CEDAR FALLS — Iowa City Regina did its job on defense and its rushing attack provided just enough of a punch on offense to send the Regals to the Class 1A state championship game with a 31-12 victory over Grundy Center in the state semifinals on Nov. 14 at the UNI-Dome.
Regina kept standout Grundy Center quarterback Judd Jirvosky in check and the Regals rushed for over 250 yards to pull off the mild upset.
“Our key was just try and run our base stuff and try to be the better team,” said Regina running back Savion Miller. “They’re a running team, but they don’t run anything fancy. We just had the upper hand the whole game.”
Regina took a 14-10 lead on a Kyle Tracy 12-yard touchdown run with 4:36 left in the first half, and the Regals never relinquished the lead.
Regina led 17-12 going into the fourth quarter following a safety by Grundy Center’s Aiden Hook, and on the ensuing drive the Spartans moved down inside the Regal 20. But Regina forced Grundy Center into fourth down and then James Whisler intercepted a Jirovsky pass at the Regal 4 to kill the drive.
Then Miller took over. He took the bulk of the carries on a 96-yard Regina touchdown drive that iced the game.
Miller ran over a Grundy Center defender on one impressive run during the drive, and he finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 4:13 mark of the fourth quarter.
“I was just thinking last year when we lost to Wilton,” Miller said. “I didn’t want to feel that again.”
The Regal defense forced Grundy Center to turn the ball over on downs at its own 25 on the ensuing drive, and Regina finished off the Spartans on a 5-yard Tracy touchdown run.
The Regina defense and the legs of Miller and Tracy were the biggest factors in the game.
The Regals gave up 49 yards rushing on Grundy Center’s opening drive of the game. They held the Spartans to just 22 yards on the ground for the rest of the game.
Regina held Jirovsky to just 65 yards rushing on 16 carries. The standout Grundy Center quarterback entered the game rushing for 871 yards and 18 touchdowns, averaging more than 10 yards per carry.
The Regals also forced Jirovsky into throwing three interceptions, and they held Grundy Center to 267 total yards. Regina cornerback Drew Greve picked off two Jirovsky passes, and James Wisler had one interception.
“We had a great defensive scheme,” Greve said. “The coaches do a really good job with us. The linebackers, the d-line, all of them deserve all the credit. They forced them to beat us over the top, and I think it was one of our better games in the back end.”
Miller and Tracy combined for 288 yards rushing on offense for the Regals. Miller ran for 167 and one touchdown on 21 carries and Tracy 121 and two scores on 21 attempts.
Grundy Center finished 11-1.
Jirovsky threw for 196 yards; Eli Wegmann had nine catches for 76 yards and one touchdown for the Spartans. Aiden Hook had 10 tackles and one sack, and Jirovsky and Ryder Slifer each had an interception on defense.
Regina will take a 12-0 record into next week’s 1A state championship game. The Regals are looking for their first championship since beating Grundy Center for the title in 2020.
“Getting back here as a senior is surreal,” Greve said. “We’re ready to go. We’ve got one more week. Getting to be able to play all the games you can senior year is pretty special. We’re going to get a great film session going, we’re going to work hard this week and we’re going to give it our all on Thursday.”
The 1A title game will take place at 4 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the UNI-Dome.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Iowa City Regina headed to Class 1A state title game after semifinal win vs Grundy Center
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Ames Tribune
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