Hawks to clash with No. 2-ranked Rebels

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully drew a tough first-round opponent for the Class A football playoffs. The 10th-ranked Hawks believe the No. 2-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Rebels have a tough draw.

“We believe they will be playing a very good team themselves,” Lynnville-Suilly head coach Mike Parkinson said. “They have a lot of very good athletes. As with any good program, they have the tradition. Yes, they are the defending champion, but they are a different team than last year.”

The Hawks went 8-0 until losing a tough 28-14 decision to Montezuma in the final district game last Friday. Gladbrook-Reinbeck went undefeated in the regular season.

Lynnville-Sully (8-1) and Gladbrook-Reinbeck (9-0) kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday in Gladbrook.

“Really, the key isn’t what they do, but mostly on what we do to have success in this game.” Parkinson said. “We have to execute and win the battle on the offensive and defensive line. If we do those things, we believe we give ourselves a chance to win.”

Running the football is where it starts for both teams. The Rebels have rushed for 1,612 yards on 306 carries while the Hawks have racked up 1,498 yards on 332 carries. The Rebels have scored 25 touchdowns on the ground to Lynnville-Sully’s 23.

Leading the Lynnville-Sully rushing attack is 5-foot-9 inch, 170-pound junior Sage Zylstra with 116 carries and 705 yards. He has scored eight rushing TDs. Sophomore Evan Squires, who is 5-foot-8 inches and 200 pounds, has rushed for 413 yards on 97 carries with seven touchdowns.

Senior Parker Brown, who is 6-foot-3-inches and 205 pounds, is the top rusher for Gladbrook-Reinbeck with 478 yards on 87 carries and 10 touchdowns. The Rebels also have 5-foot-10-inche, 150-pound junior Josh Peterson with 334 yards on 56 carries and seven TDs.

“We need to run the football. No football team just throws the ball, although we’ve had an effective passing game this season,” Parkinson said. “We’ll mix it up Friday night. Mainly, we need to eliminate the mistakes and turnovers, and not put our defense in tough spots.”

Lynnville-Sully and Gladbrook-Reinbeck each have 15 touchdowns through the air. The Rebels are the eighth-ranked passing team in the state — 55-of-86 for 1,239 yards — and the Hawks have the 11th-ranked passing team — 83-of-147 for 1,176 yards.

The Hawks have had junior Elijah Collins and senior Tyler Van Zante at the quarterback spot this season. Collins has thrown for 779 yards, completing 55-of-101 passes. Van Zante is 27-of-42 for 380 yards.

Junior Brevin Hansen has been the top target for the Hawks’ quarterbacks this season. Hansen has caught 33 passes for 444 yards, scoring six touchdowns. Senior Caden Dunsbergen also has six TDs, catching 22 passes for 360 yards.

Junior Hunter Lott directs the Rebel offense. Lott has gone 52-of-82 for 1,168 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions. Juniors Gage Murty and Walker Thede and senior Matt Roeding are the leading receivers for G-R. All three have more than 200 yards receiving.

“It’s about match-ups. We believe we match up pretty well against them up front. We also think we can create a few mis-matches on both sides of the ball,” Parkinson said.

Lynnville-Sully and Gladbrook-Reinbeck have two opponents in common — Colfax-Mingo and BGM.

The Hawks beat Colfax-Mingo, 56-0, to open the season and the Rebels defeated the Tigerhawks, 73-0, in district plays last Friday. Also in G-R’s district was BGM, which it beat 42-14, while the Hawks had a 20-12 win over BGM in the second week of the season.

Defensively, the Hawks have seniors Ryan Hofer and Dylan Roozeboom leading the charge. Hofer had 47 solo tackles, 35 assisted tackles and 13 solo tackles-for-loss. Roozeboom had 22 solo stops, 27 assisted tackles and two quarterback sacks.

Zylstra has 26 unassisted tackles and 10 assisted for Lynnville-Sully and junior Kemper Lukehart had 24 solo tackles and 10 assisted tackles. Lukehart had 14 solo tackles-for-loss. The Hawks have seven other players with double-digit solo tackles. The Hawks have nine takeaways — five fumble recoveries and four interceptions.

Senior Thomas Mussig spearheads the Rebel defense with 34 solo tackles and 45 assisted tackles. Senior Jacob Walters has 14 unassisted tackles and 39 assisted tackles.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s defense creates turnovers. The Rebels have 15 interceptions and 16 fumble recoveries as a team.

“We have to tackle well defensively,” Parkinson said. “Offensively, we have to take care of the football.”

Parkinson said the tough game the Hawks played against Montezuma last Friday was good for them. He said his team needed a game like that to get ready to go into the playoffs.

“We’re healthy coming out of the Montezuma game. We’re battled-tested again after that game. The kids are feeling pretty good,” Parkinson said. “We have one more day of practice. You can learn a lot from a loss. It helped us tweak a few things and figure out things for Friday’s game.”

The winner of Friday’s game plays the winner of Friday’s game between BGM and Montezuma in the quarterfinals on Nov. 4.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com