Excluding the Illinois State game, it's been another rough year for Iowa quarterbacks. Cade McNamara has averaged just 109 yards passing in Iowa's last four games. He has zero passing touchdowns and three interceptions in that span.
The good news for Iowa fans is that it was a big week for Iowa's quarterback commits. Jimmy Sullivan had maybe his best game of the season, and new 2026 commit Cash Herrera did well early in a blowout.
In many cases, a quarterback is only as good as the weapons he has at his disposal. This season, Mason Woods is making a case as one of the best pass-catchers in the state of Iowa. Woods had another big week in an Iowa City West blowout. Elsewhere, Drew MacPherson had his best game of the season at running back for Loyola Academy.
Here's how Sullivan, Herrera, Woods, MacPherson, and the other Iowa commits performed in Week 6:
Player of the Week
Most weeks, Sullivan's passing numbers don't blow you away. His dual-threat ability is what makes him an interesting prospect. You don't need to throw for 300 yards every week if you can add 70-100 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
This week, Homestead largely held Sullivan's legs in check. He rushed for just eight yards on 15 carries. Sullivan responded to that with easily his best passing game of the season instead.
In the game, Sullivan went 23-of-33 passing for 315 yards and two touchdowns. Video of the touchdowns are in the tweets below. Sullivan threw a nice fade to the left hand side of the end zone on the first TD, and hit his receiver while rolling right on the second.
Sullivan's passing plus his two rushing touchdowns were the difference in Carroll's 31-10 win over Homestead.
Iowa's Other Commits
Speaking of good quarterback play, welcome to Iowa, Cash Herrera. Herrera's first game as a Hawkeye commit went about as well as it could have, as Bishop's beat Francis Parker 48-0.
Herrera had touchdown passes of 12 and 32 yards in the first quarter. He added a four-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Herrera and the Bishop's starters were pulled in the third quarter when the game got out of reach.
“Cash is special, and Ruben Gutierrez has been a special player for us,” Bishop's coach Shane Walton said. “Those two guys have kind of gotten things going for us. We’ve been dealing with a lot of injuries, so the offense hasn’t been as efficient as I would like it to be, but we’re starting to gel at the right time.”
Gautcher will play defense at Iowa, but for Sycamore, he also plays quarterback. The Spartans fell down 7-0 to Kaneland, but controlled the game from there, ultimately winning 35-7.
Gautcher threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns in the game. His touchdown passes went for 29 and 18 yards. He also rushed for a five-yard touchdown.
“We’re going to get him a cape because he’s our Superman,” Loyola Academy coach Beau Desherow said of MacPherson. MacPherson lived up to the lofty praise on Friday, rushing for touchdowns of 16, 45, and 58 yards.
MacPherson ended the night with 214 rushing yards on 23 carries and those three touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 23 yards.
"When the ball is in Drew’s hands a lot of special stuff happens," Loyola quarterback and Iowa preferred walk-on Ryan Fitzgerald said.
MacPherson's big day helped Loyola to a 27-6 victory over St. Ignatius.
Woods continues to excel in his senior season. This week, he caught three passes for 71 yards and two touchdowns. The TD receptions went for 18 and 44 yards. Woods also added two tackles defensively. Woods' efforts helped Iowa City West defeat Cedar Rapids Jefferson 48-6.
Clear Lake fell to undefeated Algona 28-7. Despite the defeat, Meyer was Clear Lake's leading receiver, hauling in five passes for 59 yards. Meyer also had 4.5 tackles and three tackles for loss on defense.
River Falls fell again, this time to Rice Lake 32-21. River Falls is now 2-5 on the season. It was another relatively tough week for Johnson. He had four receptions for 25 yards and no touchdowns.
Epenesa and the Edwardsville defense pitched a shutout in a 42-0 win over Alton. Epenesa had two sacks in the victory. Edwardsville surrendered just 37 yards rushing on 33 carries.
With four and a half minutes left in the third quarter, Bolingbrook scored a touchdown to cut Oswego's lead to two. A two-point conversion would tie the game. Cooney and the Oswego defense held strong, though, stopping the two-point try. From there, Oswego's defense held the rest of the way, and Oswego moved to 6-0 with a 23-6 victory.
West Aurora moved to 6-0 with a 51-0 win over Ridgewood, but it was a third straight week without a stat-line for Smith. For now, enjoy some highlight tape from his first three games.
Marist cruised to a 28-7 victory over Providence Catholic. Providence scored a first quarter touchdown, but the Fitzgibbon and the Marist defense held from there, not allowing another point in the win.
VanWetzinga and Pleasant Valley rolled to a 51-28 victory over Cedar Falls. PV rushed for 386 yards in the win.
Herron and Warren Central lost its first game in a big way with a 33-7 defeat to Lawrence North. Highlights from the game are here.
Waterloo West rebounded from its first loss with a big 44-17 victory over Marshalltown. The Wahawks scored 31 points off seven Marshalltown turnovers.
Allgeyer and MICDS lost to Lutheran North 28-13.
Bell's game for the week was scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Sacred Heart.
Starzyk and The Woodlands were off this week.
