September 12, 2008 vs. Forest City
'MOUSE OVER' a picture for its caption
Lynx spoil Homecoming for Indians with 33-18
domination
Webster City silences Forest City crowd by
unearthing 'extinct' single wing rushing attack
(Forest City, IA)
Homecoming? Week #3? Already?
Seriously? What seemed like a good idea to probably more than one person
in Forest City last February when District 2 pairings were announced backfired
in the worse way possible as Webster City (2-1) dominated Forest City (2-1) in
every which way possible as the Indians celebrated Homecoming '08.
Well, not much of a celebration as one Lynx player put things into perspective
after the game by saying, "I can't imagine their dance will be much fun now."
Well put, young man!
The message here? As Webster City Head Football Coach Bob Howard said at the beginning of the season, "We are in a new era of Lynx football as the days in which people look at their schedule, see Webster City, and think, 'Easy week' or 'Guaranteed win' are over. These (2008) players have invested a lot of time and energy into becoming a good team and have done everything I have asked them to do since the end of last season. I don't know how good we'll be or how many games we'll win, but I do know that if someone wants to beat us, we're going to make them work at it."
That being said, the Lynx still shouldn't be surprised if they are the Homecoming opponents for several more teams this year--however, that doesn't mean they can't enjoy the roll of being The Spoiler.
Jumping out to a 27-8 halftime lead, Webster City's single wing offense--thought by many to be 'extinct' and/or "just for small schools"--racked up 256 yards on the ground and another 139 through the air before cruising to a 33-18 victory. Even more notable is the fact that the Lynx were playing without two of their better players, RBs Bret Hilpipre and Ross Haren, who were nursing injuries (both are ready to return next Friday). Webster City's defense--although at times tested by the potent Indian aerial assault that helped Forest City to a 2-0 start by defeating Cresco (Crestwood), 35-34, and Lake Mills, 28-6--stifled the Indians for most of the 1st Half and although Forest City made some plays in the 2nd half, Webster City's defense rose to the occasion when necessary to limit the Indians to just two scores the entire game.
Receiving the opening kickoff, Webster City needed
only 10 plays to drive more than 60 yards to take a 6-0 lead after RB John
Hill scored from 6-yards out. Hill, a senior who was without Haren and
Hilpipre to complement him, ended up carrying the ball 25 times for 193 yards
and 2 touchdowns to lead the Lynx to their first 2-1 (or better) start since
2003; that season, Webster City defeated Iowa Falls (42-7) and Waterloo Columbus
(40-14) in Week 1 and 3, respectively, before eventually finishing 5-4 under
then-head coach Dick Kennedy which also happened to be the last time the Lynx
had a winning season.
Webster City, now 1-0 in District play, used a variety of weapons other than Hill in their victory. WB Kevin Kannuan who was injured in the first game of the season, was back to 100% against Forest City and it showed: Kannuan had 11 rushes for 39 yards and 1 touchdown while QB Brent Nelson added another 23 hard-earned yards on 14 rushes along with 1 touchdown. Nelson also had an excellent night through the air as the senior--playing from the spinback position--was 5/7 for 139 yards and 1 touchdown. Receiving-wise, Nelson's main targets were WR Nate Treibel (3 catches for 91 yards) and TE Karl Peterson (2 catches for 48 yards, 1 TD): both seniors had critical 1st down catches and Peterson's 21-yard touchdown grab on the Lynx's first possession of the 2nd half put the game out of reach as Webster City took a 33-8 lead.
"Our kids played very well tonight," said Howard who improved his overall record at Webster City to 5-7 after going 3-6 during his first year in 2007, "the blocking up front by the offensive line--especially James Hartley, Josh Evans, Cole Besaw, Stephan Cook, and Ryan Vande Zande--was excellent and I'm very pleased with our passing game." Howard also added, "On top of the front five performing their assignments, I felt all of our receivers did a good job of blocking...Forest City had a good scheme on defense and at times it worked very well but overall I felt we did a good job of playing assignment football on offense."
Defensively, Webster City had its hands full as
Forest City was led by QB Andrew Rosacker who was 17/45 for 231 yards along with
1 touchdown and 1 interception. Rosacker also was a threat to run the ball
and the senior rushed for 51 yards on 9 carries to tie teammate Zeke Kasper who
carried the ball 15 times for 51 yards. The Lynx defense played scrappy
all night and constantly put Rosacker under pressure. OLB Tyler Mosbach,
Peterson, Treibel and Vande Zande each collected 7 tackles while LB Tyler
Moen and DB Alex Davis each had 5; Davis also collected his second
interception of
the season when he picked off Rosacker in the 4th quarter.
DT Mike Trausch had one quarterback sack for -14 yards while OLB Ben
Rasmussen recovered a fumble on the Indian's first possession of the game
which eventually led to the first Webster City score.
Overall, the Lynx collected sixteen 1st downs while edging Forest City by over three minutes in time of possession: the Lynx had the ball for 25:45 while the Indians had the ball for 22:15. On special teams, PK Dalton Keane was 3/5 for extra points and two of his kicks were blocked while Vande Zande had four punts for an average for 26.7 yards per kick. "Defensively I thought we played well," said Howard, "although by allowing them to score just before halftime when it was 4th and 5 with :01 seconds remaining potentially could have given them momentum for the second half, but the fact that we scored to open up that period helped offset that."
Webster City returns to Lynx Stadium on Friday,
September 19th, to take on the Algona Bulldogs (2-1) who recently lost to Clear
Lake, 30-7. Game time is schedule for 7:30 pm.
WEBSTER CITY 7 20 6 0 - 33
FOREST CITY 0 8
0 8 - 16
1st Quarter
WC - Hill 6 run (Keane kick)
2nd Quarter
WC - Kannuan 9 run (kick blocked)
WC - Hill 6 run (Keane kick)
WC - Nelson 1 run (Keane kick)
FC - Albertson 11 pass from Rosacker (Rosacker run)
Third Quarter
WC - Peterson 21 pass from Nelson (kick blocked)
4th Quarter
FC - Westerberg 30 pass from Rosakcer (Kurtzleben pass from Rosacker)