One sentence on every Round-of-16 playoff game for Iowa high school football

What’s better than the Iowa high school football regular season?

The postseason, of course.

We emptied our notebook and took a look through all of the game results from Friday to write one sentence on every single Round-of-16 playoff game. For those keeping track, that’s eight games in seven classes. A lot of action to unpack in a short wrap-up.

So, let’s get into it.

Class 5A

Ankeny 21, Johnston 9: Caden Henkes was great on offense while Ankeny’s defense stifled any momentum from the Dragons.

Bettendorf 32, Iowa City High 21: Bulldogs were victorious in the revenge game against City High, outscoring the Little Hawks 18-0 in the second half.

Dowling 45, Sioux City East 0: Ra’Shawd Davis scored three touchdowns and three other teammates found the end zone in the Maroons' rout of Sioux City East.

Ankeny Centennial 35, Waukee Northwest 7: The Jaguars’ one-two running back punch delivered in the trenches to push Centennial past Northwest for the first time since the Waukee-Waukee Northwest split.

Valley 31, Pleasant Valley 21: The last time the Tigers finished as the No. 14 ranked team in the RPI and beat Pleasant Valley in the opening round, they went to the state championship game.

Southeast Polk 49, Linn-Mar 9: Southeast Polk cruised past its opponent to remain undefeated.

Cedar Falls 30, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 26: The Tigers beat Kennedy two weeks ago, and Cedar Falls battled back from behind to defeat the Cougars in the playoffs.

Waukee 21, Prairie 10: Warriors dominated on the ground as two Grant Gammell touchdowns – and one Nile Eddy score – pushed Waukee past Prairie.

Class 4A

Bondurant-Farrar 23, Pella 6: Bluejays avenged their regular-season loss to the Dutch and advanced to the quarterfinals without some of their best players.

ADM 42, Denison-Schleswig 0: Aiden Flora was back, making his mark with several impactful plays, like a 76-yard touchdown run to open the second half.

Glenwood 21, Norwalk 0: It was a high-scoring affair between these two teams in the regular season, but in the first round of the playoffs, it was all about Glenwood as the Rams shut out Norwalk.

Lewis Central 42, LeMars 10: Kadyn Cross and Curtis Witte each scored three touchdowns as Lewis Central ended LeMars’ season for the second straight year.

North Polk 17, Ballard 14: The Bombers dug themselves out of a 17-0 hole late in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to get past No. 1 North Polk.

North Scott 35, Decorah 7: Kyle Gerardy controlled the game as North Scott eased past Decorah.

Western Dubuque 41, Newton 2: Grant Glausser ran his way into the school record books, taking over as the Bobcats’ single-season rushing leader with more than 2,000 yards and counting.

Xavier 17, Indianola 10: Ronan Thomas found Carter Hoffmann on 4th and 27, and Xavier scored a late touchdown after the conversion to squeeze past Indianola.

Class 3A

Bishop Heelan 22, Clear Lake 19: The Crusaders controlled the first half and held off Clear Lake in the second to advance to the quarterfinals.

Creston 35, Harlan 27: Creston beat Harlan for the second time this season to keep the Panthers’ perfect record intact.

Mount Vernon 50, Independence 6: Mount Vernon ran 10 minutes off the clock on the Mustangs' opening drive (which ended without a score) and finished with a win thanks to five touchdowns from Joey Rhomberg.

Sioux Center 28, Algona 21: Algona scored all 21 of its points in the first quarter, but it was Sioux Center that came out on top in a battle between some of the top recruits in Iowa.

Solon 50, Fort Madison 7: The Spartans piled on six touchdowns on six consecutive possessions for a 43-0 lead at halftime.

Webster City 27, Nevada 7: Jaxon Cherry rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns as Webster City eased past Nevada.

West Delaware 58, Assumption 45: This was Brent Yonkovic’s game, as West Delaware’s junior quarterback threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 288 more yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Williamsburg 23, Humboldt 0: Williamsburg built a steady lead while shutting out Humboldt to advance to the quarterfinals.

Class 2A

Kuemper Catholic 43, Clarinda 8: Kuemper dominated in a massive win over Clarinda, winning its eighth straight game to make it to the quarterfinals.

Central Lyon-George/Little Rock 49, Roland-Story 0: Graham Eben had himself a game as Central Lyon built a 49-0 lead by halftime.

Mediapolis 27, Camanche 0: Mistakes hurt Camanche, which was in the red zone three times in the first half, as Jackson Hutcheson’s big game advanced Mediapolis.

Monticello 45, Jesup 0: Not surprisingly, Preston Ries led Monticello in the major stat categories except receiving, throwing for 134 yards and two touchdowns, rushing for 162 yards and three scores and leading the Panthers with six tackles and a sack.

PCM 36, Mid-Prairie 0: Gavin Van Gorp set the tone with 69 rushing yards, two touchdowns on the ground and two touchdown passes to Griffin Olson.

Spirit Lake 48, New Hampton 6: It was all Spirit Lake, as several players found the end zone to give Spirit Lake a 48-point lead before New Hampton put any points on the board.

Van Meter 56, Union Community 0: It’s no surprise that Van Meter posted a dominant shutout in the Round of 16.

West Lyon 29, Western Christian 20: The Wildcats jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter.

Class 1A

Sumner-Fredericksburg 9, Emmetsburg 7: It was scoreless in the first half, tied with a touchdown each in the third quarter, and a fourth-quarter safety won the game for the Cougars.

Grundy Center 35, Pella Christian 12: Defense stood tall and Colin Gordon ran for two touchdowns to push Grundy Center past Pella Chrisitan in a game that was closer than the final score showed.

Regina Catholic 33, Wilton 18: In a matchup between these teams earlier in the season, Regina’s Gentry Dumont and his receivers were limited by the rain, but that wasn’t the case on Friday.

MFL MarMac 21, West Branch 0: It’s five straight quarterfinal berths for MFL MarMac after shutting out West Branch.

Columbus Catholic 35, South Hamilton 24: There was no stopping the Sailors when they scored 27 unanswered points.

OABCIG 35, Treynor 14: With Cooper DeJean in attendance, OABCIG toppled Treynor, thanks to a 336-yard and three-touchdown performance from Brysen Kolar.

Dike-New Hartford 28, Sigourney Keota 18: The Wolverines spoiled Sigourney Keota’s chances at the quarterfinals with an upset win.

Underwood 42, AHSTW 0: Underwood went up 21-0 by halftime and then doubled that in the second half to ensure a spot in the quarterfinals.

Class A

ACGC 29, Lynnville-Sully 8: ACGC’s defense was strong in limiting Lynnville-Sully to 118 total yards.

Logan-Magnolia 22, Akron-Westfield 16: The Panthers took the lead in the second quarter and held that lead despite a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by Akron-Westfield.

East Buchanan 38, Lisbon 7: The Buccaneers handed Lisbon its first loss of the season and held the Lions to less than 100 total yards.

Madrid 42, Central Decatur 0: Preston Wicker ran for 150 yards and three touchdowns as Madrid scored more than 40 points for the fourth straight game.

Saint Ansgar 33, Lake Mills 0: Jayce Schwiesow, Tyson Kline and Dylan Brumm put on a offensive show while Hunter Hillman led the defense in a shutout against Lake Mills.

West Hancock 49, Starmont 10: Can’t deny that the Smith-to-Smith connection works, as Mitchell Smith threw for 146 yards and three touchdowns (and added another score with his feet) and Kellen Smith rushed for 92 yards, had 117 receiving yards and combined for three touchdowns.

Wapsie Valley 26, Maquoketa Valley 0: Traeton Sauerbrei carried Wapsie Valley into the quarterfinals with a four-touchdown performance.

Woodbury Central 35, MMCRU 28: Woodbury Central won when an apparent touchdown by MMCRU on the final play was called incomplete.

8-Player

Lenox 33, Audubon 8: Aaron Olsen and Austin Christensen did a bit of everything for Audubon, but it wasn’t enough to sneak past one of the top teams in the class.

Bedford 44, Exira-EHK 28: What’s more impressive, 190 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Garrison Motsinger or Cal Peterman’s 10-tackle, 2.5-sack, one-fumble recovery performance?

Bishop Garrigan 21, Remsen St. Mary’s 18: Fourth-down trick play ended in a touchdown for Bishop Garrigan as the Golden Bears snapped Remsen St. Mary’s 20-plus game win streak.

CAM-Anita 36, West Bend-Mallard 34: Chase Spieker recorded nearly 350 combined yards and five touchdowns as the Cougars’ staged a comeback from a 12-point deficit to remain undefeated.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 36, Central City 12: The Wildcats' string of injuries (mainly losing Matthew Klostermann to a knee injury) devastated Central City’s chances to make the quarterfinals.

Clarksville 50, Iowa Valley 8: Clarksville led 30-0 going into halftime and piled on more points to keep its perfect record intact heading into quarterfinals.

Don Bosco 28, WACO 20: Kaiden Knaack’s three-touchdown performance in the second half flipped the game in Don Bosco’s favor and sealed the win.

Winfield-Mt. Union 24, Moravia 6: Cam Buffington and Abram Edwards showed why, even in 8-man football, they’re two of the top recruits in Iowa.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Breaking down every Iowa high school football Round-of-16 playoff game