October 3, 2008 vs. Waverly-Shell Rock
Big plays spark 21-14 Lynx victory over Go-Hawks
Webster City spoils Waverly-Shell Rock's
Homecoming, improves to 4-2, tied for 2nd in District
(Waverly)
There's an old adage that if a team wants to
win bad enough, they'll find a way and that's what happened when the Webster
City Lynx (4-2, 3-1 in District 2) collided with the Waverly-Shell Rock Go-Hawks
(1-5, 1-3 in District 2) on a perfect night for Iowa high school football.
To no surprise of the Lynx, the Go-Hawks were celebrating Homecoming 2008 and
the role did not phase Webster City...after all, they were the Homecoming foe of
Forest City earlier in the season and rather enjoyed playing the position of The
Spoiler--a part they would repeat against the Go-Hawks.
However, on the same note, the Lynx did not underestimate Waverly-Shell Rock and disregarded their overall 1-4 record coming into the game. Lynx head coach Bob Howard commented, "Of all the teams in our District, Waverly probably has played the toughest schedule and their four losses came from teams like Decorah, North Fayette, Algona, and Clear Lake...combined, those teams are 17-3 so Waverly's record doesn't truly reflect what kind of team they are. On film, they look big, physical, and appear to enjoy hitting."
Howard's assessment of the Go-Hawks wasn't far off and it was apparent from the beginning that the match-up between these two teams who last met in 2003 (when the Lynx won, 24-21) was going to be a dogfight. Webster City won the coin toss and the kickoff was fielded by RB John Hill who took the ball to the 36-yard line. Webster City then only netted 2 yards on the first two running plays before senior QB Brent Nelson connected with fellow classmate WR Karl Peterson for a 11-yard gain and 1st down. The Lynx then ran another running play for -1 yard before senior WB Kevin Kannuan busted loose for a 52-yard scamper and go-ahead touchdown; PK Dalton Keane's kick was successful and just like that the Lynx were up, 7-0.
The Lynx defense then responded with a "bend but don't break" attitude as they played tough defense against a very big, physical, and dangerous Go-Hawk Wing-T offense. However, aside from the Algona debacle, the Lynx defense has improved every week since the start of the season and the contest against Waverly was no different. Defensively, by the end of the game, a plethora of Webster City players would shine, most notably OLB Tyler Mosbach (11 tackles), DB Nate Triebel (9 tackles), LB Ben Rasmussen (8 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), and DB Alex Davis (4 tackles, 1 interception). However, one cannot forget about the outstanding play of tandem defensive tackles Nate Sego (5 tackles) and Alex Anderson (4 tackles) who constantly disrupted the Go-Hawks offense with their penetration into the backfield.
"Honestly," added Howard, "in my 34 years of coaching this is one of the bigger wins I've been involved in. Not to take away anything from our kids, but we beat a bigger and stronger team tonight. Waverly is a very good, athletic team and the ball bounced our way a few times but in the end, our kids played their tails off to earn the victory."
The ball did indeed bounce the Lynx's way; on the
Go-Hawks' second possession they took the ball and drove more than 50-yards down
to the Lynx's 3-yard line; however, on 2nd and 1, poor handling of thepigskin
resulted in a fumble which the Lynx recovered on their own 2-yard line.
Webster City responded by driving the ball 35 yards before being forced to
punt--yet, Lady Luck again showed her face to the Lynx as the ball was
mishandled and recovered by the Lynx on the Go-Hawks' 24-yard line; on the first
play from scrimmage, Nelson connected with Treibel for the score and although
Keane's kick failed, the Lynx were up 13-0 before the end of the 1st quarter.
The 2nd quarter was marked by several exchanges between the two teams and with less than 3 minutes remaining in the half, Waverly-Shell Rock took the ball 81-yards down the field on the strength of their quarterback Steggall's arm and eventually scored on a 32-yard strike with :30 seconds in the half to narrow the score, 13-7. Opening up the second half with the ball, the Go-Hawks wasted no time in sending a message to the Lynx that they weren't going to roll over as they marched 64-yards down the field to score and take a 14-13 lead in the 3rd quarter.
However, the Lynx responded by moving the ball well on their first drive of the second half and although they were forced to punt the ball, the defense responded by only allowing Waverly to run 7 plays before having to punt the ball back; in what could be called "The Block of the Season" senior DB Eric Sletten, along with nine other members of the punt return team, executed perfectly as Treibel returned the punt 79-yards down the Lynx sideline and outran several Go-Hawks for the go-ahead touchdown. Up 19-14, Howard elected to go for two and Nelson found senior TE Branden Roberts wide open in the endzone for the 2-point conversion to put Webster City up, 21-14.
The next several series saw both the Lynx and Go-Hawks move the ball somewhat and a seemingly nail-in-the-coffin drive by Webster City was offset by several holding penalties. However, with 3:30 left on the clock on Webster City's 45-yard line, the Go-Hawks faced a 4th and 9 situation and went for it--and were stopped. The Lynx--with some excellent clock management by Howard--then moved the ball and were put to the test on a 4th and 1 with 2:02 remaining in the game; after a Lynx timeout, Nelson then got the 1st down with a quarterback sneak and several plays later on 4th down with only :04 seconds remaining in the game, P Ryan Vande Zande took the snap and ran towards the Lynx sideline before going down as time expired with the Lynx victory.
"I'm proud of our kids," said Howard, "they played well tonight against an excellent opponent. I told them to enjoy this win but to be ready on Monday--as I've said it once and I'll say it again: every week is a big game for us and while it's nice to be 4-2, if you're not ready to play in this District you'll get smoked."
Things in District 2 could get very interesting as the Lynx are tied for 2nd place with Charles City--their opponent next Friday, October 10th. The Algona Bulldogs, previously tied for 2nd place with Webster City and Charles City, lost to Iowa Falls, 14-12 and if the Lynx win their next two games--assuming 2nd-ranked Clear Lake does too--will find themselves playing for the District Championship the last game of the season.
Howard cautioned any talk of looking ahead when he said, "As I've been telling our kids every week: stay focused on the next game and the next game only. Of course it would be nice to be in the position of playing for a District championship, but until we're there, we're only going to think about our next opponent which is Charles City."
Offensively, the Lynx were led by Hill who had 110 yards on 19 totes while Kannuan added 76 yards on 7 carries. Nelson had another great night as he was 4/6 for 56 yards and 1 touchdown and his main targets were Treibel (1 reception for 24 yards, TD) and Peterson who hauled in 2 passes for 21 yards. Senior RB Ross Haren also caught 1 pass for 11 yards while also collecting 7 rushing yards, a critical 1st down on Webster City's final drive, and 5 tackles as a linebacker.
Webster City again goes on the road next week as they travel to Charles City to
take on the Comets who have a District 2 record of 3-1 and an overall mark of
5-1; kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
WEBSTER CITY 13 0
7 0 - 21
WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK
0 7 7 0 -
14
1st Quarter
WC - Kannuan 53 run (Keane kick)
WC - Triebel 24 pass from Nelson (kick failed)
2nd Quarter
W-SR - Reinhardt 32 pass from Steggall (Johnson kick)
Third Quarter
WS-R - Steggal 1 run (Johnson kick)
WC - Triebel 79
punt return (Roberts 2 pass from Nelson)