One sentence on every Round-of-16 playoff game for Iowa high school football

What’s better than the Iowa high school football regular season?

The postseason, of course.

We emptied our notebook and took a look through all of the game results from Friday to write one sentence on every single Round-of-16 playoff game. For those keeping track, that’s eight games in seven classes. A lot of action to unpack in a short wrap-up.

So, let’s get into it.

Southeast Polk running back Abu Sama (3) runs for a touchdown around Ames' defensive back Cameron Cantonwine (11) during the first quarter.
Southeast Polk running back Abu Sama (3) runs for a touchdown around Ames' defensive back Cameron Cantonwine (11) during the first quarter.

Class 5A

Dowling Catholic 35, Davenport West 0: Easy win for a rolling Maroons squad led by Jaxon Smolik in the air and Ra’Shawd Davis on the ground.

Waukee Northwest 9, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0: A 34-yard field goal and a quarterback sneak touchdown – with a missed extra point – was all the Wolves needed to advance.

Southeast Polk 49, Ames 3: Dallas Sauser is good, but the one-two punch of Abu Sama and Harrison Gibson is better.

Prairie 50, Linn-Mar 28: It’s really hard to beat a team when the quarterback (Will Phillips), running back (Makelle Taylor) and receiver (Apollo Payne) have big games, even though Linn-Mar won this matchup a week earlier.

Ankeny 17, Sioux City East 0: The Hawks had the offensive pieces – JJ Kohl, Jamison Patton and Evan Irlmeier – to overcome a slow start, and the defense did its job the rest of the way.

Johnston 38, Iowa City High 31: The Dragons’ sophomore quarterback has plenty of weapons – no more than overtime winner Jacob Simpson – but this one goes out to the defense, which never quit.

West Des Moines Valley 15, Pleasant Valley 10: The central Iowa schools hold strong as Valley’s defense hands Pleasant Valley its first loss, despite scoring just one touchdown.

Cedar Falls 14, Ankeny Centennial 10: The Tigers struggled in the pass game and managed two rushing touchdowns , while a defensive performance with five tackles for loss and three sacks paid off.

Class 4A

Xavier 44, Cedar Rapids Washington 7: Didn’t expect much less from the now 10-0 Saints, but you have to applaud the Warriors for getting on the board.

Indianola 35, Bondurant-Farrar 13: When Bennett Brueck completes 72.2% of his passes, Indianola is going to be a hard team to beat.

Waverly-Shell Rock 49, Fort Madison 7: Seven rushing touchdowns, three from McCrae Hagarty and one each from four different players.

North Scott 38, Western Dubuque 15: Kyler Gerardy threw for 342 yards and picked up three rushing touchdowns in the second half to secure this win.

Lewis Central 57, LeMars 7: Braylon Kammrad, who threw six touchdown passes, is something special, but Kammrad to Curtis Witte even more so.

Glenwood 38, Spencer 26: Who doesn’t love a high-scoring playoff game between two strong teams?

Iowa City Liberty 24, Webster City 14: The first playoff victory in program history for the Lightning.

Carlisle 48, Newton 28: Brody Bauer and Nate Lampe each picked up two rushing touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough to get past a Carlisle team that started hot and stayed hot.

Class 3A

Harlan 42, MOC-Floyd Valley 7: Aidan Hall had himself a game while the Cyclones defense held their opponent to just 65 yards of total offense.

Nevada 10, Sioux Center 7: Kicking is winning and, in this case, Nevada’s field goal was the difference.

Mount Vernon 23, Central DeWitt 9: No team has beaten Mount Vernon and no team has managed more than 17 points against the Mustangs.

Solon 42, West Delaware 18: Blake Timmons – starting quarterback, leading rushing, leading tackler – changed the tide with two interceptions and fumble recovery.

Humboldt 39, Hampton-Dumont-CAL 0: Two 3A teams failed to score points in their playoff game; the Bulldogs were one of them.

Independence 20, Benton 17: Independence has been the master of nailbiter wins and this one was no different, with an interception from Mitch Johnson in the final minute.

ADM 56, Grinnell 0: To beat ADM, opponents have to shut down Aiden Flora and Brevin Doll on the ground and that didn’t happen.

North Polk 52, Creston 20: A 76% completion rate and three touchdowns between Isaac Zoske and Reggie Postel, with a healthy serving of Brady Miller on the ground, is a recipe for success.

Class 2A

Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 42, Clarinda 16: It was all the Lions until the Cardinals managed 16 in the fourth quarter.

West Lyon 43, Greene County 7: Ryer Crichton was a perfect 6-for-6 on passes while Gabe Ebersole struggled, throwing three interceptions.

OABCIG 34, Osage 22: OABCIG has one loss this season, to Spirit Lake, and the Falcons will be looking for revenge.

Spirit Lake 43, Clear Lake 21: Spirit Lake is undefeated with a lot of playmakers … but see above.

Crestwood 20, Waukon 18: Noah Hatlan’s arm versus Cole Butikofer’s feet, and the mobile quarterback came out on top.

Wahlert Catholic 21, West Marshall 14: West Marshall was undefeated entering Friday’s game but not anymore.

Centerville 28, Monticello 27: Monticello jumped out to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter but a wide-left point after kick was what knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs.

Williamsburg 63, Mid-Prairie 7: All-around team effort from the undefeated Raiders, led by Gable Dayton.

Class 1A

Western Christian 49, Aplington-Parkersburg 27: The team that gets a touchdown off a fumble and a touchdown off an interception usually wins.

West Sioux 45, Kuemper Catholic 7: West Sioux rushed for 412 yards and four touchdowns; Carter Bultman was responsible for 223 rushing yards and two of those scores.

MFL MarMac 28, Dike-New Hartford 6: Four touchdowns and Zach Driscoll had a direct hand in three.

West Branch 27, Columbus Catholic 14: Andy Henson scored nearly half of the Bears points and led the team with nine tackles.

Sigourney Keota 20, Mediapolis 14: The Bulldogs had more rushing yards than the Cobras total offensive yardage, but Sigourney Keota took advantage of extra time.

Van Meter 42, Woodward-Granger 0: Van Meter has allowed just one touchdown through its last six games, so if someone figures out how to score on the Bulldogs, let us know.

Pella Christian 38, South Hamilton 30: Isaac Kacmarynski was a one-man wrecking crew in the air, on the ground and on defense.

Underwood 62, ACGC 14: Underwood has scored no fewer than 28 points in any contest, which is a solid way to win games.

Class A

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 46, Hinton 27: Blackhawks jumped out to an earlier lead that they couldn’t hold but making it to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 is still a mini victory.

Woodbury Central 48, Gehlen Catholic 7: Four touchdowns from Max McGill, three touchdown passes from Drew Kluender and two touchdowns for Will DeStigter because it’s nice to share the wealth.

North Linn 28, Newman Catholic 14: There’s a lot of veteran experience on the Lynx roster but its North Linn sophomore Mason Bechen who stepped up.

West Hancock 16, Wapsie Valley 9: Sixteen points are the fewest West Hancock has scored, which isn’t a good sign getting further into the playoffs.

East Buchanan 57, Alburnett 21: Offensive line helps the Buccaneers pile on more than 500 rushing yards.

Grundy Center 41, Columbus 7: It was a matchup between the highest-scoring offense and lowest-scoring defense in A, and defense won out by holding the Wildcats to a single score.

AHSTW 35, Southwest Valley 14: A 48-yard pick six from Cole Scheffler is a pretty solid way to stay undefeated and advance to the next round.

Lynnville-Sully 62, Mount Ayr 33: For those keeping track, there are four undefeated teams still competing in the A playoffs.

8-player

Remsen St. Mary’s 42, West Bend-Mallard 16: The Hawks have beaten both their playoff opponents by a combined score of 118-16, which is probably why they’re still 10-0.

GTRA 28, West Harrison 12: Who needs a super high-scoring game when the Titans held West Harrison to its fewest points all season?

Lenox 34, CAM 14: CAM had won the last two matchups between these two teams, but Lenox came out on top when it counted.

Fremont-Mills 30, Southeast Warren 28: The Knights held off another opponent’s comeback attempt, something they might need to keep doing as the weeks go on.

Newell-Fonda 35, Don Bosco 10: The Dons may have entered Friday’s game unbeaten, but the Mustangs proved to be the better team.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 30, Turkey Valley 28: Another close game and the Rebels can thank Austin Vaverka for his three touchdowns to secure the win.

Montezuma 60, Easton Valley 38: The River Hawks scored 30 points in the opening quarter but Montezuma’s ability to spread out the scoring paid off.

WACO 48, Central City 12: Hard to beat a four touchdown performance – including a pick six – from Simeon Reichenbach, who keeps the Warriors perfect record intact.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Breaking down every Iowa high school football Round of 16 matchup