Substate: October 24, 2008 vs. Dallas Center-Grimes
Lynx reign in Mustangs, 20-14,
advance to 1st Round of playoffs
Tough defense aids Lynx in Substate victory, earns 7th victory of the season
(Webster
City)
Webster City improved its record to 7-3 and not only played its
first post-season football game since 1996, but on the strength of its defense,
won the game 20-14 over Dallas Center-Grimes who ended their 2008 campaign with
an overall record of 7-3. The Substate victory was the first post-season
game Webster City has won since a 7-0 edging of Charles City in 1996; the Lynx
now advance to the 1st Round of the playoffs where they'll face the
Carroll Tigers who own a record of 10-0.
"That was far probably the sloppiest win I've ever had in the playoffs," said second-year Lynx Head Coach Bob Howard as he referred to the 6 penalties for 35 yards and two fumbles the Lynx committed, "but we played tough defense and our offense drove all over the field and a win is a win." This game marked Howard's 17th trip into the post-season as a head coach--his first at the 3A level as he also coached Sigourney, Sigourney-Keota, and Scranton to post-season berths. "I'm extremely proud of our kids," he added, "they've worked their tails off and in just one year have turned this program around."
The Mustangs of Dallas Center-Grimes were no angels
in the game either as they were flagged 8 times for a total of 50 yards and
threw an interception. The Mustangs came into the game as the No. 3 seed
from District 7 and with an overall record of 7-2. "They're a very good
team," commented Howard, "and tonight we saw how explosive and how much speed they
had. Fortunately for us, our offense did a pretty good job of moving the
ball up and down the field even though we didn't finish the best tonight."
In reference to the offense, Howard was speaking to the fact that three different Lynx players rushed for over 100 yards: senior running back John Hill ran for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns on 23 carries while senior wingback Kevin Kannuan added 129 yards on just 8 carries. As well, senior spinback Brent Nelson churned out 125 yards on 16 totes. "Our running game did well tonight," said Howard, "although we need to protect the ball better and finish by scoring. At halftime, I thought the way our offensive line was blocking and how we were running the ball we would score least two more times in the second half."
And
the Lynx should have; to open up the 2nd half, Webster City just needed 2
plays to travel 67 yards and nearly into the endzone. On the first play from scrimmage, Kannuan
rambled 65 yards down the sideline and on the ensuing snap, Nelson went up the
middle for 12 yards--unfortunately, Nelson fumbled just as he closed in
on the endzone and the ball was recovered by the Mustangs.
However, the defense held fast and although the Mustangs threatened several times, the Lynx shut down Dallas Center-Grimes and held on for the win. Defensively, Webster City was led by a plethora of players that included DB Alex Davis (10 tackles, 1 interception), OLB Tyler Mosbach (6 tackles), OLB Bret Hilpipre (11 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), LB Ben Rasmussen (7 tackles), DT Nate Sego (3 tackles, 1 QB sack for -4 yards), and DE Tyler Moen (3 tackles, 1 QB sack for -20 yards).
"It's nice to win and advance in the playoffs," said Howard, "but every game gets harder as the opponents get better. We're going to have to eliminate our errors if we want to keep playing--and the kids know that. We need to have 4 great practices before we play again."
Webster City now takes on the Carroll on Monday,
November 3rd and kickoff is at 7:00 pm.
WEBSTER CITY
8 12 0 0 - 20
DALLAS CENTER-GRIMES 7 7
0 0
- 14