Football preview 2022: Iowa City Regina eager to return to the Dome after rare early playoff exit

Editor's note: This story is part of the Press-Citizen's team-by-team high school football preview coverage. Coming tomorrow: Clear Creek Amana.

When you are part of a football program like the Iowa City Regina Regals, sometimes winning can be taken for granted.

After a regular season where everything seemingly went to plan, an uncommonly early postseason exit has the team doing a bit of soul-searching this fall as it figures out what it will take to get back on top.

Looking back at 2021

As difficult as it was to follow the esteemed career of longtime head coach Marv Cook, the Regals' former defensive coordinator Jason Dumont proved to be the perfect man for the job.

He led the Regals to an 8-0 regular season, in which they allowed opponents to score double-digit points only twice.

Riding that wave into the postseason, the Regals looked a team poised to make it to the UNI-Dome.

But, after defeating Cascade in the first round of the Class 1A tournament, they were bested by MFL MarMac in the next round, 21-7.

As a team that has always prioritized postseason success over regular-season fanfare, Dumont said the season did not live up to the team's standards.

"Last year from a record standpoint was a great year for us," Dumont said. "But at the end of the day, our expectations are a little higher than the second round of the playoffs."

To make the blow of the loss worse, Regina graduated 14 seniors, including three leading receivers and linebacker Aidan Udell, who led the team in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks.

New additions

There are few positions harder to be successful at than offensive lineman.

With so many responsibilities tasked to them, making the leap to the varsity level can be quite an adjustment.

The Regals are taking an even bigger leap of faith than normal, bringing along four new starters to their offensive line.

Juniors John Devery and Drew Streb are two linemen who will be especially looked to as players who need to produce.

Their teammates are confident in their abilities, namely senior running back Levi Daniel, who said he believes they are progressing well.

"We are a bit of a smaller school, so we pretty much are a tight-knit family," Daniel said. "Those guys have been picking up on the things that they are supposed to, which has really helped me to identify where I need to run."

Potential wild cards

A year ago, it seemed like Gentry Dumont was destined to be the man to replace state champion Ashton Cook under center.

The then-sophomore had shown flashes at camp and looked like he was ready to lead the Regals back to a state championship game.

However, in the third game of the season, Dumont suffered a broken collarbone, which ended his year before it could truly begin.

Senior do-it-all player Jack Tierney took over.

This year, Dumont is healthy and expected to once again be named the starter, something that Tierney said he believes Dumont is ready for.

"I love working with him on offense and defense," Tierney said. "We have been working well together and helping each other out by giving each other pointers, as well as talking about different coverages and routes that we see."

While it can be difficult to gauge how a player will respond to such a serious injury, Dumont has the support of the team and his coaching staff that he will be even better in 2022.

Key matchup this season

Though the Regals dominated in the regular season, the Williamsburg Raiders pushed them to the limit in their season opener, 16-14, last year.

As the Regals' opening opponent again, Regina is gearing up for another dogfight when it travels to Williamsburg on Aug. 26.

Jason Dumont said he would not want it any other way, because tough games help make his team better.

"Williamsburg right out of the gate is a tough draw," Dumont said. "But at the end of the day, these are the games that we want to play. We want those games to help prepare us for our district and hopefully to make a nice run in the postseason."

Reasons for optimism

As a program that has become synonymous with winning, expectations will remain high for the Regals, no matter who steps on the field for them.

It just helps that they will be guided by an established head coach and a team that has the benefit of returning several key skill position players.

One of those players is senior linebacker Ronan Poynton, the team's returning leader in tackles, who said his team is motivated.

"We are using that last loss as a chip on our shoulders," Poynton said. "Obviously, in 2020, we won state. So to get back to that, we have to be dialed in and stop goofing off."

If their offensive line can withstand the long season and they can keep their key players healthy, there is no doubt that the Regals can find themselves back in the state tournament this year.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Why Iowa City Regina football feels poised for another postseason run