Iowa high school football: Live updates, observations and analysis from Week 7

WAUKEE, Ia. — Greetings from Waukee Stadium. We've made it to Week 7, the regular season finale. Can you believe it?

I can. Barely. But also fully and completely. Everybody involved has done a great job ensuring we'd get to this point, and will hopefully continue that work to make it so we can keep playing all the way through the state finals next month in Cedar Falls.

This game, between No. 5 Waukee and No. 2 Urbandale, could go a small ways in deciding both team's respective paths to the UNI-Dome.

Waukee enters at 4-2 overall and on a two-game winning streak. The Warriors are as dangerous as any team in Class 4A, with a talented quarterback in Jakob Holcomb, talented playmakers all over the field, in Alex Lindquist, Aaron Smith, Dale Stout and Eddie Saidat Jr. They're battle tested, too, having faced three other ranked teams so far.

Urbandale is 5-0, but it's been something of a charmed 5-0. Currently, the J-Hawks have only beaten one team with a record above .500 — Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, which is 5-1 against teams with a combined record of 9-20. Still, there's no denying the talent, with Division I prospects Jaden Harrell, Max Llewellyn and Tucker Langenberg leading the way.

A win for the J-Hawks would solidify them as a bonafide 4A contender, and perhaps position them more favorably once the playoff draws are announced on Saturday. But a win for Waukee would be more evidence of their overall strength, and perhaps throw a wrench into those postseason pairings.

This game will reveal a lot, and should be fun to watch unfold.

Other games are worth following tonight, too. No. 1 Southeast Polk plays Johnston. No. 3 Ankeny plays Indianola. West Des Moines Valley plays Ankeny Centennial. Out East, No. 6 Iowa City West plays Cedar Rapids Kennedy and No. 8 Dubuque Hempstead plays Waterloo West.

In the smaller classes, there's the Lewis Central-Harlan showdown, the West Lyon-Central Lyon matchup — otherwise known as the Beef Bowl — and so many other tremendous games worth following tonight. So be sure to check back often as we'll do our best to update you on those games and many others as the results pour in.

If you find anything interesting and exciting, send it my way — @codygoodwin — and be sure to enjoy the weather and action tonight. Cheers to Week 7.

END OF 3: Waukee 31, Urbandale 17. J-Hawks had an opportunity to seize control, but couldn't capitalize.

Urbandale collected a pooch kick on the opening kickoff and turned it into a touchdown four plays later when Tucker Langenberg bulldozed his way to the end zone on a 29-yard run. That made it 24-17, and interrupted Waukee's run of 24 straight points.

Then Waukee punted and Urbandale had 3rd-and-10 in Warrior territory, but Waukee's  Ben Reiland applied pressure and forced Urbandale QB Peyton Rottinghaus into an incompletion. Waukee took over and scored off an 11-play, 63-yard drive, ending with a 3-yard scoring run by Aaron Smith.

So this game still belongs to Waukee, who also has the ball as the fourth quarter beg

Southeast Polk only up four on Johnston entering the fourth quarter. Could be in for an interesting finish.

So, like, Iowa City West is pretty good.

HALFTIME: Waukee 24, Urbandale 10. Tale of two quarters.

Waukee went from 9 total yards of offense to 135. Jakob Holcomb hit Aaron Smith for a 42-yard catch-and-run score, then Garrett Morris picked up a bad snap on a punt to give Waukee the lead, then Alex Lindquist scored on a 16-yard run, then Lucas Bartachek connected on a 22-yard field goal right before half.

Urbandale, meanwhile, had 97 total yards of offense after Tucker Langenberg's touchdown run to open the second quarter, and have just … 15 since. Wild.

The J-Hawks have made some mental errors that haven't helped things. On Morris's touchdown on the bungled snap, the ball went over Jaden Harrell's head, and instead of falling on it, he just kind of looked at it. Morris scooped it up and scored easily.

Then, before Lindquist ran into the end zone, a pair of Urbandale's penalties on fourth down kept Waukee's drive alive — one on a roughing the punter, then another on an offsides while Waukee lined up to try a field goal. Lindquist scored the very next play after.

So, yeah. Wild second quarter, and a total flip-flop from the first. That's 24 unanswered from the Warriors, who will start the third quarter with the ball, too. Buckle up.

🍯🦡

Saint Ansgar, our No. 1 in Class A, is trailing at half.

Beef Bowl Update.

Winterset and Dallas Center-Grimes are locked into a close one early in the second quarter. Keep an eye on this one.

Lewis Central draws first blood against Harlan. The Titans can do more than just pass. Expect more points here.

Ankeny is on top of Indianola, 21-7. Jase Bauer has connected with Brody Brecht for two of the three touchdowns. Colin Kadolph went 64 yards for the other. Hawks are rolling.

END OF 1: Urbandale 3, Waukee 0. Quick quarter, with a lot of defense. Only 96 total yards of offense in the first 12 minutes.

Urbandale scored on the first drive, going 43 yards in 10 plays, capped by a monster kick from Cody Tiffin, who connected for a 46-yard field goal that would've been good from 50-plus. 

Since then, nothing. Waukee has 9 total yards of offense. Urbandale has 87, and half came on that first drive. That J-Hawk defense has been fierce. Warriors probably need to hit Aaron Smith deep to take the top off the defense so Alex Lindquist can run it a little bit. Do that, and the rest of the playbook should open up.

But give Urbandale credit. J-Hawks have 2nd-and-5 on Waukee's 10 to begin the second quarter.

UPDATE: First play of the second quarter, Tucker Langenberg goes 10 yards for a touchdown. It's now 10-0, J-Hawks.

West Des Moines Valley is up early on Ankeny Centennial. Both enter at 1-4. That's still a weird thing to type out.

Southeast Polk's Xavier Nwankpa continues his Honey Badger campaign with another early play against Johnston. Matt, our in-house recruiting wizard, is at this game. Follow him for more updates.

It's Senior Night here in Waukee.

For those interested in watching Lewis Central-Harlan. That's No. 1 vs. No. 3 in our rankings. should be a hoot.

There's also a new rivalry game going down tonight in Iowa City. Really, all three games — City-West, City-Liberty, West-Liberty — deserve trophies.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

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