GALLERY: Iowa City Regals Crowned Football Champs Again

The No. 1 ranked Iowa City Regina Regals completed perfection for the second year in a row, beating ghd No. 3 ranked Spirit Lake Indians Saturday 24-20 at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls.

The Regals (14-0) overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit to defeat the previously undefeated Indians (13-1) and win their third overall Iowa class 2A football championship. The win marked Iowa City's 28th win in a row, and this against its toughest opponent of the year. 

The game was low scoring, and hard fought through the first half, with momentum edging toward Spirit Lake. Midway through the first quarter, Iowa City's RB Jacob Vollstedt fumbled on a carry that was about to convert a fourth down play deep into Spirt Lake territory. Spirit Lake then drove the field and polished off the drive by connecting a pass from QB Adam Dau to RB Rick Marris in the endzone for a touchdown.

Following the halftime break, Regina dug in on defense, creating opportunities for their offense to bring them back into the game. A blocked punt by Regina's Ben Keating, which was picked up and run down to the Indian five-yard line by Regina's Jake Lehman. On the ensuing possesion, Vollstedt ran it in for a touchdown, tying the score 10-10. On Spirit Lake's next possesion, they turned the ball over by throwing an interception to Iowa City's George Sehl. This in turn resulted in a six yard touchdown run by Regina's Joe McCaffery. 

The next time Regina had the ball, they connected on a long pass from QB Nate Streb to WR Sehl, who went over top of the defending Bryson McCabe of Spirit Lake, and ran it in for a touchdown. This gave Iowa City Regina the 24-10 advantage. Spirit Lake answered with a touchdown drive, taking advatage of Regina miscues on penalties. However, on their following drive, Regina was able to defend on a goalline stand and held Spirit Lake to only a field goal. 

Regina finished out the game by running out the clock, converting on a fourth down and one to go. After the game, senior members of the Offensive Line were congratulated by their Coach who stated, "Four years of hard work lead up to that last fourth down play."

And the Regals are already thinking about next year. As the team celebrated their trophy and marched to the locker room, many of the players began chanting, "three peat, three peat..." looking forward to continuing their win streak into next year's final.