Former sleeping giant Clear Creek Amana now has big eyes

It was going to be a short night anyway. Lance Pedersen decided to make it shorter.

Before dawn Saturday, Pedersen sat in a stand of trees and watched a field near Victor while his sons hunted deer.

“It’s a beautiful morning to be outside,” Pedersen said by cell phone.

Even better after a breakthrough win.

Clear Creek Amana announced its arrival in football on Friday night, defeating perennial power Cedar Rapids Xavier, 28-24, at Saints Field.

Considered a “sleeping giant” for years (5-3 overall, 3-1 Class 4A, District 3), CCA is now wide-eyed. The Clippers moved into first place with one game to go with Xavier (5-3, 3-1) and North Scott (6-2, 3-1).

All three have great chances to win in Week 9; two qualify automatically, the third appears to be an outright lock via RPI.

“As the season went on, the guys believed more and more,” said Pedersen, in his first year at CCA after highly successful stints at Wilton and Mount Vernon. “We had a great week of training and everything really went well this week. I thought we were a good match.”

CCA trailed 17-7 at halftime and then rallied.

Clayton Isham intercepted a blocked punt in the end zone to make it 17-14 midway through the third quarter, then Owen Rosenberg intercepted a pass deep in CCA territory to keep the Clippers close.

Conlan Poynton threw two TD passes, including an 11-yard connection to Cale Berry with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter, to give CCA the lead for good.

Clear Creek Amana was 3-6 in both 2022 and 2023.

“When I looked at the job, I called a lot of people,” Pedersen said. “Nobody was here long enough to get this going.

“The facilities here are excellent. They have always had athletes. We have some really good players and some experience on offense.”

And now the Clippers have confidence. They will try to secure a playoff spot next week at home against Clinton.

Eye opener for week 8

* Jack Wallace put another stamp on a productive senior season by scoring in Iowa City West’s 49-35 upset win over 5A No. 4 Pleasant Valley scored five touchdowns and ran for two more.

Wallace completed 22 of 27 passes for 374 yards and the Trojans (5-3) significantly increased their playoff hopes.

* They knew Iowa City High would attempt another two-point conversion near the end of another tense thriller. After all, the Little Hawks had been successful in identical situations against Iowa City West and Cedar Rapids Kennedy earlier this season.

Linn-Mar stopped the Little Hawks’ two-point advance with 22 seconds left and secured a 28-27 home win. The Lions improved to 7-1.

* Anamosa held Northeast to minus-8 yards of total offense in the second half and clinched the Class 2A, District 4 title with a 41-0 home win.

| 2A, 1A, A, 8-P first-round playoff pairings |

The Raiders (7-1, 4-1) stopped Northeast twice on first-and-goal in the first half. They will host Waukon in the first round of the 2A playoffs next week.

* Iowa Valley was averaging a massive 70 points per game, but Belle Plaine was able to slow the Tigers down, earning an eight-game non-district victory, 30-24.

Another change is coming at the top of 5A

The revolving door at the top of the Gazette’s Class 5A rankings is back in action.

Ankeny’s 13-10 overtime win over No. 1 West Des Moines Valley will likely send a new team to the top spot, and current No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling has the edge.

The big school division produced a different No. 1 in each of the first five polls: Ankeny, then Valley, then Dowling, then Ankeny Centennial, then Valley again.

Valley held the top spot for four consecutive weeks.

Expect a new leader in 4A too. The season’s No. 1 team, Lewis Central, suffered a 21-7 loss to Norwalk.

Panelists will have a hard time choosing between Pella, Decorah and North Polk, all of which are undefeated.

5A RPI Derby comes together

Official numbers from the Iowa High School Athletic Association won’t be released until Monday, but The Gazette predicts nine teams have secured spots in the 16-team field.

These are Bettendorf, Iowa City Liberty, West Des Moines Dowling, Johnston, Linn-Mar, Pleasant Valley, West Des Moines Valley, Sioux City East and Iowa City High.

Teams that can qualify with a win in Week 9 are Iowa City West, Ankeny Centennial, Ankeny, the Waterloo West/Ottumwa winner, Southeast Polk, Waukee and Cedar Falls.

Other mathematically active teams include Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, Cedar Rapids Prairie and Waukee Northwest.

Comments: [email protected]