Wildcats fall to Bellevue; season comes to an end
Football
Maquoketa Valley found itself in a winner-take-all football game to determine a Class 1A state playoff spot, but came away with a 39-21 loss to Bellevue Friday, Oct. 20 in Bellevue.
The loss gave the Wildcats a final regular season record of 7-2, including 5-2 in Class 1A, District 3. West Branch won the district with a 7-0 record, and Bellevue finished 6-1.
The top two teams in each district automatically qualify. Two at-large teams were also selected from among the seven districts to round out a state playoff field of 16, but MV was not one of them.
MV quarterback Tyson Tucker completed 15 of 23 passes for 178 yards against Bellevue, and rushed for 86 yards and two scores. Brock Hillers had six receptions for 74 yards and a score, and Norman Wilson caught five passes for 73 yards.
Defensively, Tucker had an interception and a fumble recovery. Hillers had 8.5 tackles, and Robert Hildebrand had eight.
The previous week, the Wildcats scored a 36-0 home shutout over North Cedar Oct. 13. Tucker completed nine of 14 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns in that game, and also rushed for two scores. Mitch Smith had a rushing touchdown, and Wilson caught two scoring passes.
Trent Koopman recovered a North Cedar fumble. Leading tacklers included Hildebrand with eight and Smith with 5.5.
Cross country
The Maquoketa Valley boys’ upstart cross country season ended just short of a state meet berth, as the Wildcats competed in the Class 1A State Qualifying Meet Thursday, Oct. 19 in Solon.
The top three teams in the meet qualified for the Oct. 28 state meet; MV finished fourth. Bellevue won with 23 points, Starmont was second with 105, Calamus-Wheatland took third with 132, and the Wildcats totaled 157.
Chance Downs finished 17th in a time of 17:46, missing a top-15 spot and an individual state meet berth by 10 seconds. Brenden Hogan was 25th, Tate Trenkamp finished 28th, Derek Mensen took 32nd, Mason Lubben came in 55th, Daniel Hunter was 60th and Jon Seibert was 74th.