L-S falls to No. 9 Mount Ayr in quarterfinals

MOUNT AYR — The home team gave Lynnville-Sully’s football squad plenty of opportunities to seize momentum in the Hawks’ Class A quarterfinal football game here Friday night.

The Hawks simply couldn’t take advantage.

That turned out to ultimately be the difference as No. 9 Mount Ayr scored on its first two possessions and pulled away from the Hawks with two big plays in the fourth quarter during a 34-15 victory.

It pushed the Raiders into their second consecutive semifinal appearance at the UNI-Dome, while the Hawks’ season came to an end.

“Hats off to Mount Ayr. They are a good football team,” Lynnville-Sully coach Mike Parkinson said. “They were just a little bit better than us tonight. We had our chances.”

Mount Ayr (10-2) definitely gave the Hawks (8-4) some opportunities in the second half. The Raiders lost three fumbles and Kobe Fisk intercepted Jacob Taylor for a fourth turnover.

Lynnville-Sully only converted one of those miscues into points. Sage Ehresman returned a Mount Ayr fumble for a 15-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to pull the Hawks within 14-8, but it wasn’t enough.

Each time the Hawks closed their deficit, Mount Ayr came up with a big play or a big drive to take back momentum. The Raiders increased their lead to 20-8 with a 65-yard scoring drive that ended with a Cal Daughton 2-yard touchdown run.

“They have been there. They were in the Dome last year, and I am sure they are hungry to get back there,” Parkinson said. “We have to get that hunger and that killer instinct, and this experience will hopefully help with that.

“We hurt ourselves just a little bit too much tonight. We didn’t play as clean as we could have.”

The Hawks only had two turnovers, both of which came in the first half following interceptions by Taylor.

However, it wasn’t necessarily turnovers that hurt the Hawks’ chances. Instead, penalties or plays that resulted in negative yards to begin drives hindered Lynnville-Sully’s chances.

The second Mount Ayr fumble of the second half gave the Hawks possession at the Raider 20-yard line. Ehresman went backward on the first play, and Tyler Van Zante was sacked for an 11-yard loss on the drive that resulted in a turnover on downs.

Another Raider fumble allowed the Hawks to start another possession in Mount Ayr territory, this time at the 31-yard line. A false start penalty and a five-yard loss on the first play put the Hawks behind the sticks and the drive ended with a punt.

The final opportunity for the Hawks came when Fisk intercepted Taylor on the second play of Mount Ayr’s next possession.

That L-S drive started at the Mount Ayr 4-yard line, but a five-yard false start penalty pushed the ball back to the 9-yard line. Ehresman ran it twice for six yards, but Colten Arment went backward on another run and an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the ball back to Mount Ayr.

The Hawks were able to close to within 20-15 with 7:05 to play in the game. That scoring drive covered 42 yards and ended with a short Ehresman touchdown run. The drive included a 24-yard pass play from Van Zante to Fisk and a 15-yard personal foul penalty by Mount Ayr.

The Raiders went back up by 12 one play later. Daughton, who lost a few fumbles earlier in the half, returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for the score. The junior tailback finished off Lynnville-Sully with a 41-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage on Mount Ayr’s next possession.

“Defensively, we played outstanding,” Parkinson said. “They gave us a chance, and we were a play here or there from making something really big happen. We were right there.

“The kickoff return was a back breaker. We finally closed the gap, and then they take the kickoff back.”

Ehresman came into the game with five straight games of at least 100 yards but was held to 51 yards on 26 carries by the Raider defense. The Hawks gained only 142 yards in the game, and 118 of that came on the arm of Van Zante, who was 11-of-26 through the air.

Fisk caught six of those 11 completions and gained 96 yards. He also had five tackles and an interception on defense.

Ehresman led the Hawk defense with nine tackles, two fumble recoveries and a defensive touchdown, while Dylan Roozeboom had seven tackles and a fumble recovery. Ryan Hofer finished with six tackles, while Jayson Hardin and Corey McCoy both had five.

“I am so proud of these guys. They left it all on the field, and we gave ourselves a chance to win,” Parkinson said. “That’s all you can ask. We had a shot.”

Daughton led Mount Ayr with 109 rushing yards, 41 receiving yards and four total touchdowns.

The Raider offense gained 391 yards in the win and 244 of that came on the ground.

Much of Mount Ayr’s defensive penetration was done by Jed McCreary, a 6-foot-5, 345-pound defensive tackle who had nine tackles in the game.

Lynnville-Sully 0-0-8-7—15

Mount Ayr 14-0-6-14—34

MA — Wurster 4-yd run (missed kick)

MA — Daughton 40-yd pass from Taylor (Dolecheck pass from Taylor)

L-S — Ehresman 15-yd fumble return (Ehresman run)

MA — Daughton 3-yd run (run failed)

L-S — Ehresman 1-yd run (Engle kick)

MA — Daughton 95-yd kickoff return (Wurster kick)

MA — Daughton 41-yd run (Wurster kick)