PRZ Iowa | Playoff Juggernauts | 2021 Quarterfinals

The IHSAA quarterfinals were full of mighty performances, jaw-dropping stat lines, and clutch moments. The playoff juggernauts featured below stepped up in big ways to propel their team forward into the semifinals and one step closer to the ultimate goal. Find out what these athletes did to send their opponents packing and help their teams earn a trip to the dome. Dion Hutch, RB, Valley, <a href="https://twitter.com/dionhutch08">Twitter</a> 25 ATT, 211 YDS, 5 TD One of Hutch’s many big plays in his gigantic performance in the quarterfinals against Pleasant Valley came on a busted Power Toss; it really summed up the whole night for the Tigers in that they could virtually do whatever they wanted on the ground. The Spartans read the play well, but everyone overpersued, so Hutch cut it back to the other hash and broke four tackles on his way to the end zone. Valley also ran Split Zone all night with a ton of success; the way Hutch can see space and make cuts was undefendable. [player_tooltip player_id="24007" first="Dawson" last="Forgy"], RB, Winterset, <a href="https://twitter.com/DawsonForgy02">Twitter</a> 28 ATT, 268 YDS, 4 TD, 1 REC, 27 YDS Winterset was rolling out of their 31 personnel set in the quarterfinals against Decorah. Forgy caught a wheel route out of the backfield for a big gain, sprinted 78 yards to the house on Counter action with Power blocking up front, and showed no mercy taking Dive behind two lead blockers for punishing gains. Forgy also had a lot of success out of the I-Formation on plays like GT Counter. The Vikings really struggled to play in their gaps and near the line of scrimmage; Forgy knew just how to capitalize. Pat Hennessy, RB, Waukon, <a href="https://twitter.com/Pat_Hennessy8">Twitter</a> 34 ATT, 248 YDS, 2 TD, 2 REC, 42 YDS, 7.5 TKL Hennessy handled a heavy workload in the Quarterfinals against North Fayette Valley. He looked outstanding on his carries, especially on plays like GT Power in the Indians’ Trey set and on GH Power when the Indians lined up in Shotgun Heavy. The way he could cut off of his pulling blockers into the gaps they created was executed to perfection. Hennessy was already at positive yardage by the time he made his move. He scored on one of those GT calls and absolutely trucked a defender at the goal line. Darren Richardson, RB, Iowa City High, <a href="https://twitter.com/24_DRichardson">Twitter</a> 27 ATT, 227 YDS, 3 TD, 2 REC, 23 YDS Richardson ran wild behind the outstanding blocking of one of Iowa’s best Offensive Lines in City High’s quarterfinals matchup. Kennedy struggled to win one on one matchups. The way the Little Hawks blockers washed Defensive Linemen down, kicked out edge defenders, and climbed or doubled to backers on plays like Split Zone, Duo, and Power was overwhelming. Richardson made the most of his carries and tore right through gaps and, with a head of steam, second level defenders stood no chance. [player_tooltip player_id="104113" first="Jonathan" last="Humpal"], RB, Lewis Central, <a href="https://twitter.com/JonathanHumpal1">Twitter</a> 26 ATT, 104 YDS, 3 TD, 3 REC, 28 YDS The Titans overcame a regular season loss to advance to the dome by controlling the clock and chains against Indianola. Humpal shouldered the load by pounding the ball into the heart of the Indians’ defense, over and over, in as physical of a contest as you could imagine. Lewis Central won the line of scrimmage with Inside Zone blocking and Humpal surged downhill. He fought incredibly hard for extra yards and made other key contributions like a big downfield block on a pass that sprung a teammate for a score. [player_tooltip player_id="148732" first="Cole" last="Filloon"], WR, Southeast Polk, <a href="https://twitter.com/Cole_Filloon">Twitter</a> 4 REC, 101 YDS, 2 TD Filloon’s explosive playmaking ability proved to be the difference in a tight quarterfinals contest against Dowling. Filloon scored from 80 yards; he sold an underneath route, flew behind coverage, adjusted perfectly to the pass, ran right under it, and sprinted to pay dirt. He added a few tough catches underneath that required several Maroon defenders to get him down. Filloon also pitched in a key block from the Slot on the goal line that widened the alley just enough for the Rams to score on a Fake FB Dive RB Toss. [player_tooltip player_id="104715" first="Aidan" last="Hall"], ATH, Harlan, <a href="https://twitter.com/aidan6hall">Twitter</a> 12 ATT, 51 YDS, TD, 3 REC, 58 YDS, 3.5 TKL Hall made key contributions in routes and out of the backfield, which really put Nevada’s defense in a bind in Harlan’s quarterfinal win. His ability to execute on off-tackle runs like Toss or HB Lead and attack coverage on Corner or Out patterns from the Slot gave the Cubs too much to account for. He scored from 13 yards after delivering a monster stiff arm and barrelling through defenders at the goal line. Hall also kept everything bottled up at Safety and prevented Nevada from hitting on any big, explosive plays. [player_tooltip player_id="148773" first="Dawson" last="Ripperda"], LB, West Lyon, <a href="https://twitter.com/DawsonRipperda">Twitter</a> 14 TKL, 12 Solo, 1 Sack, 3 TFL, 1 REC, 14 YDS Ripperda was hunting everything down in the quarterfinals; there wasn’t a play CL/GLR could call that he wasn’t going to get to. If they tried to run off-tackle, he got over the top of blocks and made the play. If they tried to run between the tackles he shot like a missile into his window and blew it up. Ripperda made a key stop and forced a fumble near the goal line. He shed a block, worked through the A gap, and put his facemask right on the ball. Ripperda later lined up at End and almost caused a second turnover on a sack-fumble. Nick Eaton, DT, Ankeny, <a href="https://twitter.com/neaton52">Twitter</a> | Sean Gavin, Edge, Ankeny, <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanGavinn">Twitter</a> 4 TKL, 1 Solo, 2.5 Sacks, 2.5 TFL | 4.5 TKL, 3 Solo, 2 Sacks, 3 TFL The amount of pressure the Ankeny front was able to create and maintain throughout the game, led by Eaton and Gavin, was insurmountable; there was nothing Prairie could do to pick up the Hawks’ gameplan alignments or even block one on one. The way Eaton worked the A gaps and got frequent inside gap pressure was key. On one play he beat the Center with a chop-arm over and got vertical for a Sack before the Quarterback could look downfield. Eaton hit that same move later when Prairie was deep in Ankeny territory to come up with a huge negative play. He got home a third team by beating slide protection with superior quickness. Then add Gavin into the mix from the outside and there was just no escape. Gavin executed a perfect bull-pull on Prairie’s Left Tackle, hit a textbook bend as he got by his hip, and got home. His second sack came from a perfectly timed blitz from the boundary. He lined up to show man coverage on the number two receiver then crept down just before the snap with an explosive get off. Gavin was too quick for the Tackle to get there and the setting Back had no chance against his speed swipe. The two were at it all night.