defense. Will Litton a good one inside 33 tackles this year. Balanced attack a couple of inside linebackers that like to fly to the football. First down and ten from the 48. Bouncing it to the outside and with some room to go. Evan Hildring Hildring in a foot race. Finally pushed out. Touchdown saving tackle by Drew Greve.

Nothing new there for Evan Hildring will get the Rock and he's going to get it quite often. Remember in the semis he had 17 carries for 173 yards with two touchdowns.

24 yards on his first touch of the afternoon. Hildring coming off a 1000 yard season, he is the state's leading rusher. And as you talked about, coach coming off a 174 yard game in the semis, showing some patience on his end as he scoots it to the outside up into by Honore. Good pickup and a good surge on first down.

Good opening drive for West Lyon. They continue to do the little things and they do them very well. Well coach good fundamentals.

West Lyon and their road to the state championship blowout wins over East SAC County Lawton-bronson Underwood and then a 21 seven victory over South Hardin last week in the semis. Quarterback power. Look at the vision there by DeJong and a first down as the Wildcats make their way into the red zone for the first time.

And DeJong follows his guard here and just leads up through the hole. And that's a power play. And if Regina can't stop that, it's going to be a long afternoon for them.

That was big number 76. Micah Van Beek, who played center a year ago. They moved him to right guard with the emergence of Cole Cook, the first year starter at center. This time, Regina has penetration and there is nowhere to go. A tackle for loss. Back to the 17.

Down linemen. Defensive lineman getting some penetration here, attacking, making, making themselves thin and getting that penetration and doing a nice job of wrapping up for a loss.

Strong opening drive for West Lyon after they forced a three and out by Regina. They have taken it inside the red zone. This drive started back at the 36. Second down and 12. Rolling right cut off now lobbing a couple of receivers out there and a juggling attempt falls just short. Incomplete. Kramer nearly pulled off an incredible catch in the back of the end zone.

I love the fact that DeJong had time to throw this ball, and he put it in a spot where only Kramer could catch it. That is great high school football play right there.

This is a team that scores touchdowns. They don't kick field goals. So we'll see if this is four down territory to pick up the necessary yards. Third down and 12. As this crowd comes to their feet five man front. They hand it off. Hole opens up over the right side. And now fourth and a little more than a yard. Hildring with power football.

Setting up fourth and short. We know one thing. West Lyon will go behind those big boys or this is a chance to run a bootleg play and surprise everyone. But I like the fact that that balance on the offensive line with the good size and the ability to come off the ball.

Kramer split to the top of the screen out of the shotgun. Fourth down and two up the middle they go, and a first down keeping the legs moving, stretching closer to the goal line. Evan Hildring. And this is West Lyon football in their playbook for multiple decades under Roseboom o.

Hildring is just such a beast. He gets inside there and keeps the legs going and reaches for the the goal line just short, but I once again I get I get so impressed with the play of the offensive line for West Lyon.

They go 12 personnel, couple of tight ends. He will run, he will stretch and he will get in. Touchdown Evan Hildring and West Lyon fires the opening salvo.

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They know what it takes to get into the end zone. This time. You're running behind the right guard. Number 76. Micah Van Beek in the right tackle. Bryce Cook two. Outstanding players. And cook is a four year starter on the offensive line.

Point after is up and through and West Lyon on their first touch of the afternoon. And impressive drive. Nine plays 64 yards for Jay Rozeboom. 3.5 minutes off the game clock and it's seven. Nothing for the two way state champions from a year ago. 623 to go in this opening quarter. West Lyon with the lead seven nothing 34 years on the sideline for Jay Rozeboom over 330 career wins, he has been the head coach at West Lyon since 1992. Got a lot of fun chatting with him a couple of days ago and one of the questions Paul Yeager asked him was, what's up with the camo pants? The camo look underneath? He said they were given to him by his son as a Christmas gift. His son serving as the defensive coordinator on the team, and he kind of liked it, he says. We're always hunting down the opponents, and they were hunting them down in that first series, and they are hunting down on special teams. Nowhere to bounce. It wide and Regina will get their second touch in this first quarter.

Excellent coverage down field for West Lyon. Doing a good job with the fundamentals. Once again you can see their experience. It's been a few years for Iowa City Regina since they've been in the finals. So a lot of guys who are getting their feet wet in the championship game.

Dustin Elsbury second year, what a job he's done. Byron, Illinois native trying to bring back the legacy and the heritage of Regina football. The Regals one of the premier programs. Not that long ago looking for their ninth state title here in 2025, Tracy is going to throw for the first time, has all sorts of time, and he will take off and run Tracy wheels it to the outside, where he is pushed out of bounds at the 4015 yards for Kyle Tracy.

Smart decision by Kyle Tracy. He's looking back here. No one's open. He goes to his left and heads up field for a nice gain. Setting up first down.

He's a dual threat quarterback near the top of Class 1A in total touchdowns 41 this year. He can beat you both with the arm and with his legs. He's rushed for over 550 yards, so he knows what to do with it. First down they swing it out to the flat. Miller makes the catch Savion Miller and a good open field tackle by Jacob Snyders.

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Jacob Snyders playing the cash position more like a linebacker for West Lyon on the season. He has 38 tackles, just a junior, six foot two, 195 pounds, excellent open field tackle.

Talked about a couple of Division one recruits on the offensive side of the football. Number two Savion Miller and number zero Tate Wallace. The H-back. They fake the jet sweep. Here they come. They try to set up that middle screen ball being danced around and it lands incomplete. West Lyon sniffed it out beautifully as the linebacker Cooper Schoening stayed at home.

West Lyon brought some linebackers and had a couple defensive linemen drop back, in that scenario and did a nice job getting their hands up in the air and deflecting the ball.

Well, that's a heck of a play by the senior, Shoni. Assignment football. Reading the screen and then wreaking havoc once the ball was airborne. Third down and six. They need to get it to midfield. Tracy looking left all the way. Duress. He'll take off and he will pick up the first down. Kyle Tracy scrambling his way to midfield.

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Once again, Kyle Tracy 89 carries 557 yards. He's averaging 6.3 yards per carry with 12 touchdowns. A dual threat linebackers are going to have to key on him.

These receivers, at least early on, having a tough time getting open secondary, doing a good job for West Lyon. Tracy will slow it down. He will look over toward the far sideline. Ed Hinkel a familiar name to fans across the state. He's the offensive coordinator again. Nowhere to go. And now he's sacked. Ball popped free, but Tracy got back on it. Sacked on the play by Jack. That's a secondary sack for West Lyon.

West Lyon is playing man to man in this scenario and able to run with a Regina Regals wide receivers all the way across the field.

Look at all that time he had to throw, but there was just nobody open 22nd sack this year for West Lyon. It's top five in Class 1A. Second and a trip back to Iowa City for Kyle Tracy. Looking right. Floats too tall, incomplete. Slager the intended target. Sam Underberg with the coverage.

That time. Kyle Tracy had a little bit of pressure in his face. Wasn't able to step into his throw, delivers high.

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Third down, 22. They drop seven into coverage. Here comes the pressure and he's sacked back at the 26 by Ben Meyer.

Ben Meyer doing what he does best 46 tackles coming into the year 12 tackles for loss five sacks. He is on a streak right now. You need to find a way to block number 34. The senior six three 240 pounds.

He's going to play college football next year for Sioux Falls. He has committed the 240 pound senior and a defense that builds its base around creating havoc, able to get to Tracy on a couple of occasions. Fair catch signal for following the 31 yard punt and a strong start in the dome for West Lyon.

And the ball back and in great field position, everything is adding up for coach Roseboom. I'm assuming that he's going to try and pound this again. Take advantage of the fact that his offensive line has been dominating the first quarter so far.

Let's see what adjustments defensively Regina makes second offensive series for the Wildcats. They have penetration. They still haven't brought down Hildring and now they do tackle for loss. Back at the 35. Honore was one of the first players to blow it up.

Yeah. West Lyon pulled the left guard and left tackle in that scenario. Going to the right. And yet the quarterback gave the ball to Hildring going to the left side of the field, which I think there's some kind of cross up.

Loss of six on first down trips right. For Easton DeJong second down. Now they try to set up a screen. Hildring makes the catch. Has some work to do and he's tracked down by Tate. Wallace good Pursuit by Wallace. He brought him down close to the original line of scrimmage. Third and ten.

Yeah, Wallace did a fabulous job of tracking that down. He was on the other side of the field and comes barreling down, taking a great angle of pursuit and catching him.

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Regina hoping for something positive. And what's been a tough opening quarter. Can they get a stop here? Third down and a short ten play fake over the middle. It's caught the H-back but shy of the first down. Hit hard at the 49 yard line. Andre, who's been all over the field. Another tackle Ben his ninth reception of the season. And does Jay Rozeboom keep the offense out there or does he play field position early.?

Now this is a big call at this point of the game. Meyer has not had that many receptions in the season. He's only had eight receptions coming into this game. He already has two. Look for him to be the matchup that they favor.

Jay Rozeboom says. Let's play power football. Play clock winding down. Fourth down and it's a keeper. DeJong stretching ahead. And I think second and third effort got him the first down. Regina had it stretched out but DeJong at the last second put the leather across the line.

Oh yeah he was he was wrapped around by his legs and he was able to squirm out of that and reach for the first down. Total effort. Easton DeJong.

Roan Eckhoff had him had him lassoed up, but he just couldn't quite keep him from getting to where the young wanted to go. They keep the drive alive. DeYoung. The throw floats receiver out there. It's caught solecki with the grab pushed out of bounds at the 2127 yards to the top. Target. Jared Ciesielski.

Solecki runs a corner route and it's right between the corner and the safety wide open catches it. Big yard, strong hands for Solecki. What a great drive once again by West Lyon. They have everything going on offense.

DeJong has completed his four passes in this opening quarter. Four of five now for 48 yards. Good balance. Hildring sneaking through a little crevice on what will be the final play of this first quarter.

Ten of the first quarter.

West Lyon in a new class this year, down to one A in a loaded field playing smash mouth football. The touchdown run by Hildring. This defense a couple of early stops West Lyon up seven.

Paul Yeager here on a short break to speak with Jim Pledge. He's president and CEO of Bank of Iowa and West Des Moines. So, Jim, tell me why Iowa Banker supports Iowa PBS as well as boys athletics here in the state of Iowa?

Yes, Paul, the Student Athlete Achievement Awards are significant to Iowa student athletes in their communities because they not only recognize athletic excellence, but also academic achievement, leadership and character. Through the program's 30 year history, the IBA has awarded more than $360,000 in scholarships to student athletes in football, basketball, and wrestling. These scholarships are a win for all of us because after graduation, we hope these students will work right here in Iowa.

And that support of those scholarships is incredible, right?

It is indeed so much like the IBA supports the Iowa banks. We are committed to supporting students by investing in their education and financial future, which helps to build stronger communities. It reflects our commitment to community growth and long term success across the state.

All right Jim, thank you. All right. Let's get back to the game.

Tom's make some noise. You can snag a T-shirt courtesy of Iowa corn. Go to Iowa corn.org to learn more about supporting your local corn farmer. And remember corn grows Iowa. Every year at the Athletic Association Championships, the Iowa Bankers Association honors student athletes who excel on the court and on the field. In the classroom, and in their communities. With a Student Athlete Achievement award that's worth $1,000. As a college scholarship. The 2025 winner of the Class 1A scholarship is Jared Ciesielski from West Lyon High School. Rob Iceland from Security Savings Bank in Larchwood is here from the banking community to show support for Jared. Congratulations to Jared Ciesielski and thank you to Rob and the Iowa Bankers Association for providing this award.

Welcome back inside the UNI-Dome here in Cedar Falls, alongside longtime coach Kevin Bowman Shawn Kenney. Our fantastic Iowa public television crew and a strong first quarter for West Lyon and trouble brewing early for Dustin Elsbury and Iowa City. Regina Wildcats start this second quarter inside the red zone near hash at the 15 yard line. Easton DeJong four of five in the first quarter, hitting four different receivers. This time he will use his legs as he is snowed under at the 12.

A little ice play there with the left guard. Carter Metzger number 60 coming around and we're just going to follow the big guy up the hole and get a nice gain to set up. Third and short.

Third down and two. They will give it to Hildring and Iowa City. Regina comes up with the stop that time boy. Great play by Aaron Honore. One more time.

Yeah, the Regals loaded the box on that play and they're going to bring the pressure. So that's going to put West Lyon in a tough situation. What are they going to do a fourth and four.

Luke Hamilton also in on that last tackle. And it's fourth and four in the offense stays out there. They converted on fourth down earlier in this game. And Time-out taken Jay Rozeboom all the way down the sideline trying to get one of the officials attention. And he did able to catch up with the line judge and get the time-out. Called.

Well, that's a good time-out. I'm sure coach was thinking that he had a play called and then saw how Regina lined up to it and made it.

Be sure to take an Avenger with Iowa PBS on road trip Iowa. Join host Brooke Kohlsdorf as we travel the state's highways and scenic byways exploring the history, culture and natural beauty along the way. Road trip Iowa Wednesdays at 630 and Saturdays at 9 a.m. on Iowa PBS or stream online anytime. What do you like here? Coach Rozeboom. Taking that last time out? Fourth down. What's in the arsenal here to try to keep this early magic working?

Well, somehow I'm going to get Hildring the Rock. I'm not sure if it's going to be a screen, if it's going to be a swing or even send him out on a wheel route down the sideline and go for it all. Be really aggressive. But that's my call would be to get him the Rock. Or the other thing would be to go back to Ben Meyer at tight end. He has seemed to find the open field so far in the first quarter.

The quarterback's brother, Jaxton DeJong. He's a great big target. He's the receiver at the top. They put Kramer in motion. They run the end around. Now DeJong is going to throw it. Trick play. Touchdown! West Lyon into the bag of tricks.

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Welcome back Philly special. Here it is. A lot of action going on. You got to keep your eye on one thing and no one defensively thinks about I have to cover the quarterback out of the backfield. And he leaks right out and into the end zone. He goes. He's going to tell his receivers after this. This isn't that tough.

Younger brother finds big brother and usually it's the other way around as the point after gets blocked by Regina. Jaxton DeJong. The six foot five inch sophomore he's used to catching touchdowns, but this time he throws one. As the point after blocked by the Regals.

And once the ball goes past the line of scrimmage, the defense cannot return it. A lot of people get confused on that rule. So that's a that's a dead ball scenario. Once it passes the line of scrimmage off to a fantastic start, though. West Lyon really just moving the ball well and has played well defensively to you.

Look at the DeYoung brothers. They are very close in age. Jaxton one year younger. Both brothers are so close and talking with Jay Rozeboom, he says. They do everything together and I'm sure they've been practicing that particular play for a few years. And what a spotlight to unleash it in.

Oh, it's it's interesting when you call those plays, it has to be at the right location, at the right time. And it was well done. Well set up, just excellent coverage by the whole West Lyon offense knowing that, hey, this is our favorite play to run in this scenario. We've been waiting to run it for weeks.

On the return making the most out of limited real estate along the far side was Gabriel Hegelheimer. So some adversity right now for Regina down 13. Nothing. Getting ready for their third offensive series. And this is an offense with a lot of weapons. Whether it's on the edge at receiver, whether it's Savion Miller the tight end, Tate Wallace they have a two year starter at quarterback and Kyle Tracy they have to find their rhythm. Now on this drive.

That's right. And Coach Elsbury his biggest job right now is to calm everyone down. All kinds of football left to play. Here we go. Let's get a first down and continue to march. And before you know it, you'll have points on the board.

On the jet sweep. Miller cannot find any room. Jacob Snyders was the first one to hit him and then plenty of help, including Ben Meyer.

Yeah, Snyders gets the edge here. Does a nice job from that cash position. Linebacker and is a very good tackler in the open field.

Mentioned the offensive coordinator for Regina alongside Dustin Elsbury as Ed Hinkel is 19th year with the program, the former Iowa receiver, who has over 200 wins as a play caller throughout his career and he is the continuity piece connecting the new era of Regina football with the storied past. Tracy floats left, throws that direction coming. First down for the Regals.

Kyle Tracy does a nice job sprinting to his left. Gets his shoulder square with the line of scrimmage and still attacks the line of scrimmage and puts just a dart on the spot for his wide receiver.

Greve just like his quarterback, a two year starter, real high football IQ, and he does all the sports part of their state basketball team. He was on the soccer team that made it all the way to the state semifinals. Wallace in motion on first down, high snap, threw off the timing but does not slow down Miller. He still pushes his way up to the 49.

Though it's not a big gain. Savion Miller what? I'm going to guess three tackles that he sheds on his way to getting the four yards. So what could have been a gain of maybe a yard he ends up getting additional yards Savion Miller just seems to get stronger as the game goes on.

Multiple Division one offers already reaching the desk of Miller, he's had offers from Miami, of course, Iowa State, Missouri, Kent State, Minnesota. So a spreading among the different conferences. Play fake by Tracy pressure comes he sacked was the first one in there third sack of the day for West Lyon.

Yeah. Schoening who was a senior and he's six one 190 pounds and he's got some motor to him. He's going to come off the line of scrimmage and track him down. Good effort.

Disruptive defense. Ben Meyer Cooper Schoening. They just put so much pressure on the quarterback and an offensive line, and they can get to you without blitzing, without the extra numbers. Third down Tracy will launch deep downfield Slager runs underneath it. Slager right into the basket. Touchdown 58 yards and Regina needed that.

Regina.

Kyle Tracy coming through when it's needed. What a great throw. And of course Slager comes down with the ball. He has four touchdowns on the season. Make that number five.

Point after is up and through. The lightning quick strike by Regina Tracy put it right over the top. Hit Slager in stride. Five plays 66 yards. And that is what.

All year you've seen this on tape throughout the season. Big plays very aggressive. This is why they run the spread offense. You get that satisfaction right away of spreading the field and being able to chuck it, and also able to run the ball up the middle. With Miller. So you knew it was going to take Long. Regina has so much talent and speed that offensively, they're hard to shut down.

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River Kramer awaiting the kick from Hegelheimer good, strong deep kick and a yard into the end zone. Kramer is going to give it a shot and he will be mowed down shy of the 20.

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So Regina kicker Gabriel Hegelheimer is quite the threat now. He has not missed a pat this extra point the entire season. He's 60 for 60 and his kickoffs all the way down, and that one was very borderline of going into the end zone. If the ball goes across the line of scrimmage, it's dead and it's a touchback.

So now the million dollar question for Regina can they get a stop? West Lyon has had the ball twice. It has resulted in a couple of scoring drives as the Wildcats start from the 17. They pitch it and immediately penetration from James Whisler.

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James Whisler.

Yeah. James Whisler is one of the most active linebackers. 38 tackles on the season. He has five tackles for loss. He's a senior 511, 170 pounds and a great tackler.

He's a veteran player. He has played a lot of football the past couple of years. Second down and 13, stepping up is DeYoung. He will float one on one coverage downfield. He's looking for his younger brother, Jaxton. Those two could not get on the same page.

Yeah, it looks like Jackson was running his route to the right side across the field, and his brother put it on the left side, which made it really hard for him to adjust his body, find it with his head, and be able to locate the ball.

Let's see if Regina brings some type of pressure package with their linebackers. Hamilton and Eckhoff does not look like they will. They have five up at the line of scrimmage. They're going to run the ball to Hildring runs over one. Bulldozers his way to the 21, and the Regals have their first stop of the day.

Conservative play call by West Lyon. In that scenario, maybe this is one of those things where they're like, hey, let's let's not make a mistake and turn the ball over. Let's try and have a good punt and get the field position rolling back into our favor.

Pressure comes up. The middle kick is away, and it's a good one. Greve will let this bounce. It takes a Regina hop and is touched dead at the 45. A punt of 34 yards and Lady Mo right now maybe with Iowa City Regina as we hit the halfway point of the second quarter.

Well, if I'm the Regina coach, I'm Ed Hinkel I'm thinking, here we go. We're going to go deep again. We're may show a little play action and try to take advantage of the fact that West Lyon is on their heels.

And.

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Tracy four of 675 yards. But a slow start for Savion Miller. Just two touches. Running the ball seven yards. Tracy will try to stay hot. He's going to take off. Tracy gets hit hard from the back side. Meyer caught up with him and those are the types of hits where as a quarterback, you don't see it coming. And sometimes that ball gets popped free.

Meyer is having a great first half offensively and defensively for big guy. Watch him come around the corner and gets in the picture and just ear holes him.

Kyle Tracy is one tough customer. He has taken some hits. He's been sacked three times. Ferocious leader of this offense. Has such a wonderful relationship with his coordinator Hinkel bootleg left looking throwing on the run. Wallace goes up and that's why D1 programs are looking at this guy. Snatches the ball from his tight end spot and a first down.

Yeah, I like how Tate Wallace gets up in the air. His hands are out front. Gives with the ball strong hands, brings them back in. 37 receptions so far this season 540 yards. He's averaging 14.6 yards per catch.

And wouldn't you know it they pick up 14 on that completion. First down. It's been a busy week for Tate Wallace we'll talk more about that in a moment. From the 35 yard line. This is Miller a little bit of a hole and Miller finishing his run takes it to the 28. This is a physical football game the way it's meant to be played. Running backs finishing their runs, defenders bringing it with everything they got.

Regina making some small adjustments with formations and able to move the ball very, very productive here.

Going back to Tate Wallace after the semifinal win last week, he hopped on an airplane, went to Tennessee for a visit. There he is, back in uniform trying to win a title. Quick pitch Miller on the boundary side. Keeps his balance. Ball popped free late, but it looked like he got back on it. He did and it is a first down.

Speed option here. He pitches it right on time. The ball is loose. He can see his elbow come out and it just comes out. Daxtyn Metzger with a nice hit. Create the fumble. But fortunately for the Regals, they recover it.

Second time they have put the ball on the turf both times they have avoided disaster and recovered. They stack them at the top of the screen on this first down play again offline. Snap Miller. Into the pile he goes for a yard.

Iowa City Regina. Remember back under Marv Cook? They won six consecutive state titles. Just a powerhouse. Marv out of West Branch, Iowa. Later played for the Iowa Hawkeyes and then professionally with the New England Patriots, and he came back to Iowa and he was coaching high school football and had great success.

Six straight titles occurring from 2010 to 2015. Tracy one six. In the double coverage and it's deflected away incomplete. Greve was the receiver, but he had Wildcats to his left and right.

This was a bullet. Kyle Tracy put something on this one. It was a good fastball and I believe it goes off someone's face mask or the top of their helmet coming in hot.

If they don't pick up another inch, they'd be looking at a 38 yard field goal for Hegelheimer, who's hit from 33 this year. Third down and nine. They moved the pocket. Tracy has it batted right back at his face. Ben Meyer again. Pressure up the middle coming from Jack Carolan.

Well, when you coach the defensive linemen, you tell them simple thing. If you can't get the quarterback, get your hands up. And once again looks like Meyer with another play. Five tackles so far in this game and now with a knockdown. And they're setting up for a field goal.

So they will mark this officially as a 38 yard attempt for Hegelheimer, who's two for two this year along with 33. This one has plenty of leg. It is up and he drills it. It is absolutely perfect for Hegelheimer ten straight for Regina to cut the deficit down to three.

That looked like it was good. From 45 to 50 yards. He has plenty of leg and as we've said during his kickoffs, you watch him kick the ball off. He's going to kick the ball 60 yards in the air. Good start, good recovery for them. After a slow start, I should say for Regina.

Look at this team for Iowa City. Regina. They have 14 seniors on the roster and then they have an incredibly talented junior roster that includes Wallace Miller, Parizek. You could just go up and down. The list of juniors. Will Litton nice balance of upperclassmen on this team.

Good job.

Hegelheimer with the approach again, strong kick. This one will reach the end zone for a touchback. Stay in the know with Iowa Press. Join Kay Henderson and guests for in-depth conversations on the issues shaping Iowa. Tune in Friday nights, 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 12 noon on Iowa PBS or stream online anytime.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC]

Snyders Dustin Elsbury watched his team fall behind early, but they have battled back ten straight for the Regals from Iowa City. DeJong in the offense start shop from the 20. It's a quick hitter up the middle, blown up by Litton, one of the juniors we were just talking about.

Litton does a really nice job of getting penetration on this play. He's he's a down lineman, stays low, splits the guard and tackle. Good penetration and makes it an open field tackle.

Litton was a nice addition this season. He came back to the sport after not going out last year, and he has certainly been an impact player on that side of the football. Second down and 11 again, the Regals able to penetrate dancing his way, making the most of nothing goes Hildring bringing a third down. What's Regina doing a little bit differently? It seems like they're they're getting way better penetration than what we saw in the first quarter.

They've adjusted their front four. They're now in gaps as opposed to be playing head on or playing a shade. It looks like they're in gaps to get that penetration.

[APPLAUSE]

Ciesielski left two receivers to the top. They flip it running to the field side needs a couple of blocks and it doesn't pan out. Good pursuit. Defense stretching the field wide. The speed of Erin Honore and Tate Wallace.

And you'll see that with Regals throughout the game, their defensive backs can run. Boy, all kinds of speed.

Regina senses an opportunity. So they're going to use the Time-out. That'll stop the clock with a minute 54 to go in this first half. What a day in which we which we have already crowned two champions moving into One-a, who will be our third champion this afternoon?

West Lyon Koch Jay Rozeboom started his coaching career at Central Line, rising.

From the ashes for a second consecutive season. It's college wrestling, the heart of the mat beats in the great state of Iowa. Catch the grit, the glory. The champions of tomorrow. Take a look at this lineup featuring the Hawkeye Women's Cyclone men, Naia Division two and three, as well as some double headers. Join us as college wrestling coverage returns again this December on Iowa PBS.

[MUSIC]

Grandview always a power. Not just men, but women. And that's where we kick it all off. December 11th at Waukee Northwest. Fourth down West Lyon on the punt high short kick. Greve orders everybody away from it. And Regina will have it in golden position. They take over at the West Lyon 43. Following the punt of just 20 yards.

[APPLAUSE]

Well, for Regina, this is one of those quick change moments where momentum has shifted. West Lyon is feeling a little bit down about the punt, and that scenario. You'll probably have them on their heels. Look for a big play here.

[APPLAUSE]

Kyle Tracy has been the difference maker in this first half. Five of 989 yards. He's hit five different receivers. Greve goes in motion left to right. First down. They swing it out trying to get Miller in space pursuit and the right angle by West Lyon Jacob Snyders the first one to slow down. Miller.

Snyders does a nice job of hitting the outside, forcing the action in, and you end up seeing four other West Lyon defenders come to the ball. That's rallying to the football, you know. Do your job. Here comes the cavalry clock.

Really not an issue a minute 13 to go Regina with a couple of Time-outs. Second down and nine. They bring a blitz. It's picked up this time. They swing it left. Miller has a block downfield from Greve inside the 25. Finally pushed out of bounds around the 2022 yards as they swing it out to Miller.

And that's the bread and butter. Regina knows that if they can get Miller out in open space, he's going to make guys miss. So whatever it takes, whether it's a screen or a swing pass or maybe a draw.

They have already reached the line to get to get within their field. Goal kickers range third straight time out to the flat. They lose track of Miller into the five touchdown. That's the guy you cannot lose sight of. Savion Miller and Regina has their first lead.

Savion Miller is just a special young man. What a talent he has and the ability to not only outrun people, but to run right over him.

[APPLAUSE]

I like everything about his game.

Second touchdown pass in this first half for Tracy. The point after is good. An offense that can certainly strike quickly has done so twice for Dustin Elsbury three plays, 43 yards.

Hegelheimer is perfect again. Once he's 61 for 61 on extra points and three for three on field goals. That's a great thing to have when you know you have confidence in your kicker. You get inside the 30 yard line. It changes the way you call plays and you can set some things up.

Iowa City Regina came up empty on their first two possessions of this football game, but they have picked up points on their last three drives. The touchdown pass to Slager, the field goal by Hegelheimer, and now it is Miller finding the end zone and 17 straight for Iowa City.

Regina and Sean. They are a quick strike offense throughout the playoffs. You've seen that they're putting up monster points. They started with a win against northeast 69 to 0 Cascade. They beat 52 to 13. Pleasantville 49 to 7. And then last week they slayed the dragon beating Grundy Center 31 to 12.

This kick will reach the end zone. Another touchback. How aggressive will West Lyon play it with two time-outs and 40s to go? And keep in mind, unlike Regina, they really don't use the field goal as an offensive opportunity. So in essence, 80 yards to try to get six and a limited amount of time.

Yeah, no field goal attempts on the season for West Linn.

[APPLAUSE]

Look for a Hildring to come open and a quick pass here to him to set something up or the possibility of having been Meyer. Go right down the middle of the field.

They put trips to the bottom. They run the opposite way and DeJong was put to the fire right off the snap. That was Eckhoff who found his way through, and that derailed the plans for Easton DeJong.

All that. When you have penetration between the center and guard and you're trying to run that option, you're not going to have a lot of luck. Well, well done by Regina.

Clock continuing to move. What might be the final play of a wild first half today? Hildring tackled at the 26 by Eckhoff and it is Iowa City Regina with the momentum as they sprint into the locker room.

A team West Lyon.

13 straight to open the game for West Lyon, only to see Regina come back with the final 17. Class 1A the battle for state supremacy, the long touchdown to Slager both teams finding the end zone, including the DeJong brothers. But it was Miller score right before halftime that has Regina up by four.

[MUSIC]

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Halftime here at the UNI-Dome Iowa City, Regina 17 unanswered points after West Lyon put 13 on the board and a blocked extra point. We'll see how that one plays out here in Cedar Falls, where the Regal fans have been a little more to cheer about. West Lyon fans a little more nervous as we see him walk by here on the platform here at the Iowa High School Football Championships. Glad to have you here, but I do want to say to to do what you attribute shared prosperity among several boys and girls in high school sports in one small Iowa town. What do you do when you're trying to do that? Well, you nature, you nurture? Or is there maybe something in the water when we're talking about these communities that may not be as simple as pulling a rabbit out of a hat, but there has definitely been magic happening in Grundy Center.

My favorite sport is golf. Freshman year, the state title. We were able to win it as a team and then I won it individually, and that was kind of like the my first experience, where all the pressure's on you and you're able to perform and take that postseason experience from one sport and carry it over to the next doesn't faze you as much as maybe some of the other kids.

Grundy Center Senior Judge Nawrocki is capping off a highly successful high school career in multiple sports.

I want them competing as much as they possibly can, because I think that's going to do nothing but help them on Friday nights when they when they are playing football. Family on three, one two, three. Family. Here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go.

Head football coach Travis Zajac, site student. Buy in training, dedication and a largely volunteer staff for the team advancing to the state title game like clockwork. Throughout his tenure.

Every kid that has played for us in my six seasons here has been involved in at least one other sport. Some of them are involved in as many as five sports, so it's a really sweet spot right now. What it comes down to is talented kids that are committed and are willing to work really hard.

The football team has won it all with Judd at quarterback the past three seasons.

He's a phenomenal athlete, coachable, insightful, looking out for his teammates, 4.0 student, even keel. He's been a treat, an absolute treat to coach.

Djurovski recently announced he'll golf for Stanford University after graduation. So with basketball, track and baseball season still on the calendar, he kicked off his farewell tour this fall by taking Spartan Nation back to the dome with a 50 game winning streak and a chance for a fourth straight championship win.

We're going to get everybody's best shot. The reputation we've got here and the success we've had in the past, people want to beat us. It's just like any other sport.

But it isn't just boys sports that have put the town on the map. Girls golf, dwarfs the boys team and titles 15 to 4 since the 1990s. Both have their share of wins among various sports, reaching back decades.

When you say you're from Grundy Center, people just recognize, wow, you guys are really good at a lot of things that that you are doing right now and wanting to know, like, you know what is what is the key ingredient.

Activities Director Matt Lindaman says a lot of deep rooted pieces have come together for Grundy Center tradition. Attention to detail and balancing the pressure of community expectations to hone a spartan, athletic identity and continuity.

The cupboard was certainly not bare. That culture was already somewhat established, and we just have kind of leveled up since then. It's been fairly remarkable the things that our kids have been able to do. There's a lot of pressure, both on the boys side and on the girls side, to be involved in as many things as possible, and that's the lifeblood of small schools. Obviously in the state of Iowa. But but anywhere, you know, if you come from a small town and you have some gifts, you know, we want you to play.

Go, Spartans.

Oh, it's a vibe. It's been a long tradition here. And it's, it's it's fun to see some of the kids whose parents and grandparents went to school here. If it's fourth down and we need the inches, it's loud. The crowd's going to help you get it. Yep.

People love their Spartans.

Grundy center has been known to take a home field advantage on the road. Zajac applauds their exceptional long standing fan base.

Every year I think about the families of all of those kids and all the sacrifices to help us be good. That always kind of gets me a little choked up when I think about it, because it's powerful.

Carter Joravsky has stated his desire to springboard from a leadership role in sports to adult leadership opportunities. It's proof these Spartans haven't broken the mold. Instead, they're using it to forge an army of student athletes laser focused on tackling life with the same vigor they summon forth on any playing surface.

Have fun. Okay. Be positive. Be a leader.

The support we have behind us is is unreal. I can't thank the community enough for all they do for the football team and for me as a person.

[MUSIC]

Great job by our crew there to get those stories this week for all of our producers and videographers from Iowa PBS. The Regals fans are cheering a little with a little bigger smile right now. They've been waving those white towels. They've had some reasons to wave them here recently, but I do want to let you know that all good things must come to an end. And Grundy Center fell to Regina in the semifinals here at the dome last week. We sure will be able to. We'll keep an eye on them, you know. They'll be back as as we said, it's in the water. They're going to be here all the time. In the meantime, there's still boys and girls basketball, wrestling and more here on Iowa PBS. In the coming months. Maybe we'll see Grundy Center again. There before next fall. And you did see Matt Lindemann. We'd seen him in our girls coverage for basketball over the years. So yeah, we might just see them again soon. For now, though, we are at halftime of the Class 1A championship. The score 1713 Iowa City Regina and West Lyon. Who are the farthest team in the finals? 272 miles to the communities in northwestern Iowa. We'll see what they have to cheer about when we return.

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We're dancing inside here at the UNI-Dome as the fans wait for the second half of the one, a final Regina leads West Lyon 1713 Paul Yeager back up here with you on the concourse on the north side of UNI-Dome. If you are coming in the next couple of days, say hi. We'd like to see you. Tell your friends that we're here because this is what we do. We are talking about the championship game. We show highlights of the game. So that's what we are going to do right now to see how we got to that score of 1713. Our camera and replay and video. Everybody's making things look good. Evan Hildring made his team look good with A70 run to start, and then it's fourth down trickery. Watch the guy, watch the quarterback the whole time he comes out. You call it the Philly Stifle Philly special. We call it the DeJong special there. Jackson throws it to Easton and then it's a dime. Kyle Tracy finds Carter Slager 13 seven and then the swing pass to Savion Miller. He makes it look easy. That kid is incredible and very hard to tackle. 17 straight by the Regals here in this contest to make it 1713. There's a look at some of your statistics here. You look at total yards. The visiting team has won 50. And they also hold time of possession pretty even which you would expect for a 1713 game. We'll break that down here in just a moment. When we come back as we are going to have more sports coming on Iowa PBS, including this weekend. We've already seen Garrigan beat Woodbine in a great Eight-Player. MMCRU got their first title and then coming up yet tonight, Pella and Xavier tomorrow, we've got three games Light Day, Light Day, Kuemper Catholic, Van Meter, Bishop Heelan, Nevada and then our finale Iowa City Liberty and Dowling Catholic seven great games, seven great jobs by all of our crews and teams here this weekend in Cedar Falls on Thursday and Friday. It's late November. Where else would you be but the UNI-Dome when you're watching the finals on Iowa PBS? So it's 1713 now, and one day we will find out a little bit more about the game. We'll break down the stats with the coach and the announcer when we come back. That's also known as Shawn Kenney and Kevin Bowman. We'll be back here in a moment right after this short break. You're watching high school sports on Iowa PBS.

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Every year, Iowa's finest high school musicians gather in Ames for the Iowa All-State Music Festival.

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Enjoy. Incredible performances from the 2025 All-State band, Chorus and Orchestra in Hilton Coliseum, 2025 All-State Music Festival. Thanksgiving Day on Iowa PBS.

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Two traditional powers did not disappoint as we have reached halftime Regina 17, West Lyon 13. Entertaining first half. And what was a half of runs? And right now it's Regina leading by four. Shawn Kenney alongside Koch Kevin Bowman. Man, you know this game had a lot of anticipation coming in. It lived up to the billing, but what stood out to me. It was West Lyon who threw the opening punch, only to see Regina counter with 17 straight.

And the interesting part for West Linn is they've completed five passes into five different receivers, including the quarterback. It's been a clean game. Only one penalty, and I'm thinking if I was the guy from West Lyon, we need to do something more offensively to be creative as opposed to doing what we've done for the last, you know, what has it been 24 minutes. So we'll see what happens. I'm excited because, you know, both of these teams are powerhouses.

Well it should be a lot of fun. The explosive play was certainly the difference in the first half for Iowa City. Regina. When we come back west, Lyon will have the football to kick off our second half from Cedar Falls.

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Number seven.

Paul Yeager Koch Kevin Bowman Shawn Kenney welcoming you back to the UNI-Dome a beautiful Thursday afternoon here in Cedar Falls, University of Northern Iowa. The annual get together for the state's best, as we have 24 minutes to settle this one. 1713 Iowa City Regina out in front Regina looking for their ninth state title. They have won eight, including six straight from 2010 to 2015, and Dustin Elsbury trying to show the rest of the state a new era has started as they look to get back on top on the return, finishing the return and some late penalties. Jaxton DeJong deliver the boom along the Regina sideline and then some extracurricular. After that.

And that's going to set West Lyon up in the great field position. Look for them to come out and get Hildring the ball right away, and I'm going to guess that Ben Myers is going to be a factor again, both offensively and defensively.

Personal foul 44. Kicking team 15 yard penalty. First down.

Seven Greve with the late hit out of bounds so they will walk off an additional 15 yards. Take it all the way to the 37. You look at some of the numbers for West Lyon in the first half. DeJong throwing the football four of 648 yards. He actually caught a touchdown from his younger brother Jackson on a trick play. Hildring 52 yards, averaging under four yards per touch. He gets the call here and it's a good first down run. The ball ends up in the hands of Honore, but they're going to say he was down. Down by contact at the 43.

That's the first time we've seen the punt formation. And it's a tight one. And they run right to that side. Good job by the receivers blocking. And I know West Lyon coach was talking about some of his wide receivers about how they they're doing a better job with some things but they're blocking still needs to continue to improve. I'm guessing he's harping on that right now.

They feel.

That.

Ciesielski is the best blocker of the bunch. Number eight he's the slot at the bottom. DeJong forced from the pocket. There's a hold on this play and the young crumpled down at the 44 yard line, but a hold in the backfield and West Lyon will move in the wrong way. Following this announcement.

Holding offense number 52. Ten-yard penalty. Second down.

Jerrence Knoblock.

Well, there's that announcer's drink jinx and saying it's been hardly any penalties. And the second play of the game here in the second half is a penalty. Well, we've had two so far in the second half.

Penalty pushes it back to the 33 Ben Meyer lines up as the tight end left. DeJong setting up the screen. Making the catch is Hildring picks up a couple of nice downfield blocks and he is shouldered down to the astroturf at the 42 by Hudson Koch.

Well designed screen play. You got everything going. Good rush coming at him. DeJong throws a nice ball over the top of the defenders and some great blocks downfield. Well done.

Wildcats firing blanks on third downs today. Zero for five. They try to change their fortunes here. They hand the ball off a quick hitter. Hildring one runs through one arm tackle and he will be about a yard and a half shy. Eckhoff again, another stop.

Well, decision time here for West Lyon. Coach Rozeboom is going to have to come up with something as whether we're going to try and draw the defense off with a good cadence, loud, hard one and see if they jump or run a play. We'll see if he stands next to the official. That's usually a sign for a Time-out.

They've been really good on fourth downs today. They will go quarterback run with DeJong. He has stood up, but forward progress has him past the sticks and a first down Easton DeJong had to get physical to get that yard and a half, and he was up to the challenge.

And he has that ability at six foot three, 175 pounds, he lowers his shoulders and is able to move the pile. He's averaging ten yards per carry coming into the game.

Four sport athlete who won the starting job in camp tight camp battle that went to DeJong and he has had a remarkable season as a flag comes in and false start and all of a sudden the laundry becoming pretty prevalent.

False start, offense number.

The Presnap penalties are something. that coaches have a hard time living with, and when it's not getting set, not knowing the snap count, that's very frustrating.

Third penalty this half after we just had one. The entire first half. First and 15 at the 43. Opening drive of quarter number three. DeJong looks out of the backfield. Hildring makes the catch. Spins away and gets back to the original line of scrimmage. Cook the tackle.

Great effort by Hildring. Seven catches coming into the game, but he averages almost 12 yards and he has two touchdowns 511, 190 pounds. This senior has just been a beast for them all season.

[LAUGHTER] [APPLAUSE]

Second down and ten. Trips right receiver left. They go empty to don't show this look a lot time to choose. He will launch deep puts it out there and it's broken up. Honore broke up the play as they tried to dial up the long ball.

What a great job by Honore. He's behind him just by a little bit, but he has the common sense to see that when the receiver's hands come up in the air, that's his chance to turn his head and knock the ball down.

[APPLAUSE]

Well done.

Speed on speed. There with Honore a and River Kramer.

[APPLAUSE]

Third down and ten. And movement on the right side. It's the tackle. Brice cook and uncharacteristic mistakes for Jay Rozeboom and West Lyon offense.

Number 65.

You know, sometimes you need to burn a time-out in scenarios like this where it just seems like things are falling apart a little bit. Gather the team together. Hey, let's refocus. We can't continue to shoot ourselves in the foot.

These tackles, rightfully so. Nervous when you have Tate, Wallace and Will Litton bearing down on you. The two defensive ends, number 45 and number zero. It's a lethal four man front third and 15. DeJong is going to move the pocket toward Wallace direction. He's going to plant the feet. He's going to launch downfield, and it's incomplete. Great coverage. Looking for Jaxton DeJong. And it was Drew Greve with him every step of the way.

Oh, and Greve does a tremendous job on this. It's a it's a go route. And what he does is he uses the sideline as his friend. He's going to continue to push the receiver with his hand on the hip towards the sideline. There's pressure on the quarterback. All these things are good scenarios.

Jaxton DeJong on the punt, trying to angle it gets a line drive, kick on the back pedal. Juggling catch made by Greve at the 18 and Greve will just sidestep to the near sideline a return of 11 following the punt of 38 yards and Regina in this offense to get the football for the first time in the second half.

Yeah, three penalties on that drive really hurt, West Lyon.

For 50 years, Market to Market has been the news and commodity market information source for anyone who lives and works in rural America. Join host Paul Yeager every Friday night at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. for market to market. Weekly. Journal of Rural America or stream online anytime.

[MUSIC]

Iowa City Regina. First drive of this third quarter from the 29 yard line. Miller with a gaping hole. Savion Miller cuts it to the outside. Miller to midfield. One man to beat and he's finally corralled at the 19.

So here comes the Regals with their counter play, pulling the guard in the tackle. The guard is going to kick out the end. The tackle is going to come upfield to get the linebacker and Savion Miller uses that speed.

52 yards. His biggest play from the line of scrimmage today. Read option A late keep Tracy cut down by Hildring.

Now, one of the things I've noticed is that Regina is trying to run to the opposite side of Ben Meyer, and that's probably a good adjustment that they've made at halftime.

Look at this offensive line for Iowa City. Regina, the two year starter. You have the twin brothers and Simon and Porter Shetler up the middle. Devin Szanajda at right tackle, Noah Horner, left guard, Nathan Parizek at left tackle, Wallace in motion. They pull a lineman. They go the opposite way. Looked like they wanted that option to pass the football, but Tracy thought better of it as he takes it to the 16.

Yeah, I agree with you, Shawn. That's an RPO right there. And he had the chance to throw it and he decided to keep it and see if he could get some yards. Good decision. You never want to force a ball when you get inside the red zone.

[APPLAUSE]

Especially when you have a pretty good kicker and Gabriel Hegelheimer who's already connected from 39 yards in this game. Regina is going to have to hustle play clock down to five, and I think they're going to have to burn a Time-out here. And they will. They call a time-out.

Time-out Regina. It's their first charge of the half.

You could tell they were having some personnel issues. Dustin Elsbury will gather the troops. Well, it's been such a remarkable junior class for Iowa City. Regina. And two in particular go way back when. You look at Savion Miller and Tate Wallace red zone youth football. And then you push the fast forward button. Recently, both paying a visit to Iowa State, both generating a lot of Division one interest.

Yeah.

Tate Wallace is a four star. recruit and Savion Miller, he's a power five running back, having a great day in Ames, watching the cyclones. That's neat thing. You start off as kids and you have those cute pictures when you're young, and then all of a sudden you're a gentleman and you're going on to college. It goes by too quick.

You two are such good friends and tight chemistry that this team has built. Whether stretching back into the middle school years up into freshman football. JV now into varsity. You talk to Tate Wallace some of his best years. Junior high football. That's really when he fell in love with the sport. So important for the junior high coaches across the state. Keep it fun and keep everybody involved because you never know when somebody's going to hit a growth spurt. All right. They've had time to think about it. Third down and seven inside the red zone. They go pistol with Miller behind Tracy. Miller gets the call weaving his way up the center. And the teeth of this defense dragged down at the 12.

And sets up a situation for the Regals where you get half the distance and now you're in a short yardage situation. It appears as if they're going to bring the kicking team out and to kick the field goal.

Hegelheimer, who has not missed this year three for three, including a 39 yarder earlier today. This one officially from 29 yards, drew Greve with the placement kick is on the way and it is good. Man, how valuable is it to have a weapon and special teams.

Automatic. Can you imagine that you have that kicker. You don't see that at the college level. Where these kids are can be that efficient. So it's just an impressive drive. Once again, Regina has just really taken control of this game. They look good offensively and defensively. They made some stops. It's Tate Wallace for me at linebacker and you're seeing Drew Greve do a wonderful job as a d-back. He has eight interceptions on the season. He's a kid that they probably don't want to throw his way. Everything right now is going in the direction for Regina.

52 yard run. The key piece of the puzzle on that last drive by Savion Miller, located in Iowa City. And we talked to Coach Elsbury about the benefits of having the university right there. And he says, you can certainly feel the impact the Hawkeyes have around their high school campus. They have weight room interns from Iowa, even mental performance grad students. Regular exposure to high level athletes, team has the unique opportunity to meet with University of Iowa mental health performance grad students to work on visualization, adversity, coping, sports, psych. Just like a college program, all the benefits they have from being right there in Iowa City.

Coach Elsbury was fortunate enough to spend some time with the University of Iowa with their weight, strength program there. Chris Doyle was there at the time and one of the best highly regarded across the United States for college football strength.

There you go. Inside the weight room at Regina. You might run into an NFL player like Connor Colby, who was an intern helping out in the weight room. Carson Shire starting linebacker Nelson Brands, the head wrestling coach at Regina. You can go down the list West Lyon DeJong floats a little soft touch and it's broken up in and out of the hands of River Kramer Honore again making a play. He has been the defensive MVP today.

, and you just feel like there's all kinds of confidence right now for Regina, whether that's a carryover from the semifinal game when they defeated Grundy Center and just snapped that streak. But man, they're their kids are playing with their hair on fire.

Second down and ten. Hildring gets the number this time over the right side, pushing up to the 27.

And we have to remember, West Lyon was a two way champs last year. And here they are sitting in another opportunity to win a title game. And I talked a little bit about Kate Koch Jay Rozeboom, who started his coaching career at Central Lyon, and he was a defensive coordinator there for six years before becoming the head coach. Jay succeeded Darrell, who Gavin, who had the program going in the right direction with a lot of success.

Third down, they pick up the blitz that gives time and room to run for River Kramer Kramer all the way down to the 39. Give the offensive line credit. They picked it up and DeJong had time to go downfield.

And River Kramer Kramer excuse me. River Kramer is just doing an outstanding job. He's a sophomore, five nine. He's so explosive. The coach just loves the way he does things. And good hands there. Great route. Finds the opening in the zone and takes advantage of it.

35 yards on the completion to the sophomore Kramer Hildring can't get the motor ignited. He had defenders around him. Simon Shetler had him around the waist. You go back to River Kramer. It's rare with the tradition of West Lyon to start as a sophomore. They've had a few at receiver in the past, but Jay Rozeboom said this kid is just a stick of dynamite. Great in space, good hands. And he's only a sophomore.

Yeah, and for Regina, you're not going to see their down linemen, their defensive end, defensive tackles make a lot because they're more pluggers than their responsibility.

Second down. This one's coming back a flag in the backfield. There was a clear hold as the throw and catch. But it's coming back. Hildring wide open and penalties have just killed West Lyon in the second half.

Offense number 52. Ten-yard penalty from the previous spot. Still second down.

So number 45 Will Litton called for the hold. Six foot five, 215 pounds.

I brought it up earlier, coach. These two ends. It is tough for a tackle and we've seen the dynamic duo of Litton and Wallace create some mistakes for this offensive line. Huge blow there. Second down after the penalty, DeJong wanted to go deep. Now running through his progressions, running for his life. And did he get the throw off or not? Spun down Wallace pleading his case.

Well, here's a scenario. Did the ball get to the line of scrimmage? That'd be the biggest thing right now in the the officials will conference on that.

Seven person officiating crew for the finals this weekend. Just like last year.

There's no flag for ineligible downfield. The passer was down here. It'll be third down.

And Sean, this is the second year that they've had a seven man crew in the semifinals and the finals. And I think the biggest thing is that you're working with a crew of five throughout the season. And then when you get to the postseason, it's finding two more guys that can work with your group and be in sync with the other five.

Will Litton wreaking havoc on back to back plays. He was responsible for the hold on second down and carry generates the sack back to back plays for the junior. Here they come. They set up the screen. Dangerous throw and Hildring had it broken up. Luke Hamilton I thought might just pluck that one from midair, but he had his sights set on the running back, breaking it up beautifully.

Well, Regina has been well coached on screens this week. You can see that they feel that West Lyon is not going to attempt to block them, and letting penetration come across, and then they peel back and find the the intended screen receiver.

DeJong gets the kick away as best of the day. Greve from the 19 and he runs into his own man. Andre got pushed back as coming down field was Jacob Roemen. It's a busy time of the year. An exciting time for all of us at Iowa PBS. As you take a look at what we have on the sports calendar, girls wrestling, the state championships and we move into the boys. On February 21st. Girls basketball, a couple of days in Des Moines. Boys follow a week later, all of it on Iowa PBS.

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Kyle Tracy spins his way up ahead. Had a couple of blockers out in front. Dustin Elsbury, an offensive coordinator at Hinkel, will take this every time on first down.

And you're seeing Kyle Tracy carry the ball much more in the last 2 or 3 games than he has all season. He came in with only like 400 yards in the playoffs, and he's before the playoffs. And now he's run for over 300 yards in the last couple of games.

Tracy a player who's getting some D3 interest, especially from the Wisconsin schools, UW Platteville one of them, along with a host of other schools keeping an eye on him. No hole opened up on second down for Miller.

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Well done by West Lions defensive front. Doing a good job. And the linebackers are coming up a little bit more. They're not five yards like they were originally. They're getting closer to three yards and very, very much attacking the gaps.

Slager and Kock twin set to the right. Wallace joins them. They go the opposite way inside slant and a first down. Excellent script there by OC. Hinkel put a lot of attention at the bottom. Then you slip that slant to Greve and a first down.

And it's the easiest play for a quarterback. They love this. He's on time. He hits his back foot and delivers the ball. The defensive back is giving him the inside. So you're going to be able to run slants and hitches all night long. In this scenario.

Second catch this afternoon for Greve keeps the drive alive. First down. This is a designed run all the way by Tracy to the boundary side. Jack Carolan caught him from the backside. Daxtyn Metzger hit him as well. Second down.

And you're seeing Regina running a lot to their left side behind the Eric, who's a first year starter and Horner, who's also a first year starter. But coaches feel like Horner number 50 is playing like an all stater this year.

It's really a good story. This is a young man who patiently waited for his turn his senior year. He sat behind some really good talent and he has been rewarded a key anchor up front. You talked about it. Coach wants to put him up for All-State, second down. Nothing but blue jerseys in the backfield. They sniffed it out on what will be the final play of a quick moving third quarter. So to the fourth quarter we go here in the battle for Class 1A Savion Miller the big play back getting into it. This defense for Regina. They've been up to the challenge. They carry a seven point lead to the fourth.

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Such a meaningful part of Iowa PBS is is the coverage of unique Iowa events. And part of that is our high schools and our kids programs. Whether it's athletics or otherwise, the state fair coverage is that's such a part of the fabric of Iowa. And I think just the the programing that covers things meaningful to our people in our state.

Donate today and support Iowa PBS.

Settled before Iowa was a state, Davenport tells the tale of community, culture and trade along the banks of the Mississippi River. A variety of architectural movements are preserved in Davenport in structures designed for civic and commercial life. Join Iowa PBS as we explore the arts and the architecture within the historic buildings of Iowa.

Davenport coming to Iowa PBS December 2nd.

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Destroy.

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Our.

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John Naeve.

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Our.

DeJong.

Like the.

Joy.

Local, regional and national artists take the stage to perform original sets and share their musical journeys on studio three. Live. Enjoy weekly performances Fridays at 8:30 p.m. online or as a podcast. Young and old always gather this time of the year. Inside the beautiful UNI-Dome on the campus of Northern Iowa. West Lyon down seven. As we welcome you to the start of the fourth quarter alongside Paul Yeager Koch Kevin Bowman Shawn Kenney, our fantastic crew with Iowa PBS. Buckle up a fun 12 minutes. Just a field goal in the third quarter. Hegelheimer a couple of field goals. He's connected from 39 and 29 yards.

You can't beat the ambiance of the UNI-Dome. It's just such a special place. And I believe the high school playoffs have been here since this opened in 1976. And for me as a coach, I don't know if I've ever missed a year coming out here and just sitting here and watching it. I know it draws like over 50,000 fans, so what a great thing for Cedar Falls. Also.

, big play to start this fourth quarter. Third down and two Wallace in motion. He'll be the decoy. Keeping it is Kyle Tracy and he has the edge. Tracy will finish the run. How about that? Looked like he was going to step out of bounds. And the senior quarterback had a little fight in him.

It sure did. And as a coach you're yelling get out of bounds and as quick as you can. And the worst part about it was that he had the football in the wrong hand. And he almost fumbled the ball inbounds. So I'll take what they give you.

I always feel bad for the defender because they're in a no win situation, because you can't come at him like a Tomahawk missile there like you want to, because you think he's going to step out of bounds. So. First down at the 36 yard line. And we have a time-out taken by Iowa City. Regina.

Time Regina.

So they are forced to use their second time-out. They have one remaining.

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Bryce Kock Maly Socheata.

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Ashlee Buzzard.

Was used as an educational.

Stay connected with Iowa PBS sports. No matter where you're watching from. Join the conversation. Follow us on Facebook and X and use hashtag Iowa PBS. Sports to enjoy the championships with other fans. Dustin Elsbury in Iowa City, Regina. Big into the weight room. He's the head strength coach, physical education teacher at the Catholic school. He has an extensive background as an athletic trainer. Goes back to his college days as an assistant, was an intern in Iowa, strength program, and he told us about a real special moment. His father was with him on the sidelines at the dome last week. His father, a longtime coach, never had the opportunity to be a part of a state game. So that was a special moment for Dustin and his father, one that both will remember for a very long time.

Oh, the father son combination. And when your son goes into the same profession that you did, and typically the coach's sons are at practices at such a young age and just follow it and grow in love with it.

Kyle Tracy with time he zips it Wallace is there Wallace to the ten five touchdown! 36 yards.

I'm not sure if you're going to see this, but number ten Zachary Poe just does an excellent job with a block downfield and to to free him. Well, it's 13. It's all right. I got the wrong number there. But what a great block in that scenario. Well done. Perfect play, good pitch and catch.

Tate Wallace one of the top players in the state, finds the end zone 36 yards. Wallace with his 10th touchdown catch of the season. It's a football legacy. When you look at the Wallace family. His father played football at Simpson and introduced him to the sport. His older brother Jack was actually a standout at Iowa City West, and right now he's part of the Saint Thomas squad, getting ready for the playoffs, Tate, only a junior, and we talked about it after the win last week. He hopped on the plane. Tennessee, one of many schools trying to court him right now.

Yeah he's he's going to find himself in a very good situation. Recruited heavily. And this is the great thing about Regina quick strike big plays. And they're going to continue to do that. Will they become conservative at this point? I hope not. They're still 11 minutes left and you need to stay with that foot on the gas pedal.

You go back to Tate Wallace and you look at him and you talk to the coaches for Regina six three, 235 pounds. Yet he's the ultimate team player. He's so versatile. I mean, it's a perfect blend of power, size, speed and they can use him in so many creative ways, both offensively and defensively.

And they are they are very diverse offensively. They're showing all kinds of different formations and aligning people. They're going to get some matchups that they really like.

Well, they throw it back DeJong to Kramer and he has a wall of blockers. River Kramer with a cut keeps his balance. Kramer is going to take this to the house 90 yards. How about that?

That would be River Kramer second kick return for a touchdown this year. He's averaging 62 yards per kick return. He's a guy that I wouldn't want to kick to.

Time out.

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It's all set up now as he goes down the left sideline. He's going to have to make a cutback here. Gets a good block and then turns on the gas and away he goes. River Kramer. And makes things interesting. All of a sudden we have ourselves a ball game.

Injury time out right now on the return. It's one of the Wildcats who was down, needing some assistance to get to the sideline. That's Cody Snyders, who was shaken up as we try to take another look to see what happened to Snyders downfield blocking. He's kind of got rolled up, didn't he?

Yeah. River Kramer officially has a 93 yard return for that touchdown.

Kerkvliet on for the point after for West Lyon. To make this a seven point game. You know, we talked a little bit about it last week. You get to this part of the game. This phase of the season. The margin of error is razor thin. So oftentimes what decides it special teams.

Oh yeah. Such a momentum swing. And scenario like this. Especially for West Lyon. They're coming back now. They have all the confidence in the world. But they're going to have to have a defensive stop. So what adjustments do you need to make. Because Regina has been able to move the ball. So you're asking yourself what are we going to have to do defensively for three downs to get the ball back?

It's nothing new for West Lyon. Jay Rozeboom has a number of tricks up his sleeve. You don't Koch for three plus decades, have a stadium named after you already without having success in all three facets of the game and special teams has been an area they've always excelled. That's the sixth kickoff return for a touchdown this year for the Wildcats.

Yeah, and as Coach Rozeboom would say when we were in our interview with them, you know, sometimes you got to scratch where it itches, which sounds a lot like Coach Hayden Fry back in the day. But I love how honest he is and realistic and pretty, pretty sound. And just the fact that this is what we do, you know, he told us you have to get back to work no matter how well you do. The next day you get back to work. And that theme resonates with his team.

On the return, they fake the handoff and they take it up to the 30 yard line where Regina will come out. As you may have heard, Congress cut 3.5 million in federal funding to Iowa PBS. This is the largest one time cut in our 55 year history, affecting 18% of the budget. These funds help maintain our statewide network, delivering trusted local programs to every corner of Iowa. Despite the challenge, we're committed to our mission to educate, inform, enrich and inspire. Thank you for watching today and supporting public media. Please consider a gift to Friends of Iowa PBS today by scanning the QR code or calling the phone number on your screen. Regina will go back to work. Change of direction from Kyle Tracy his lasso down at the 32 yard line by Shoni.

Yeah, once again you see Regina running to the left side opposite of Ben. Meyer trying to force someone else to make a play. Obviously Ben Meyer has just been all over the field for them, so West Lyon has got to figure out a way. Maybe put Ben Meyer in the middle of the field and see what he can do at nose.

Tracy has initial time now. The pocket collapsing, Meyer in pursuit, throwing on the run and it's a sliding catch for Wallace in plus territory and a first down. A gain of 21. Tate Walsh.

Shows his athletic ability on that play as he goes down. To get that, he's able to tuck that back up underneath the shoulder pads. And what a tough throw for Kyle Tracy as he's sprinting to his right. He has to square his shoulders up as he's making a jump pass. Incredible throw.

Kyle Tracy continues to impress this afternoon. He knew he was one of the best, but he has certainly lived up to it, as has Savion Miller. But he cannot sidewind his way out of the tackle from River Kramer, who latched on to an ankle.

He's a scatback Savion Miller doing all kinds of jump cuts right there, eluding the defense. And he's he's just hard to catch. And if you grab his ankle, he's going to pull away from that. Also.

Miller today, 12 carries for 84 yards. Keep in mind 52 of those came on one burst earlier. This half second down and seven. Here they come. Look at the poise by Tracy. He will take off. Finally caught from behind. But not before he takes it to the 2815 more yards. There is nothing that can rattle Kyle Tracy.

And he's doing an excellent job of running with the ball too. You'll see him drop back. Take this 2 or 3 steps. Doesn't like what he sees with his receiver in the route and away he goes. Phenomenal. Just what a great leader. He's just tearing up when you throw over 2000 yards on the season, and you can still be a running quarterback. What a great combination.

Slager and cook twin set to the right. They bunch up Wallace along with Greve to the left. They run to the boundary side. They stick with the hot hand Tracy who's carrying the load on this drive? Tracy up ahead to the 22 Hildring the stop.

That's his 14th carry for 55 yards, and majority of those rushes have been to the left side. They're finding something they really like in that matchup.

The clock becomes Regina's ally as we approach eight minutes to go drive. That started all the way back at their own 30. And they have marched it to the West Lyon 23. Using all of the play clock. They will hand it off. This is Miller. And Miller lost the football West Lyon trying to gather control before it went out of bounds. And they did the Wildcats get the takeaway. Stripped by Metzger and controlled before it hopped. Skipped out of bounds.

And you're going to see the hole open up to his right and Savion Miller cuts back to the left. He has someone that's tackling him low, and then the ball is stripped out by Metzger and away they go. Oh, he was close to stepping out of bounds and the fans recognize that also.

It was River Kramer who was able to catch the bouncing ball. And yeah, that was real close. Straddling the sideline. First turnover of the night. Either way. New life. They swing it out. Kramer looks nothing there. Changes course has a block Kramer to the 30. Has the corner finally thrown out of bounds. River Kramer it's his time to shine.

The river runs through it right now. River Kramer doing a lot of everything and Coach Rosebloom said this kid is special and he will make big plays in those scenarios. And that is just a great example of that.

Edwin Gangba might have saved a touchdown right there. First down they fake the jet sweep and a flag is thrown. Looked like two guys moving at the same time.

Snap false start offense number 60 five-yard penalty still first down.

Well, let's see if West Lyon can overcome that. Once again you got momentum going and then you make a silly mistake. A presnap penalty that sets you back five yards.

Again, coming into this game, West Lyon one of the least penalized teams in Class 1A in the state of Iowa, they have had five penalties in this second half. From the 39 yard line. Now first down Hildring, who has been quiet, is tripped up by Luke Hamilton.

Hamilton coming in from his linebacker spot, coming just pinching down. Linebacker and he's just a sure tackler. A junior at 510, 175 pounds, he has over 45 tackles so far this season.

Second down, deep drop DeJong eyes down field opening up at the last second and a first down catch. Great job keeping the eyes downfield. Buying his receiver. Time to come back to the ball.

You're going to see him just drag all the way across the field. He's able to get one foot down and maybe get another yard or two by turning the corner. Excellent. Throw by DeJong.

Mason McCarty with that last catch. Takes it to the 41 now. Hildring with a hole opening up between the guard and center. He springs ahead to the 35.

And you got to imagine what Hildring bodies like. He's had over 150 carries on the season. He's rushed for almost 1500 yards. It's a lot of wear and tear, but for the closing six minutes of the season, he's going to give it everything he has.

It's been quite a career and now they will run the reverse pass. Kramer is run for one. Now he's going to try to throw for one and he has his man first and goal West Lyon Jared Ciesielski on a perfectly thrown ball by Kramer and Kramer paid the price just as he launched it.

Yeah, this is going to be a reverse and then they end up throwing it out of it and Kramer just takes a big hit and Zalewski comes down with the ball and they are inside the ten yard line. Things are looking good for West Lyon.

Kramer has been a one man wrecking machine in this second half. The kick return, the key pass, catch the run a few moments ago and now he throws one downfield for 33 yards. West Lyon looking for the equalizer. Full house. Backfield. Hildring diving ahead. Denied.

And I really thought, Shaun, at this point we would see a little bit more of West Lyon in this power I of full house and just trying to push the line of scrimmage and establish that they can they can get a yard at any time or any place, especially in this situation.

Hildring has rushed for 23 touchdowns this year. Will he be able to find another one? They go instead to the fullback and he plunges in. Touchdown West Lyon Jacob Snyders. And we're a point away from starting over today in the UNI-Dome.

Jacob Schneider comes over from the linebacker spot to say, I can play a little bit of offense to just give me the rock and you have to love the mentality of linebackers because you know they'll do whatever it takes to get in the end zone.

The all important point after to make this a tie game and it's perfect. Seven plays, 75 yards, a little more than two minutes off the clock. Relive this championship excitement. Share these moments with your family, friends and neighbors. Visit iowapbs.org for archives of championship games.

Anytime River Kramer. I hope he's okay. I want to see more of him in the remaining time that we have in this game. He's just a tremendous athlete. Imagine that as a sophomore, he has so much more to come. Let's hope he's healthy enough to get back in.

This has been such a dramatic game of runs. You saw this game start up all West Lyon only to see 27 straight delivered by Regina, and now it's the Wildcats from northwest Iowa responding with 14 straight of their own. The yardage pretty much even the statistical categories, even both ways. 362 for West Lyon, 332 for the Regals. Short kick. This will be taken by one of the up backs. In Iowa City, Regina with 519 to go in this fourth quarter, will have the ball at their 35 yard line, tied at 27.

Jennings.

Sean, I heard from the West Lyon coaching staff that all of them are West Lyon graduates, which is kind of an interesting scenario. One of the other distinguished alums is Andy Klieman, who's the head coach of the Nevada Cubs, who's going to be in the Three-a title game as the head coach. And don't forget about LaVar woods. The University of Iowa assistant coach, is a West Lyon graduate.

First down, they swing it out. Miller with his seventh catch today. And look who's back out there. Number three River Kramer can't keep him off the field.

Wow. River is. just doing everything that the team needs to have done. What a game. He looks exhausted. There's no doubt about that. But you want to know it. You're going to have all kinds of time to rest after tonight.

River nine tackles to go along with the boatload of offense that he has put forth. Not to mention the special teams plays. He's hardly left the field. Second and 13 design draw that goes nowhere. Knoblock knifing his way in.

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The fullback misses his block and. But there's too many guys around there for West Lyon. You can't assume that you're going to just chip someone, but they have 3 or 4 defenders that just made great penetration.

Third down and a mile. Here they come. Miller on a screen has three blockers, but a good job just flowing downfield like you're taught on the screenplay. Knowing you have yards to give.

And the part of the screen game that's really an issue for Regina is that they're getting so much pressure. It is setting up, but West Lyon has defended it so well that they need to maybe sprint to one side and screen back to the other side, or run some bubbles or jailbreak or something like that. Try to get it more to the outside.

Jaxton DeJong and Kramer. The two return men deep. Fourth down and seven low snap. Good job digging it out. They're going to angle it over toward DeJong, who singles for a fair catch at the 2734 yards on the punt. And here we go. West Lyon with the football a little more than three minutes to go. This is a, I think, Koch perfect example. Oftentimes you see teams get cute with trick plays, but you look at what Roseboom has dialed up in the second half. It has been the gadget type play. Starting with the kick, return to the reverse pass that really lit a spark with the Wildcats.

Yeah, and one of the things is Sean, in this scenario, you want to take care of the ball. Number one, maybe ground out a first down and then really get after it because you want to take the clock down..

A lot of misdirection there. And in the end, a gaping hole opens up. Evan Hildring bursting over the left side. All the eyes were on the jet sweep to River Kramer. And you can't blame Regina for what he's done in this second half.

No. And Hildring is doing a really good job of running through that gap, which was created by an offensive line that I think once you get to the scenario, go behind the big boys, let them lead you into the promised land of the end zone.

15 yards for Hildring first down from the 42 keeping it is DeYoung and a good push behind Micah Van Beek. The former center who slid over to right guard and Brian Cook, the four year starter at right tackle.

So you've already moved the chains once, and here you are, second and five and you're almost at midfield. Maybe you start to go to a sugar huddle or something a little bit quicker because you obviously want to get down inside the 20 with some time to punch it in and not have to rely on a kicking situation, which West Lyon has not had success with.

Time Out, West Lyon.

Jay Rozeboom is going to burn his first time out. Keep in mind Regina used a couple of time-outs in the third quarter.

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Such a great tradition for West Lyon all starts in the younger years like it normally does. They have an elementary camp right before the high school camp each summer. It's basically volunteers and all the current JV and football players helping the youngsters around the community with some football skills. They have flag Football League, which is third grade through sixth grade, and I thought it was interesting talking to Jay Rozeboom, he says he prefers the kids stay away from the padded league until they get into middle school. He's a big proponent of flag football through sixth grade.

And that's a great philosophy to have. So often you see kids who start playing tackle football at a young age have a bad experience. Maybe it's just one play where they get lit up and then all of a sudden it's a bad taste in their mouth and they don't want to return. Flag football is just, you know, it's gotten so big and we're talking about the Olympics now and NFL players wanting to play it. I think it's a great thing. And if going back to my days as a head coach, I always pushed our kids to wait until seventh grade. When we started it at the middle school.

Trying to add another chapter in one of the most storied legacies in high school football in our state, Evan Hildring chopped down shy of the first down, he crosses into Regina territory, and now a little bit of tempo from the Wildcats. One of nine today on third downs from the 49 Hildring first down and then some bursting over a hole.

The clock will stop momentarily until they set the chains and once they start, get the chains. Set. The white hat will blow it and away they go.

Fresh bodies coming in along the Regina sideline. Couple of new defensive tackles into the game. They go back to Hildring. That's how they started this drive with the fake jet sweep. And they it's almost like a counter type action with the running back cutting back over to the left side.

Sugar huddle. Once again you got to find number three. If you're Regina where he River Kramer at.

Throwing on the run. And this is DeYoung, the younger brother with a catch. And he goes into a slide at the 2417 yards. Easton to Jaxton.

And plenty of time to you're sitting here with a minute four left and the clock stopped because of the first down. You still have Time-outs left in your hip pocket. Things are falling in line for West Lyon.

They have a couple of time-outs. Keeping it is. DeYoung runs into his own blocker, ran smack dab into the back of Micah Van Beek again, this is interesting. We're inside a minute. They don't really utilize a kicking game. They have not attempted a single field goal this year, so it's six or nothing. If you're West Lyon now. They have been perfect on Pats, but no field goal attempts. Easton DeJong on the move and the pass is caught simultaneously. They're making the catch was Ben Meyer and then he was hit by cook. But that will stop the clock. As they move the chains. They still have two time-outs, 22 seconds.

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Clock resumes West Lyon keeps it rolling. They do not use a Time-out now. They will. I was waiting.

They wasted nine seconds not getting that time-out right away. And you know, maybe that comes back to haunt him. Who knows. But you're sitting in a situation where you have to sprint out. You're going to tell your ball carriers get out of bounds. You still have one time-out left, but you don't. You want to be able to save that. Have that in your hip pocket for your final play if needed. You see.

The back of the shirt there for Jay Rozeboom. Nobody cares. And that is referring to all of the state titles that they have won in the past, including last year in two a he says sure, we will always remember it, but everybody across the state, especially our opponents, they just don't care. The mentality they take each and every year, coming into a new season.

And going into a loaded Class 1A with three defending champions and one A this year with Grundy Center, tri center and then West Linn, a two way state champion last year coming down to Class 1A. Just great competition.

Important to note during that last time-out, they have added three additional seconds onto the clock. So 15 seconds. Everybody coming to their feet inside the UNI-Dome Dustin Elsbury into the state finals for the first time in his young coaching career. Jay Rozeboom on the opposite side, three plus decades, some 330 wins later and it comes down to 15 seconds. They hand it off and nothing there. Wallace that time caught up with Kramer huge loss. Back to the 19. And West Lyon will use their final time-out.

It's their final charge of the half.

Running the jet sweep across here and nothing happening as Regina Tate Wallace has good penetration and gets a little help here too. Well played.

Oftentimes it's the stars that show up when you need them the most, and Tate Wallace has showed up in this second half.

So John you're in the scenario right now. You haven't kicked a field goal all year. If you line up for it, it's a 36 yarder. You have to make a decision. Do you have confidence in your kid to kick this, or are you going to try and chuck one into the corner of the end zone and win the game?

Lots of discussion along the West Lyon sideline. Tied at 27 and it has been a game of runs this afternoon. And they will send out the offensive unit. Well no they're going to send out the kicker. Greeley Kerkvliet the youngster with a chance to be the hero. Their first field goal attempt all season. And it comes down to this for a state championship and a Time-out will be taken by Regina to try to ice the young kicker.

Their final charge. Time out of the half.

You have to use it. It's no good. After this. So well decided and the youngster is going to have to think about this for another minute. We'll see what kind of composure he has. And a big, big moment.

36 yards with this field goal attempt. And you just do a little bit of math. He's been the kicker on Pat's, which if you're unfamiliar with football it's a 20 yard field goal. In essence when you kick a point after try, he's kicked a ton of those this year with this offense, 55 of 69 on those Pats. And now you ask the young sophomore to toe it up and try to win a state title for West Lyon.

And this is when you really coached him up in that huddle. You just said, hey, we believe in you. We know you're going to do it. You're going to have a ride off the field. If you make this.

36 yards for a state championship and it never got enough air, it is blocked. And we are heading to OT.

37. Please put three minutes on the clock, three minutes Nike.

Overtime from Cedar Falls between two blue bloods in the state of Iowa.

Please put three minutes on the clock.

Injury right now for West Lyon following the block. So medical attention on Jacob Snyders, who has a touchdown run in this game. And Koch for these two teams, you move forward and you get ready for overtime. Let's go back to the block.

Yeah. It's hard to tell who got that, but it looked like Tate. Tate Wallace got through. He had some good penetration and had his hand up. I'm not sure if he's the one who blocked it or not. The snap was fairly decent. The hold was good. He just didn't get the bottom of the ball. All right, so overtime rules in high schools. Very interesting. The biggest thing if you win the coin toss you want to defer. You want the football. Second because you're going to start from the ten yard line and you have four downs. And you know, assuming there's not a penalty in this scenario. And if you see some teams that may go backwards and will kick a field goal, but it's the advantage of the second team to be able to understand what they need to do. And then they flip flop it. Then if there's a second overtime, this is this is when you really start to think, okay, I've got four plays that I really like. And then you have those charted and you're going through them with your your quarterback and defensively you're saying, hey, here's what we need to do. This is what they tend to do. And man, you just got to rally the kids, get them going.

Let's check in with Paul before we head to OT.

You know how the words go, Shawn, when someone says, you know, we haven't had an OT game until you get to an OT game, I'm standing in the end zone on the south end, and I've been able to watch both of these teams fans just go berserk at different moments. A lot of tension. There was some prayers on the Regina side, and I know there were prayers on the West Lyon side right there for that kick. But huge spot. We've kind of been looking at some. There's been some big plays down at this end and it's been extremely exciting to see because you're looking around going, hey, this is a state championship. You guys have mentioned it. This is something you'll remember forever. Now you get to say, I did it in overtime.

Yeah, you're certainly right on that. And to be able to capture the energy and feel the passion, it is high school football in Iowa. The fan base you see Friday night stadiums across the state throughout the course of the regular season for moments like this.

I like the fact as free football. Sean, that's the most exciting part is these fans have paid whatever they have to get in, and now they're getting. Additional football at no cost. Don't go to the bathroom, don't go to the concession stand. Stay in your seat. Something is going to happen and it will be exciting.

A mandatory three minutes is always put on to the clock. Following the end of regulation. So that's why we have a little break. And now the officiating crew will slowly bring the captains together at midfield. Second time that the captains will gather. Just like what we witnessed at the start of a football game. And as Coach Bowman, precisely described.

All right guys, here's how the. coin flip.

Let's listen in.

You guys are going to get the option to call heads or tails. But you'll choose is offense defense or end of the field. Once a side of the field has been established it'll stay there. If the defense gains possession of the ball, the ball is dead at that spot. You get one time-out, okay? You guys are away. What would you like, heads or tails? Tails, tails. It's tails. We want to play defense first. You want defense? What? What end do you want? Okay, turn it back here. You guys here. West Lyon will be on offense. First down.

Kyle Tracy with the call of tails and the coin ends up tails. A Regina team that touches a poker chip before taking the field, symbolizing everybody is all in a tradition that they borrowed from one of their guest speakers that they bring in throughout the course of the season in Dave Zohran. So the Regals to play defense to begin overtime.

Yeah, that reminds me of the old frosty Westering story. The guy was a coach out on the West Side, and he would always say for the coin toss, he wouldn't pick heads or tails. He says, I want the edge. And that was his theme. Every time he said, kids, hey, we don't want head or tails.

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We want the edge. So pick that and we'll see which team has the edge. But this has just been an even matchup. I mean, both teams are almost identical statistically, and two great teams that have been able to, you know, build momentum. And then all of a sudden they lose it and then they get it back. Exciting.

Vince Smith.

Look at the numbers today. DeJong ten of 16 for 140 yards. Hildring has crossed over the century mark 25 carries for 102. Expect a steady dose of number 15 and he will get the call. And he will waltz his way to six. That didn't take long. Touchdown West Lyon.

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Yeah, Evan Hildring doing what he's been doing all year. Man in the clutch. Here he comes. Give him the rock. Follow that big offensive line. Square the shoulders up and away he goes. Paydirt.

How about the block by Carter Metzger pulling around and opening up the hole. Great job at number 60. And now the point after is up. And it is through. Second rushing touchdown today for Hildring and West Lyon delivers the first blow to the chin in overtime. And let's see what Regina has for a counter.

Well the good news is Regina, you know what you need to do. You have four downs to do it and how that changes when you manage the game and call the game knowing that you have the four downs to get the touchdown. And then the big question is, if you do score, are you going for the tie or will you go for the win?

Yes. And the drama just layers itself on top of different trends in the course of a game and decisions made by coaches. A little bit of history at the UNI-Dome and the fact that in the rich, long history of Iowa high school football, this is the first time a won a state title game has went to overtime. Kyle Tracy will start out of the pistol. Look Savion Miller behind him. They go bunch to the right. Drew Greve the receiver left. Reverse pivot Tracy will cut spots, a little bit of space Tracy digging hard and he is down at the one Kyle Tracy. Tough nosed football player and it will be second and goal.

Kyle Tracy with a determined run. He's going to his left. He has the opportunity to throw the ball Squiers the shoulders up. Plants that foot all the way down the one yard line, one inch line.

Diamond shape in the backfield. It's Tracy trying to finish what he started. No word yet. Officials coming down the goal line and he is short. Third and goal home. Smokes.

Well give Tracy some credit. This is a high snap that almost gets over his head. He's able to field it and still get back to the line of scrimmage. This could have been a disaster.

Third and goal. Back to it. Tracy trying to get airborne. He got caught in midair. Could this be the goal line stand of the ages for West Lyon?

Wow. West Lyon just determined. Now I'm guessing that if I'm Regina, I'm taking a Time-out and I'm going to set myself up here. There's no need to hurry. You have a time-out during the overtime. And then the other scenario would be as if they come out and you're West Lyon, you can say, okay, this is the formation they're showing us. Let's use our Time-out.

And they will do just that. I know I'm old school, but I am such a fan of going under center on these short situations.

Oh, I'm agreeing with you, Sean, that it's hard to do that with pistol. And like I said, they almost botch one of the snaps going back and the craziness that would go with that, but get under center. Your linemen have to reduce their splits. The basically nothing. And then remember, you can push the pile. You just can't push the ball carrier.

Correct. Let's give some credit to Jerrence Knoblock and Evan Hildring, who they slid inside on those last two plays. Knoblock really plugging the A gap and preventing any type of movement. It's all about leverage in this situation. O line D line. Who's more explosive off the whistle? And it comes down to this fourth down and goal. Regina needing to get into the end zone, and then a point after or two point conversion will wait and see.

And we've seen Regina go to their left. Quite a bit in the second half here. Let's see if they're going to do the same thing.

Look at this.

They put.

Wallace in the backfield and he is going to go Wildcat as they stretch Tracy out wide. And it's a high snap over the head of Wallace. West Lyon your state champions.

[APPLAUSE] [APPLAUSE]

Congratulations to West Lyon. What a goal line. Stand for them. One for the ages where Regina ends up second and one and they make the biggest stand of the season. State champions.

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An unbelievable finish to this football game between two heavyweights in Class 1A three cracks at it and on fourth and goal, Tate Wallace never got a chance.

Never got a chance. And you see how they lined up defensively. The Wildcats were in the gaps. The center was probably feeling the pressure because of the last two times. He was not able to get much of a movement going across the line where they were going backwards and, you know, a good nose tackle, two good defensive tackles, getting that penetration weighs heavily on the center and his snap.

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3427 your final score and Dustin Elsbury in his second year as head coach at Iowa City, Regina has brought the school its ninth state title. They had the dominant run of six straight from 2010 through 2015, with Marv Cook, and now in year two for Coach Elsbury. Tough break for Iowa City Regina as they come up just short tonight.

What do you think? Lucky camouflage shorts. Is that the key to this.

West Lyon? You might be getting another pair of camouflage shorts when you look at Jay Rozeboom, he might be getting multiple Christmas presents next month. Well, you feel for Ellsbury so close to the ninth state title in program history. And both these teams certainly left it on the field. Not an ounce of energy left on both sides, and the respect between these two programs. And the run that West Lyon has had. Yes, another football title, but they were the runner up in two. A basketball this year. State, baseball, state track. They had a number of competitors and legend continues to grow for Jay Rozeboom and year number 30 for three plus decades. Took over the job in 1992. And you mentioned it. He started his career coached one year at Central Lyon before taking over the West Lyon program and hugs all the way around.

With four runner up and his tenure also. So that's just an incredible career. And, you know, a lot of times you don't hear a lot about what's going on in northwest Iowa because typically there's not the big cities that they give them the air time. But if you are a fan of high school football, you know about West Lyon and what a tradition they have. And congratulations once again to the Wildcats.

It is the program's seventh all time title, which now moves them into a tie for fifth place all time with Bettendorf. And the way they did it tonight, they were down 27 to 13. They rally and they win in overtime. And in just a few moments, the presentation of the hardware as we get ready to swing it down to the field and listen to our trophy presentation.

Because of the support of title sponsor, the Iowa Farm Bureau presented today's runner up and championship trophies are members of the IHSAA staff and Board of Control. Your state runner up finishes the 2025 season with a record of 12 and one. In 22 playoff appearances. Please help us congratulate the student athletes, coaches and supporters from Iowa City. Regina.

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It happened back in 98 and 99 and it's happening again back to back state championships for West Lyon. With a record of 13 and zero. 36 playoff appearances for seven. Total time Championships. Congratulations to winning coach Jay Rozeboom and your West Lyon Wildcats.

[APPLAUSE]

They conquered Two-a a year ago and now they conquer Class 1A back to back state titles for a program that has ventured into the playoffs a whopping 46 times. Yeah.

Well, coach has said you get back to work, you get back to work. I'm sure he's going to enjoy this tonight, but I'm guessing tomorrow morning the first thing he's going to say to the juniors is, hey, it's time to get back to work.

Evan Hildring carrying the trophy, and he really came up big in the second half. The workhorse 26 rushes today for Hildring for 112 yards. A couple of touchdowns today as we check in with Paul. And he's with a happy bunch of Wildcats.

River. Tell me which play meant the most to you.

The next.

Play.

The one. Walk me through the return.

The kick return.

Yeah, we've.

Been working on it since two days ago. My dad put it in and we were saving it for the right moment. Just happened to work out perfectly.

Tell me about this group. I mean, they call you a ball of dynamite. You kind of went boom. What's the state championship mean to West Lyon?

Great. You know, I mean, I love all these guys. Seniors have been amazing. Yeah.

All right. Thank you. River coach. We're going to get coach now. I told him I told him he had to do the TV interview. Coach. Injuries. You're down this team. Tell me about the resilience in the fourth quarter.

I'll tell you what. These guys have so much class. They have so much guts and resiliency. I'm just so proud of the effort and how they hung together as a team, because a true team victory.

This was Kardiac kids. Would you call them that?

Absolutely. Cardiac kids all the way.

All right. Tell me about you. Just great play from quarterback. River was his like you said ball of dynamite.

He was a ball of dynamite. He just he just made great plays. And it took every play to win this game.

You've coached a couple of years put this win into perspective. For me.

It's right up there at the top.

Congratulations coach.

Thank you I appreciate that.

Let's go back upstairs.

Thank you very much Paul. And you listen to young sophomore River Kramer. He's talking like a senior. What's the biggest play? Well it's the next one. I think he's heard that a time or two.

He's well coached. I think Jay Rozeboom said this is the way you're going to answer when you get interviewed, boys. I'm going to prep you through this.

State champion from West Lyon in overtime today. Congratulations to Northwest Iowa and the Wildcats.

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