One of the most historic football win streaks in IHSAA history came to an end Friday when #2 (1A) Grundy Center fell 31-12 to #3 (1A) Iowa City Regina in a 1A semifinal, as aired on 99 The Wave.
The Spartans got on the board with a 29-yard field goal by Aiden Betts in the first quarter, which was quickly answered by a 37-yard touchdown reception by Drew Greve to make it 7-3 Regals. Early in the second quarter, Eli Wegmann made a diving catch in the end zone of a Judd Jirovsky pass for a 14-yard score, taking the lead back at 10-7. The Spartans had drives stall, resulting in three punts and two turnovers on downs. After Regina went up 17-10, the Spartans punted to the one-yard line, and an Aiden Hook sack resulted in a safety to make it 17-12. But Grundy Center couldn’t turn the following drive into points. Midway through the fourth, Regina went on a 96-yard drive with nine runs by Savion Miller to go up 24-12. They put the game away with a garbage time touchdown within the final minute.
“We were right with them there for a while,” senior Judd Jirovsky says. “Tough penalty to call back one of our touchdowns, was a tough play for us, and then could never get it going from there. Credit to them, their line of scrimmage, physicality, depth and just overall balance. It’s tough to play against. And no fault to any of the effort of our guys. I mean, sometimes you just meet your match a little bit. Great game plan by them too. We were behind quite a bit. Did a good job catching up and being able to sustain some drives, but eventually some of those things catch up to you and that’s what caught us today a little bit.”
Head Coach Travis Zajac reflects on the journey over the last four seasons.
“As we’ve been going on this ride, it’s been pretty magical,” Zajac says. “It’s been more about making sure that they’re okay in their heart. Playing ability and the coaching, all that’s gonna come. It’s just, we wanna make sure you take care of the kids. And there’s not a single thing that they could ever do on that field that would cause me to feel disappointed in them. I said that over and over in the locker room with them, is that I love them and I’m proud of them. This stings and it’s going to for a while. But once we get past it, the sun comes up tomorrow, days and weeks after that, we’ll look back on how wonderfully blessed we’ve been.”
Jirovsky was 18-34 passing for 196 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Eli Wegmann was the leading receiver with nine for 76 yards and a score.
The Spartans have concluded their season at 11-1. Their win streak ended at 50 games, the third-longest in IHSAA history.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXn1_FLC1L0?si=Ar1a9d7SZoxkEaDK&w=560&h=315]
