'Cats continue winning ways

Football

     Maquoketa Valley continued its winning ways with three victories in Class 1A, District 3 football play.

     The Wildcats scored a 39-14 home win over Clayton Ridge Sept. 29, before winning at Jesup 40-16 Oct. 6.

     MV also scored a 36-0 home win over North Cedar Oct. 13, for which details and statistics were not available at press time.

     With the wins, the Wildcats are tied for second place in the district with Bellevue, each at 5-1. West Branch leads with a 6-0 record. MV will play at Bellevue in the final regular season game Friday, Oct. 20.

     Against Clayton Ridge, Tyson Tucker had a big night, completing 14 of 22 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Six different receivers caught passes, led by Garrett Hogan, with two catches for 94 yards. Hogan also rushed 10 times for 102 yards and two scores. Brock Hillers and Norman Wilson caught touchdown passes, and Derek Becker ran for a touchdown.

     Defensively, Michael Feldman recovered a Clayton Ridge fumble. Mitch Smith was the team’s leading tackler with seven.

     At Jesup, the Wildcats had a total of 290 rushing yards, led by Tucker, 17 carries for 127 yards; and Becker, 19 carries for 101 yards. Tucker, Becker and Smith each had a rushing touchdown. Tucker also completed 10 of 14 passes for 135 yards, including touchdown tosses to Wilson and Hillers. Wilson caught three passes for 84 yards.

     Hillers and Tucker made interceptions, and Feldman recovered a Jesup fumble. Robert Hildebrand had 7.5 tackles, Feldman had seven, and Smith had 6.5.

     The Wildcats are 7-1 overall.

Volleyball

     Maquoketa Valley had a runner-up finish in the Tri-Rivers Conference Volleyball Tournament.

     The Wildcats split their pool play matches, beating Alburnett 21-10, 21-16; and falling to Springville 7-21, 10-21. Those were played Oct. 12 at North Linn.

     Against Alburnett, Maci Freiburger had seven kills, and Abby Holtz made 10 assists. Macy Hoeger and Freiburger had six digs apiece. Serving 100 percent with at least 10 serves were Holtz (11-for-11) and Payton Ries (10-for-10). Ries had three aces.

     Holtz had six digs against Springville. Ries had three kills.

     Maquoketa Valley did qualify for bracket play, and scored a two-sets-to-none win over East Buchanan in the semifinals.

     That put the Wildcats into the championship match against Springville, which MV lost 17-25, 11-25.

     Details of the semifinal and championship matches were unavailable at press time.

     Prior to the conference meet, the Wildcats ended their regular season with a three-set loss at Springville, falling 15-25, 17-25, 17-25. Ries had five kills, Macy Hoeger had four and Freiburger had three. Holtz made 10 assists. Ries served three aces, and Macy Hoeger served two.

Cross country

     Maquoketa Valley battled with 10th-ranked Calamus-Wheatland, but came up just four points short in the boys’ varsity race at the Tri-Rivers Conference Cross Country Meet Oct. 12 at North Linn in Troy Mills.

     Cal-Wheat won the meet with 54 points, and the Wildcats were second with 58. North Linn was a distant third with 107.

     “I was proud of how our boys performed,” Maquoketa Valley coach Pat Meehan said. “They accepted the challenge but came up just short.”

     The Wildcats also took second place in the JV boys’ race.

     “Almost all the athletes ran their personal best or close to their personal best,” Meehan said.

     MV will compete in the state qualifying meet Oct. 19 in Solon. The meet featured four ranked teams in Class 1A: Bellevue (second), Starmont (sixth), Cal-Wheat (10^th) and MV (13^th). The top three will qualify for State.