The Iowa City West student section started chanting “Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye” at the beginning of the fourth quarter on the evening of Sept. 15.
That about sums up the 2017 Battle for the Boot.
The Trojans from West came, saw, and conquered, dominating the Little Hawks of City High, 52-6, on City High’s Bates Field that night.
“For us, it’s a process,” West head coach Garrett Hartwig said. “In the grand scheme of things, City High was the next step. We showed we could play at a high level in our own right. Happy with how we performed. We got some more things to get done. Middle of the season, districts around the corner. That’s the most important part.”
The Little Hawks didn’t put up their first points of the game until early in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Bryce Hunger.
West quarterback Evan Flitz was solid all night long, throwing 2 touchdown passes and running for 1 more.
“It’s about being balanced,C Flitz said. “We like to be effective on the ground and in the passing game, and I thought we did both well. Credit to the O-line; those guys were making holes that I and our running backs were going through so we could just make yards.“
The key for City High’s offense this year has been the duo of Hunger and wideout Zach Jones. The Trojans’ defense was able to slow down the Little Hawks’ passing game, not allowing them to get into a rhythm.
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“It’s tough,” Hartwig said. “[Zach] Jones is exceptional, [Bryce] Hunger throws a nice ball. Very happy with those guys as far as our defense. They put up some plays, but not the big one we’ve been susceptible to these past couple weeks. We have to get better everywhere; the games that count come now. Everyone is 0-0 as far as I’m concerned.”
The Trojans were up 38-0 at halftime, which resulted in a running clock after the lead surpassed 35.
City High has now suffered three-straight losses, dropping its record to 1-3, and West is 4-0 heading into district play.
Before the game, the Little Hawks had won nine of the last 11 intra-city contests, including the past two, over the Trojans.
“We had talked about how long since we won here, but I think the focus on this year is this year’s team,” Flitz said. “We’re going out to prove ourselves and excel at our level.”
The Little Hawks will play host to Clinton next week. 7 p.m.
West will also compete in Iowa City next week in a highly anticipated matchup against Prairie, which is coming off a win over Davenport Central.
“They’re good,” Hartwig said. “4-0 against 4-0, that’s what we play for.”
That game will be played on 7:15 on Sept. 22 at Trojan Field.
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