March 29, 2024

Fumble return keeps Hawks perfect

NEW LONDON — A scoop-and-score fumble recovery by senior linebacker Sage Zylstra was the prescription for what was ailing Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks Friday night.

Down 14-13 late in the fourth quarter, Zylstra’s 50-yard fumble return gave the Hawks the lead again. They shut down the New London Tigers after that to secure a 20-14 victory in Class A District 6 play.

The sixth-ranked Hawks had their offense go dormant in the second half.

They led 13-0 at halftime then the Tigers clawed their way back to take the lead in the third quarter.

Lynnville-Sully improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in district play. The win wrapped up a Class A playoff spot and the district title for the Hawks even though Lynnville-Sully head coach Mike Parkinson wouldn’t say it himself.

“I’m proud of our guys for finding ways to make the plays when we need them,” Parkinson said. “We are in the driver’s seat as far as the district title. We’re off next week then finish up at Montezuma. We control our destiny.”

All the District 6 teams have a “bye” week after Danville could not field a football team this season. Lynnville-Sully is idle this coming Friday then plays at Montezuma on Oct. 20 to finish district and regular-season play.

Lynnville-Sully owns the tiebreakers over New London and Pekin — each have one district loss and play each other Friday. Even if Montezuma (3-3, 2-2) upsets the Hawks on Oct. 20, the Hawks have the District 6 title.

Parkinson said the scoop-and-score fumble recovery Zylstra was the play of the game. Zylstra picked up the loose football after a bad snap went over the head of New London quarterback Isaac McSorely with 4:16 remaining in the game.

“In the second half, we couldn’t get much going offensively. That fumble return was huge for us,” Parkinson said. “New London had scored twice in third quarter and had the ball at our 36 when it happened.”

Junior Gage Vander Leest put Hawks on top with a 43-yard TD run on the first drive of the game. Vander Leest had 76 yards on six carries in the game to lead the Hawks, and had an interception on defense.

Following a hour lightning delay, the Hawks struck paydirt on the first play when the game resumed in the second quarter. Senior Drake Ehresman hauled in a pass from senior quarterback Elijah Collins for a 16-yard scoring play and senior Brevin Hansen kicked the extra point for a 13-0 lead.

In the third quarter, New London took the lead on two scoring drives in a three-minute span. McSorley and running back Keontae Luckett provided most of the offense for the Tigers.

With 6:36 led in the third quarter, McSorley hooked up with Luckett for a 54-yard touchdown pass. Just like Lynnville-Sully, the Tigers attempted a 2-point conversion run which failed.

Three minutes later, McSorley scored from 1-yard out and this time Luckett tacked on the 2-point conversion run. McSorley was 4-of-17 passing for 161 yards, but threw three interceptions.

Parkinson said the Hawks stopped the Tigers on a fourth-down play on the next possession. He said Lynnville-Sully picked up a first down then kneeled down on the next play to run out the clock.

The Hawk defense held the Tigers to four yards rushing on 29 carries. Luckett had 26 yards on 10 carries and caught two passes for 74 yards. Mason Porter had one reception for 60 yards.

“The weather just made it hard to do some of the things we wanted to do, but that’s football. We didn’t sustain drives offensively,” Parkinson said.

Collins was 9-of 22 passing for 91 yards. Ehresman caught three passes for 46 yards and Hansen snared two passes for 22 yards. Zylstra caught one for 12 and junior Tyson Vander Linden had two receptions for 11 yards.

Lynnville-Sully had 270 yards of total offense. Evan Squires carried the ball nine times for 45 yards and Nate Stock had 34 yards on seven rushes. Zylstra gained 17 yards on 10 carries while Vander Linden had four yards on two carries and Collins had three yards on two carries.

Senior Jesse Van Wyk led the Hawk defense with six tackles and Zylstra had five tackles and two quarterback sacks along with the fumble recovery. Vander Leest had five tackles.

Senior Carson Dunsbergen and Vander Linden each had an interception. Dunsbergen and Squires had four tackles apiece.

“We have some bumps and bruises so we’ll have a little time to get some guys healed up with no game this coming Friday,” Parkinson said. “We can really enjoy the win. We’ve had two really tough games in a row. We’ll get ready to make a strong run to finish out the regular season and get to the playoffs.”

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