NEW SHARON — Elijah Collins threw four touchdown passes — three to Caden Dunsbergen — as Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks soared past host North Mahaska, 35-0 on Friday. The Hawks are 1-0 in Class A District 6 play and 3-0 overall.
It was a safety by the Hawk defense which got the scoring going in the first quarter. Sage Zylstra sacked North Mahaska quarterback Ben Sherburne in the end zone for the two points.
Zylstra helped lead the Hawk defensive effort against a Warhawk offense, which averaged 181 yards rushing in its first two games, to a minus-11 yards on the ground. Zylstra recorded five tackles and two quarterback sacks.
“Our defense played well all night,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Mike Parkinson said. “Offensively, we found a good rhythm in the first half and Elijah did a good job of throwing the ball and spreading it around.”
Two minutes after the safety, Lynnville-Sully’s offense struck paydirt. Collins threw a 4-yard scoring strike to Dunsbergen with 6:47 left in the first quarter. The Hawks failed on a 2-point conversion run.
Brevin Hansen hauled in a 37-yard TD pass from Collins at the 3:06 mark of the opening period. Hansen kicked the extra-point for a 15-0 lead.
Collins’ third touchdown pass went to Corey McCoy covering 54 yards with 8:03 left in the second quarter. Evan Squires, who had 64 yards rushing on 13 carries, punched it into the end zone from 10 yards out four minutes later.
Lynnville-Sully finished the first half with its final touchdown play. Dunsbergen caught a 2-yard pass from Collins with 41 seconds left. Ryan Hofer handled the 2-point conversion pass from Collins for the 35-0 lead.
“We played with a continuous clock in the second half and never were in sync offensively. We had two fumbles in the second half. The defense continued to keep North Mahaska off balance. Our kids played hard all night and I felt good about how we finished,” Parkinson said.
Collins was 7-of-12 passing for 153 yards. Dunsbergen caught four passes for 64 yards and Hansen had two catches for 40 yards.
Zylstra rushed for 33 yards on seven carries and completed one pass for 17 yards. Lynnville-Sully was without senior quarterback Tyler Van Zante, who was injured a week ago. Parkinson said Van Zante will be out for awhile, but the Hawks are fortunate to have Collins, who has stepped in at quarterback.
Hofer racked up eight tackles defensively for Lynnville-Sully. Gage VanderLeest had six tackles, a fumble recovery and a quarterback sack. Dylan Roozeboom had five tackles.
Jesse Van Wyk had a quarterback sack. Carson Dunsbergen made an interception.
For North Mahaska, Sherburne went 7-of-15 passing for 116 yards. Cole Spoelstra had 31 yards on 16 carries.
The Hawks host Cardinal (3-0, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday in district play in Sully.
“Cardinal is undefeated, so we’ll have to play hard and play well,” Parkinson said. “We’ll focus on getting better and playing sharp on both sides of the ball.”
Lynnville-Sully 15-20-0-0—35
North Mahaska 0-0-0-0—0
Lynnville-Sully — Zylstra tackles NM quarterback in end zone for safety
Lynnville-Sully — Dunsbergen 4 yd pass from Collins (run failed)
Lynnville-Sully — Hansen 37 yd pass from Collins (Hansen kick)
Lynnville-Sully — McCoy 54 yd pass from Collins (kick failed)
Lynnville-Sully — Squires 10 yd run (kick failed)
Lynnville-Sully — Dunsbergen 2 yd pass from Collins (Hofer pass from Collins)
Lynnville-Sully North Mahaska
8 First Downs 9
29-119 Rushes-Yds 38 (-11)
170 Passing Yds 116
280 Total Offense 105
9-14-0 Passing 7-15-1
2/2 Fumbles-lost 1/1
4-30 Penalties-Yds 10-80
2-48 Punts-Avg. 4-24
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com