Posted on by Sykotyk

2021 Week 12 (Iowa)

2021 Week 12 (Iowa)

There was a rather good reason I didn’t see any games during Week 11. I had plans. But, my back had other plans. With my Week 12 plans including heading out Monday, I decided that missing a few games and healing up was the best situation. Though, that didn’t make Week 12 any easier.

First, a couple of issues. My car had died earlier this year, and I had bounced between rental cars, my wife’s car once, and my sister’s car. I wasn’t about to drive my truck. A 1987 F-150, as it has mostly sat dormant the past few years. It runs, but it’s more for only when something needs hauled. At about 9mpg and burning off a quart of oil every 100 miles, it’s not exactly efficient.

Now, I was taking my sister to the airport Monday morning, and then was heading out for the weekend. I was going to use her car, as it would be sitting in Pennsylvania for the next month until she returned home. However, on Saturday, I was at home without a car. I had ordered a car, but the build and delivery kept getting pushed back by Ford.

So, I went and bought a used car because I was bored and tired of bouncing from car to car. So, I walked to the used car lot not too far from my house with a few grand and bought a car. A 2006 Town and Country. Not exactly stylish. But, it was dirt cheap, low mileage and just a hint of rust to compliment the missing hubcaps. With the used car market being what it was, I probably never would’ve spent much on a used van. But, it has served its purpose until my truck is delivered.

I bought that van on Saturday afternoon. Monday morning, I was driving it to Iowa. Yes, I do like to take chances. If all else failed, a rental car for the two week trip wouldn’t be astronomical. But it would still cost more than the van I had just purchased. Given that rentals are hovering around $100/day for the cheapest available vehicles.

I left home Monday morning to take my sister to Pittsburgh International Airport, and then headed south along the newly built 579 toll road to Bridgeville and I-79 south of Pittsburgh. And then to I-70 west into Ohio.

There, I stopped to pick up my friend who travels with me to some of the games with me. I got him involved with PA Football News as a writer, and since we both plan to attend a ridiculous amount of games each year, our plans converge often, and we’ll carpool. This was one such trip.

Despite the pitfalls of back pain, I made the drive to Peoria that night. Along they way, we stopped at Benjamin’s in Covington, Indiana. A place we stumbled upon on our last trip to Iowa. And well worth stopping again. The Ribeye Sandwich was well worth the detour from I-74.

The next morning, we headed out and made short work of western Illinois and got into Iowa. There we stopped at the World’s Largest Truck Stop, called Iowa 80, and got gas, some snacks, and took a look around. Back on I-80 to Iowa City, we made a side trip through West Branch for the “Little Rose Bowl”. I drove west from town back to I-80, but the ramp was closed due to construction. So, we made a detour through Iowa City to see Kinnick Stadium. What I had done just last year when I was driving on my own out to South Dakota for the state finals at the DakotaDome for the second time.

From there, it was an early night getting into Cedar Falls.

Now, Iowa had just added a new classification. Which meant for 7 classes, there would be two extra semifinals. This pushed the 8-man games to Wednesday while keeping the traditional 4-games-a-day for Thursday through Saturday.

However, for whatever reason, the two 8-man games were scheduled to start on Wednesday morning. A 10am kickoff wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. But, with the two games scheduled one after another, meant that Wednesday night was wide open.

#52 – Anita CAM v. Audubon

The first game of the weekend featured Anita CAM, a consolidated school, that I got to see for the first time. I had seen the Audubon Wheelers previously. The game started fairly close, but CAM ran away with it toward the end, winning 66-29.

About a half hour later, was ready for Game 2.

#53 – Remsen St. Mary’s v. Easton Valley

Ignore the typo there. This was my first time seeing Easton Valley. I had seen Remsen St. Mary’s once before when they played Audubon back in 2019. This was a tightly contested game. As Easton Valley felt like the underdog and kept up, trailing 22-21 at the half, and 30-28 after 3. But managed to snag the lead at the end, 42-36 over St. Mary’s.

After the game, dinner was at one of the worst Pizza Ranchs I’ve ever been to. The service was abysmal, and it was so packed for dinner. And yet the kitchen, who knew the place was packed when the dinner buffet started, could not keep up.

Next morning, it was back to the dome. For the first of three straight wall-to-wall days of football.

#54 – West Hancock v. East Buchanan

This one started the day as a dud. East Buchanan was unable to move the ball effectively, and West Hancock finished with a 37-0 shutout.

#55 – Grundy Center v. Woodbury Central

This was another dud. It once again started close. But after a scoreless first, Woodbury Central’s grip on making a game of it ended. During halftime, I stopped at the concession stand to try the pizza. I was underwhelmed.

Grundy Center got two first half touchdowns and two more in the second half. Before Woodbury Central got a score to break the shutout streak.

#56 – Waverly-Shell Rock v. Lewis Central

Waverly is a small city just north of Cedar Falls. And one of the closest traveling teams. Lewis Central, meanwhile is from Council Bluffs. For the game, it was entertaining until it wasn’t. Tied after one, and tied after two. But the third quarter Lewis Central exerted their dominance over the Go-Hawks, and a two score led ballooned to a 4 score margin for the final. Lewis Central 35, Waverly-Shell Rock 10.

#57 – Cedar Rapids Xavier v. Winterset

With the last game of the day, and my back hurting, I wasn’t really caring if the game was good. I just hoped it moved swiftly. Xavier, a private school, jumped out to a lead, and extended it through the second half to win, 40-14. Winterset would be the last new team for the day.

The next morning, was a game I was looking forward to..

#58 – Van Meter v. Dyersville Beckman Catholic

Beckman Catholic is from Dyersville. Dyersville does not have their own public high school. Instead, being included in the West Hancock not too far away. So, Beckman, like some small towns in the midwest that gravitate to a private school in town when their local schools disappear into large consolidations.

Beckman Catholic was the 1,356th different team I had seen. And one that I was looking forward to on this trip. Van Meter, though, was the prohibitive favorite. And though the Trail Blazers kept it interesting, the Van Meter Bulldogs still won with ease, 28-7.

#59 – Hawarden West Sioux v. Dike-New Hartford

The next game would be the best game of the weekend. Featuring two teams I’ve seen previously, it was a close matchup, and the game lived up to the hype.

Dike-New Hartford opened with a quick two touchdowns but West Sioux never seemed out of it. In the third quarter, they broke onto the scoresheet. And then tied it in the fourth. In overtime, they traded touchdowns. In double overtime, Dike-New Hartford missed a 27 yard field goal. But on West Sioux’s possession, they settled for a 21 yard attempt that was good. Sending the Falcons to the state title game against Van Meter, 24-21.

Up next was the two Class 5A semifinals.

#60 – West Des Moines Valley v. Ankeny

The two Des Moines area teams made the drive to Cedar Falls for their game. It was my first time seeing Ankeny. Aside from the preceeding game, this was another game that started close but slowly got one-sided. Ankeny would beat their capital area rivals, 35-10.

#61 – Southeast Polk v. Iowa City City

Now, first off, Iowa City’s primary high school, the original school in the city, is City High School. Not Iowa City. And even the state association refers to them as City, Iowa City. A naming convention of the Iowa association to use the city name after the school name via a comma. And like most of the rest, Southeast Polk came out strong, taking a 23-0 halftime lead. And winning comfortably, 33-7.

The next morning, we had one day left of games.

#62 – Waukon v. Southeast Valley

Another game down, another runaway contest. Southeast Valley beat a fairly solid Waukon Indians team, 50-14. At least the day started swiftly.

#63 – West Lyon v. Williamsburg

Two teams I’ve seen before finishing up the Class 2A Semifinals. This was finally a close game. The two teams traded touchdowns throughout the game. Going to overtime tied at 14-14. Williamsburg would be picked off on their second down play. And then West Lyon would take just two rushing plays, for 5 yards each to win the game, 20-14.

#64 – Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley v. Solon

For this game, I got up and walked around the dome. The ‘visitor’ side is on the west side. Which is the side with the parking lot. With my back acting the way it has for the entire trip up to date, walking around for any non-specific reason wasn’t exactly fun. But, for this one I did. Also, got some interesting photos of BHRV walking out onto the field for pregame introductions. BHRV is from northwestern Iowa. Solon is from just northeast of Iowa City.

The game? Another dud. Two touchdowns, three touchdowns, and another touchdown settled things through three quarters. The fourth quarter being scoreless. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 42, Solon 0.

#65 – Humboldt v. Harlan

The last game of the weekend featured Harlan, the Iowa school with the most state titles. Though it had been a bit since their last time. These two were my 1,360th and 1,361st different teams. And this one started to get out of hand. Humboldt kept it interesting. Harlan would hang on to win, 45-19.

I wish these could’ve been a bit more in depth. But, these are also quite after the fact. For fourteen games, there were a few good ones. But, so many would start close and just slowly grow lopsided. Also, with my back hurting, I wasn’t as ingrained in the games as I normally would be.

However, there was another weekend of games. In Minnesota. But, that’s for another recap.

Economics

Totals will be on the Week 13 recap including the two week total trip to Iowa and Minnesota.

Photos of the Week

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

2021 HSF Wk 12 Iowa

Next Week

After fourteen games in Iowa, I had planned fourteen more games in Minnesota. Luckily all in domes. The only issue was my back. And it wasn’t looking good. Three days to relax before the first of three hectic days seemed like things might be better. But it wouldn’t work that fast, unfortunately.

2021 Statistics

65 Games
126 Teams
41 Stadiums

15 States

64 New Teams
27 New Stadiums

1,361 different teams
443 different stadiums

1,235 total games

For more, and larger, photos from this weekend, click HERE.

For photos from previous weeks and seasons, visit http://www.flickr.com/sykotyk/sets/

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