Prep Football- The 2025 regular season is officially in the books and each class has been whittled down to 16 teams left fighting for a chance to lift the coveted Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) state championship. Here’s our local team’s matchups.
All matchups are slated for Friday, October 31st, at 7 pm.
Eight-Player
Iowa Valley kept their undefeated season alive without expending much energy, smearing Moravia to a 64-0 final—it was 35-0 at the end of the first half. Nolan Kriegel slashed the Mohawk defense for 145 rushing yards and five total touchdowns.
The Tigers will attempt to avoid being ousted from the round of 16 for the fourth consecutive year when they host Janesville. The Wildcats avenged a one-possession loss against Riceville earlier in the season with a 44-34 victory in round one.
This matchup is confined to Pod D with the winner taking on the winner between (7-2) Montezuma and (9-0) Audubon.
Class A
In Pod B, Pekin is on the heels of their 2014 season that saw the Panthers finish the season 11-1, as they are still undefeated through nine weeks. Much like 2014 and even last year for that matter, Pekin will be hosting North Linn.
The Panthers are 2-0 against the Lynx in those two playoff games, winning 62-13 back in 2014 and a narrow 28-20 victory last season as Will Adam totaled 192 yards and two touchdowns. That experience has been flipped to the Lynx side this season, but Nolan Glick has been nearly unstoppable with 1,368 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns along with a pick-six.
Pekin beat Earlham 42-7 in round one, while North Linn pounded Columbus 59-14. The winner will advance to play eight (7-2) West Fork or (9-0) Saint Ansgar.
Class 2A
Nothing like a district matchup to spice things up in postseason, as Mediapolis will venture north to Wellman to face off against Mid-Prairie for the second time this season. In the first showdown, the Golden Hawks flew away with a decisive 62-21 final.
The most impressive part of that performance was the lack of offense needed for Mid-Prairie. The defense force five takeaways and scored two touchdowns of their own, while their special teams returned an 80-yard kick for a touchdown.
The connection between Quincy King and Gannon Gunn has been deadly as they pair have combined for 592 yards and four touchdowns. Additionally, Parker Holsteen has found his stride, gaining 900 yards and scoring 16 touchdowns on the ground. The problem? 16 interceptions.
King had a nice game against Centerville to pull off the 28-13 upset with 171 yards and two passing touchdowns with only one interception. Additionally, the defense came ready to play with three takeaways on their own and nine tackles for loss.
It took Mid-Prairie some time, but the Golden Hawks finally took flight in the second half, outscoring North Fayette Valley 21 to 6 in the second half to win 34-19. Overall, the Golden Hawks own an 8-5 record over Mediapolis since 2008, having won four of the last six.
The duo was place in Pod C and will play either (7-2) Van Meter or (7-2) Roland Story in the quarterfinals.
Class 3A
It has been 15 years, but Mt. Pleasant is back in the playoffs for the 18th time in their program’s history after executing their second double-digit second-half comeback in their last three weeks, taking down Fairfield 25-22 after trailing by 16 at the half. Panther head coach John Bowlin knows how much the win means for the community,
“Absolutely, just super happy with how much these guys work and how much they want it. You know, so, when they work as hard as they do, that makes you want it more and they show up every day ready to go. And now we got a new season to play and that’s just super exciting for, you know, not just them, the staff as well, just the hard work put in paying off. And, you know, we got great support all year. So, let’s keep it going.”
(Picture taken by MPTV-CloseUp)
The Panthers will have to keep it rolling against West Delaware, who was the consensus #1 team in Class 3A last week before losing to Clear Lake in their district championship. Its not the first time this pair has met in the postseason, in fact, its not even the second time.
The duo met in back-to-back years, 1993 and 1994, and engaged in two hotly contested games with West Delaware winning 24-19 in 1993 in the semifinals, while the Panthers won in the quarterfinals in 1994 27-21 in overtime, which at the time was just the 33rd postseason game to go into overtime.
The Panther defense will be tested again, this time against the #2 rushing team in Class 3A. Add in a defensive unit that has held their opponents to just 13.9 points per game and the Panthers will have their hands full on Friday night. KILJ105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Pod C will be awfully competitive with a district matchup pinning last year’s champion, Wahlert Catholic, against Central DeWitt, who boats one of the best quarterbacks in the state in Hudson Krukow. The Golden Eagles won their regular season match 17-12.
Mt. Pleasant fell to Central DeWitt 49-27, while West Delaware defeated Wahlert Catholic 27-20 back in week four.
More Information
For a full look at the round of 16 matchups for all five classes, follow this link: Round of 16 Matchups