Iowa high school football playoffs: Lewis Central steamrolls Carlisle in Class 4A state semifinals

CEDAR FALLS — The mighty, mighty Titans sure looked the part on Thursday.

Lewis Central obliterated Carlisle, 42-21, in the first Class 4A state semifinal here at the UNI-Dome. The Titans improved to 12-0 and advance to next week's state championship game. The Wildcats' season ends at 10-2.

This first semifinal game was a rematch from Week 2, when Lewis Central held on for a thrilling 28-21 win. In that game, the Titans stormed out to an early lead, but Carlisle battled back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns.

There was no such rally in Thursday's second meeting.

The Titans, last year's Class 4A state champs, scored on their first five possessions on their way to a lopsided victory. They finished the game with 405 total yards of offense, and had 334 by half. They entered the contest as Class 4A's highest-scoring offense and looked every bit the part on Thursday evening.

Quarterback Braylon Kammrad finished 21-for-28 passing for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns. Curtis Witte recorded 5 catches for 88 yards and 2 scores, and Parker Heller had 6 receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown. Jonathan Humpal rushed for 90 yards and scored twice, including on a 58-yarder on the second play from scrimmage.

After that Week 2 defeat, Carlisle rattled off nine consecutive wins, a run punctuated by last week's 56-28 quarterfinal win over Iowa City Liberty. The Wildcats were in the state semifinals for just the second time in school history, and first time since 2007.

Carlisle could not muster up enough early offense to keep pace. They finished with 258 total yards and scored three second-half touchdowns against Lewis Central's reserve players, but a failed fourth-down attempt on their first possession and back-to-back turnovers allowed the Titans to build a first-half lead that effectively iced the game.

Xavier thumps North Scott, sets up 4A title game rematch

The second Class 4A state semifinal, between top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier and seventh-ranked North Scott, was also a rematch from the regular season.

In Week 4, the Saints won 17-0.

On Thursday, they bullied their way to a larger margin of victory, soundly beating the Lancers, 38-10.

Xavier, now 12-0 this season, piled up 409 total yards of offense. Quarterback Ronan Thomas was responsible for much of it, completing 8-of-10 passes for 249 yards. He hit Grayson Hartman for a 90-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the second quarter. Thomas also scored three rushing touchdowns.

But much like their first meeting, the Saints' defense proved to be the definitive strength of the team. Xavier's defense forced three turnovers and racked up eight tackles for loss, including five sacks. The Lancers mustered 238 yards of offense, but had just 92 at half, when Xavier led 24-3. North Scott ends the year 9-3 overall.

Xavier will meet Lewis Central in next week's Class 4A state championship game. It will be a rematch of last year's Class 4A title game, a triple-overtime thriller won by Lewis Central, 32-24. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. next Thursday, Nov. 17.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Lewis Central tops Carlisle in Iowa high school football 4A semis