Scheels Athlete of the Week: Regina Senior Jack Jensen Ends Career With Big Title Game

Jack Jensen hauls in a touchdown pass in the Class 1A title game at the UNI-Dome. Jeff Yoder/For Your Prep Sports.

By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

Regina didn’t end the season it way it wanted last week at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Fifth-ranked Western Christian stopped the Regals run of six straight state titles with a 47-34 win over the top-ranked Regina in the Class 1A title game.

That didn’t stop Regina senior Jack Jensen from putting an exclamation point on an impressive season.

Jensen hauled in a touchdown pass and added two interceptions, one that he returned 71 yards to set up a Regina touchdowns.

“It’s tough, we knew it was going to be a really good game and if we made mistakes they would hurt us,” Jensen said. “They are a good talented team and they executed off our mistakes.”

Jensen had the best season of her career as a senior leading Regina with 44 receptions for 836 yards and 10 touchdowns as a receiver.

The 5-foot-9, 141-pound senior tied for the team lead with seven interceptions from his corner back spot.

He played his best football in the postseason.

Jensen had an interception in all four playoff games, with six of his seven picks coming in the playoffs.

His first interception in the 1A title game came on a tipped pass inside the Regina 15 yard line and he returned it to the Western Christian 15 to set up the Regal’s first touchdown of the game.

“It was tipped and I just grabbed it with one hand and I saw open field so I took off,” Jensen said. “Isaac (Vollstedt) there and got me a good block.”

The second interception for the game for Jensen was a diving pick in the end zone that turned away a Western Christian scoring chance.

Jensen was equally important for Regina on offense in the title game.

He caught four passes for 91 yards including a 68-yard touchdown pass from junior Michael Conlon that put Regina up 27-19 with 1:37 left in the first half.

“That was a big play and we got some big plays, you want to dial those up and take them when you can get them,” Regina coach Marv Cook said. “My hat is off to Western Christian, they were sound defensively we did make a couple of big plays on them but it seemed like they recovered and made plays when they had to.”

The big effort by Jensen wasn’t enough to earn Regina a seventh straight state title but it hardly sullied an outstanding career by Jensen and his classmates that featured three state titles and a 51-4 four-year record.

“It shows that we are a tough team and we are love each other and play for one another,” Jensen said. “It was an amazing time.”

Scheels Prep of the Week: Flitz Efficient in Dome Debut

West High junior Evan Flitz rolls out against Bettendorf in a playoff game on Oct. 28. Jeff Yoder/For Your Prep Sports.

Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

The longer the playoffs go the better Evan Flitz seems to perform.

That’s good news for West High which will play for its first state title since 1999 on Friday thanks in large part to the play of its junior quarterback.

Flitz continued his strong postseason by throwing for 254 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-7 semifinal win over fourth-ranked Cedar Rapids Washington last Friday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

The performance by Flitz helped lift West High (10-2) in the Class 4A state title game for the first time since 1999 where it will face three-time defending 4A champion West Des Moines Dowling (11-1) on Friday at 7:06 p.m.

In his first ever appearance in the UNI-Dome, Flitz completed 19-of-26 passes without an interception and tossed scoring strikes of 34, 3 and 22 yards.

“I would say that I’m a pretty calm guy but certainly when you step out of the tunnel and you see the fans yelling and the atmosphere it’s very different,” Flitz said. “Getting a win feels good and having experience that I can draw from is great.”

Flitz has been impressive in his first season as a starter, completing 70 percent of his passes for 2,051 yards and 22 touchdowns with five interceptions.

The 6-foot, 175-pound junior has been at his best in the playoffs, completing 55-of-74 passes for 804 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception in three postseason wins.

Behind the play of Flitz, West High is averaging 32.3 points and 393 total yards per game in postseason play.

We talked about that, it’s no different, we have faced pressure since really the beginning of the season and we are used to it,” Flitz said of the postseason. “All through the playoffs we kind of blocked that out. We trust in what we are doing here in practice and that carries over to Friday nights.”

Flitz missed a pair of games with a knee injury in the middle of the season but has come back to lead West High to five straight wins.

He is completing better than 76 percent of his passes in his five games since returning from the injury sustained in the second half of a week five loss to Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Junior Ethan Postler led West High to a pair of wins with Flitz sidelined and together the duo has helped West High lead Class 4A in passing efficiency, completing better than 68 percent of its passes on the season.

After passing for 119 yards in his first game back from injury Flitz has thrown for more than 200 yards in four straight games including a career-high 330 with five touchdowns in a quarterfinal win over Prairie.

“We really took control of our own destiny and winning out in the regular season and then three playoff wins,” Flitz said. “We garnered some momentum and we’ve been able to keep that going.”