Football season always seems to go quickly. Iowa just reached the halfway point of its regular season, but most high school football commits are nearing the end of their final high school campaigns.
The theme this week was offense. Both Iowa's quarterback commits had big weeks in blowouts, and Iowa's receiving options hauled in six touchdowns of their own. Here's how Iowa's commits did in Week 7:
Player of the Week
Have a day, Cash Herrera. The new Iowa commit threw for five touchdown passes in Bishop's' 50-7 victory over Escondido Charter.
Herrera's first touchdown pass was a 30-yarder that Herrera fit in a window between the corner and safety on left side. He hit his receiver in stride, allowing him to run the rest of the way for the score.
His second came on play action. Herrera faked a handoff, then hit an out route for an eight yard touchdown.
The third touchdown came on a deep shot. Herrera placed the ball perfectly over the middle, hitting his receiver in the back of the end zone for another 30-yard TD.
Herrera's receiver made a big play on the fourth TD pass. Herrera hit him on a quick out route, and he trucked a defender, before rumbling in for a 28-yard score.
On the final score, Herrera did well moving through his progression. He looked left, but didn't find an open man. Instead, he came back to his right and found his receiver in the back of the end zone for an eight-yard TD.
Herrera also had a nice 28-yard run where he escaped pressure in the pocket, then made something happen with his legs.
Video of all of Herrera's touchdowns plus a post-game interview is available below. It is well worth your time. Five touchdown passes and some good work with his legs easily earns Herrera player of the week honors.
Iowa's Other Commits
It was another big week for Sullivan in Carroll's 52-0 destruction of Fort Wayne Northrop. Sullivan was 19-of-25 passing for 258 yards. He had three touchdowns and one interception.
Sullivan was just as lethal with his legs, rushing ten times for 72 yards and two more touchdowns.
Check out the 57-yard deep shot that Sullivan threw:.
It's fair to say that Johnson's senior season hasn't gone the way he wanted it to. River Falls came into the week just 2-5 overall. Despite that, Johnson has performed well most weeks, recording at least 60 receiving yards in five of seven games.
This week, Johnson went off and helped River Falls earn its first victory in more than a month, with a 29-19 win over Menomonie. Johnson had four receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Woods just keeps making big plays. This time, he made an impact on the very first play of the game:
Iowa City West rolled for a second consecutive week, defeating Cedar Rapids Washington 56-21. Woods finished the game with four receptions for 118 yards and that touchdown.
Welcome back, Terrence Smith! After three straight weeks without a stat line, Smith returned this week in West Aurora's 57-0 victory over Larkin. Smith had two receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Sycamore easily defeated La Salle-Peru 28-0. La Salle-Peru played ball control, limiting Sycamore's possessions, but when the Spartans did have the ball, Gautcher was effective. He finished 9-of-11 passing for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for Sycamore's other two touchdowns as well.
Loyola started the season a little sluggishly, but is hitting its stride now. This week, the Ramblers easily defeated Providence Academy 42-6. Most of Loyola's offense came through the air in the victory. MacPherson got involved, catching a seven-yard touchdown pass. Video of that is below.
Clear Lake sailed to a 36-0 victory over Hampton-Dumont-CAL. On offense, Meyer had four receptions for 23 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he had 1.5 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Cooney found the end zone again, scoring on a one-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Cooney's run and his effort on defense helped Oswego to a 27-7 victory over Yorkville. Yorkville didn't score until there was 3:12 left in the game.
Belleville East started the game with a 17 play drive that took 10:41 and resulted in a touchdown. From there, Epenesa and the Edwardsville defense locked in, holding Belleville to just three points the rest of the way. Edwardsville used that defensive effort to win 20-10. Highlights from the game are here.
It was a good night on both sides of the ball for VanWetzinga and Pleasant Valley in a 42-7 victory Muscatine. The defense held strong most of the night, and the offense dominated via its option offense. Highlights from the game are here.
Starzyk was again perfect on extra points but didn't have much else to do in another blowout. The Woodlands rolled Cleveland 70-0.
Warren Central got back in the win column with a 32-3 victory over Carmel. The Warriors' offense rushed for 229 yards and four touchdowns behind Herron and the o-line.
Nielsen and Waterloo West have had a great start to their season, but also haven't faced the toughest competition. This week, they had a trip to West Des Moines Valley and... it didn't go well. The Wahawks fell 49-0 and couldn't get anything going offensively.
Marist moved to 6-1 with a 37-19 victory over Saint Ignatius College Prep.
Allgeyer and MICDS won big over Lutheran South 66-19.
St. Thomas More plays New Haven Sunday at 1:30pm.
