Wildcats rally past Bellevue

Football

   Maquoketa Valley remained in a tie for first place in Class A, District 4 football with a 38-21 win at Bellevue Sept. 29.

   The Wildcats (4-1, 5-1) trailed 15-14 heading into the fourth quarter, but outscored the Comets 24-6 in the final period to pull out the win.

   Lance McShane continued to put up outstanding numbers, this time rushing for 281 yards and five touchdown. Brady Wall passed for 61 yards, all to Tate Intorf.

   Defensively, Anderson Holtz made an interception. Kyle Engelken and McShane each recovered a Bellevue fumble. Leading tacklers were Aidan Salow with 12.5, McShane with eight, Devin Meeks and Nathan Beitz with six apiece. Beitz had two sacks.

Volleyball

   Maquoketa Valley had a pair of Tri-Rivers Conference volleyball matches last week, winning one.

   The Wildcats traveled to Arlington to take on Starmont Sept. 26, and lost in four sets, with scores of 24-26, 25-16, 22-25, 23-25. Despite the loss, MV hammered down 42 kills, as Keira Leytem made 28 assists and Kelsey Hoeger added 10. Kill leaders were Haley Ronnebaum with 12, Grace Richter with nine, Camryn Paris with eight, and Lanni Beaman with six. Lili Bauers collected 35 digs, Jada Knipper had 22, Bianka Ronnebaum had 19 and Lily Huber had 17. Beaman made four blocks. Huber served three aces.

   At home against North Linn Sept. 28, the Wildcats won in three sets, 27-25, 25-21, 25-23. Leytem had 29 assists in that match, as MV put down 38 kills. Richter had 12 of those, and Haley Ronnebaum had 10. Bauers had 28 digs, Leytem had 17 and Bianka Ronnebaum had 16. Haley Ronnebaum and Paris had three blocks apiece.

Cross country

   Maquoketa Valley had one cross country meet last week, the Jesup Invitational Sept. 26.

   MV’s boys finished sixth out of 20 teams, totaling 186 points. Waukon was the team champion with 67. Matthew Schaul had a third place finish for the Wildcats, in 16:25.8. George Livingston was 33^rd in 18:01.8, Kenyon Baker took 38^th in 18:10.7, Arion Rave was 51^st in 18:51.0, and Brady Eike ran 81^st in 19:51.8.

   The Wildcat girls had three entries in the race, not enough for a team score. Taryn Burbridge led MV by taking seventh individually in 20:10.9. Isabel Imler finished 95^th in 24:30.6, and McKenna Bush was 104^th in 24:59.8.