Jeff Johnson

Alex Hanna has taken over as head coach of the Ed-Co football program this season, after 16 years as defensive coordinator for the now retired James Rochford. Hanna has led the Vikings to a No 6 ranking in Eight-Player and a 6-0 record, including a big 58-28 win Friday night at no; 7 Easton Valley.

West Des Moines Dowling’s football team showed why it is ranked third in Class 5A Friday night with an impressive 34-0 win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Kingston Stadium. The Maroons outgained the Cougars, 470-113, and Kennedy head coach Brian White took a tumble on the sideline after he was run into by a player who were going out of bounds.

Mark Carlson set went into Friday night’s home game at ImOn Ice against the Lincoln Stars with 778 regular-season victories in his amazing 26-year head coaching career. One more victory gave him the United States Hockey League’s all-time record, which he got Friday night when the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders beat Lincoln, 3-2. The 56-year-old sat down with The Gazette to talk about his career earlier this week. He’s not close to retiring, by the way.

Defenseman Guerin Slezak tore the ACL in his knee in a USHL playoff game last April for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Last season’s captain (and this season’s presumed captain) is skating again after surgery and is eyeing a November return to the lineup.

The Gazette sports writers Jeff Linder, Jeff Johnson and K.J. Pilcher talk about Week 5 results in Iowa High School Football and the upcoming Week 6 matchups.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels announced Tuesday that long-time general manager Scott Wilson is leaving the baseball club. He will become executive director at NewBo City Market.

The Gazette’s Iowa sports staff and contributors opted to discuss high school football instead of rocket science and macroeconomics. See how much ground Jeff Linder, Jeff Johnson, K.J. Pilcher and Scott Unash cover in 4 Downs.

There’s a reason Clear Lake’s football team is ranked No. 1 in Class 3A. The Lions have athletes all over the place, all on display Friday night in an impressive 43-0 win at No. 5 Independence.

Forward David Bosco had a tryout for the United States National Team Development Team last summer. He didn’t make the team, which has been a boon for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (and potential loss for The Program), for whom he had two goals and an assists last weekend at the USHL’s Fall Classic.

Christopher Meyer has a lot of physical gifts that have allowed him to excel in four sports for Independence High School. That includes being the starting quarterback and an all-state safety for the Class 3A fifth-ranked Mustangs football team.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza transferred to the University of Indiana this season from the University of California. He has become a national darling after leading the Hoosiers to a blowout win last week of Illinois. Mendoza has thrown five touchdown passes each in back-to-back weeks and even had a football card made of him this week.

The Gazette sports writers Jeff Linder, Jeff Johnson and K.J. Pilcher talk about Week 4 results in Iowa High School Football and the upcoming Week 5 matchups

The Gazette’s Iowa high school football and contributors expound on the intricacies of high school football. See how much Jeff Linder, Jeff Johnson, K.J. Pilcher and Scott Unash ground they cover in 4 Downs

Iowa City West graduate Ben Pizzimenti has signed a contract to attend training camp with the Iowa Heartlanders, the ECHL hockey club has announced. Pizzimenti played high school hockey in the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders program and collegiately at NCAA Division III (non-scholarship) Concordia University in Wisconsin.

Elkader Central won its high school football game Friday night at Lansing Kee, 36-28, a game that was delayed twice by weather and lightning. The Warriors are 4-0, surpassing last season’s win total. The school did not even have a varsity team in 2022 because of low number of participants.