L-S football opens postseason run with rout of Earlham

SULLY — Scoring the game’s first 42 points, Lynnville-Sully’s football team had no trouble with Earlham on Friday night.

The Class A No. 5 Hawks ran for 315 yards and Corder Noun Harder became the school’s all-time leading rusher during a 49-16 win over the Cardinals in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.

Lynnville-Sully is 9-0 for the sixth time in program history and for the first time since 2017. The only time a Hawks’ squad won at least 10 games was during the state championship season in 1986.

The Hawks will face Mount Ayr (8-1) in the next round at 7 p.m. on Friday in Sully.

Noun Harder finished the game with 205 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. He also grabbed three passes for 34 yards and one score.

The Hawk junior currently ranks sixth in Class A with 1,363 rushing yards, third with 24 rushing TDs and fifth with a 12.4 yards per carry average.

Noun Harder also passed Bailee Samson (2,763 career rushing yards) on the school’s all-time rushing list. He now has 2,827 career rushing yards with more than a full season still to come.

The Hawks scored 14 points in each of the first two quarters.

Kyle Squires opened the scoring with an 8-yard TD run nearly 4 minutes into the game.

Six minutes later, Conner Maston caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Lannon Montgomery to make it 14-0. It was the ninth touchdown catch of the season for Maston, which ranks fifth in Class A.

Noun Harder scored twice in the second. His first TD came on a 7-yard run and then he grabbed a 5-yard pass from Montgomery.

Montgomery was 9-of-12 through the air for 119 yards and two scores. His 166.5 quarterback rating ranks first in Class A.

Noun Harder opened the second half with a 42-yard TD run and then Squires rumbled for a 38-yard touchdown.

Squires finished with 91 rushing yards on nine carries and scored twice.

Earlham’s Caleb Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for the touchdown, but Noun Harder answered 25 seconds later with a 55-yard touchdown run.

Brody Morrison capped the scoring with a 22-yard run in the fourth. The Cardinals (3-6) were limited to 238 total yards. Morrison ran for 97 yards and a TD and Ryan Stiles added 41 yards on seven carries.

Caleb Rea led the Hawk receivers with 58 yards on three catches. Maston registered 29 yards on three catches, Aidan Stock gained 17 yards on three carries and C.J. Nikkel added 12 yards on two carries.

Lynnville-Sully averaged 9.8 yards per carry in the win.

Squires and Lane Fisk led the defense with eight tackles and Fisk collected 1.5 tackles for loss.

Mathias Torres registered five tackles, Terran Gosselink had four tackles and Wyatt Mathis and Dawson James each finished with three tackles. James also recovered a fumble.

Mount Ayr and Lynnville-Sully have two common opponents. The Raiders defeated Earlham 34-0 and downed Ogden in the first round of the playoffs, 27-24.