Lynnville-Sully football rallies, falls short against West Hancock in state semifinals

CEDAR FALLS — It would have been easy for Lynnville-Sully’s football team to quit at halftime.

The Class A No. 5 Hawks trailed top-ranked and defending state champion West Hancock 14-0 at the break and the only thing that slowed down the Eagles’ offense were the Eagles themselves.

But, like many in the stands expected, Lynnville-Sully didn’t go away. The Hawks tied the game at 14-all after three quarters, but West Hancock used a long scoring drive in the fourth to go ahead for good during a 22-14 victory in the Class A state semifinals at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

“We gave a hell of an effort. The first half didn’t go our way, but we didn’t give up hope,” L-S senior Conner Maston said. “The first half was a letdown, but we came back strong in the second half. That kind of pushed us forward but sadly we weren’t able to get the job done.”

Maston had an incredible 5-minute stretch in the third that led the Hawks’ comeback.

With 4:50 to play in the third frame, Maston caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Lannon Montgomery to trim the deficit to 14-6.

He then blocked a West Hancock punt on the Eagles’ ensuing possession. That gave the ball back to the Hawks near midfield.

After a 5-yard false start penalty, Montgomery found Maston on a short pass to the sidelines and the senior wideout did the rest, taking the ball 59 yards to paydirt.

That made it 14-12 and Maston’s circus catch on the 2-point conversion evened the score after three quarters. Montgomery threw up a jump ball on the 2-point attempt and Maston used one hand to bring it in before gaining full possession just inside the out-of-bounds line.

“Conner played huge. We needed a shot of life and you never know which one of our guys is going to do it,” Lynnville-Sully head football coach Mike Parkinson said. “The biggest moment on the biggest stage and someone is going to shine. That was a huge moment for Conner.”

West Hancock, which entered the game 46-2 in its last 48 games, answered right back with a 13-play, 75-yard drive. Kale Zuehl carried the ball seven times on the possession and capped the drive with a 1-yard TD plunge to put the Eagles back in front. The scoring drive ate up more than half of the fourth quarter.

The Hawks made one last-ditch effort to force overtime. They began their final possession at their own 23-yard line and drove the ball into the red zone.

Montgomery converted a fourth and three with a 7-yard pass to Caleb Rea. Rea hauled in his third catch on the drive for 12 more yards a few plays later and Corder Noun Harder gained 12 yards on the ground for another first down.

Noun Harder, Kyle Squires and C.J. Nikkel combined for 27 yards on the next four plays, but a pair of negative runs by Noun Harder put the Hawks behind the sticks with the game on the line.

On third and 20, the Hawks were forced to throw deep and Montgomery’s pass attempt to Rea down the middle of the field was deflected and eventually picked off.

“Our guys showed incredible character in the second half. They battled and made some plays to get us back in it,” Parkinson said. “I tip my hat to West Hancock. That’s a great football team. They executed at the end, and we made a mistake. That’s OK. I’m still proud of my guys.”

The Hawks (11-1) couldn’t have started the game much worse. They went three and out with a penalty on their first drive of the game and the Eagles took advantage of a short field by marching 35 yards in six plays. Zuehl capped that possession with an 8-yard TD run.

Both teams had issues with turnovers. But Lynnville-Sully committed seven penalties for 40 yards in the loss.

The Hawks’ committed back-to-back false start penalties to begin their next drive. After Noun Harder picked up 33 yards for the first down, L-S gave the ball back to West Hancock after Montgomery threw a pick on an attempted pass to Maston.

“We are new to this. A lot of guys were nervous, including myself,” Maston said. “I think the penalties were disappointing, but we were able to bounce back from them.”

L-S got the ball right back though after Maston flipped roles and came up with the interception.

Starting the possession on their own 7-yard line, Noun Harder and Squires went for 32 and 12 yards, respectively, on back-to-back running plays. Squires then gained 10 on second and nine and Maston hauled in a 14-yard catch on third and 13, but the Hawks turned it over on downs four plays later.

That set up West Hancock’s next scoring drive. The Eagles went 78 yards in nine plays.

The possession featured a heavy dose of Mitchell Smith, who gained 48 yards on six carries on the drive. His 8-yard TD run and two-point conversion with 8:24 left in the second put the Eagles in front 14-0.

Neither team scored the rest of the first half. Noun Harder ran for 36 yards to set up a 42-yard field goal attempt by Lucas Sieck.

Rea also halted West Branch’s final drive of the first half when he picked off a pass near the end zone on a play that started just outside the red zone.

Each team threw a pair of picks in the first half as Maston’s pass attempt in the final seconds off a wide receiver reverse pass was snagged by West Hancock.

The first three possessions of the third quarter resulted in lost fumbles. West Hancock turned the ball over twice during that stretch and the second fumble allowed L-S to crack the scoreboard.

And Maston’s impressive 5-minute stretch helped the Hawks draw even.

“He came up clutch in a big situation. We needed a play and he’s a playmaker,” Noun Harder said about Maston. “I’m really proud of this team. We came into the game and they were favored by like 10 or whatever. We were right there. I can’t put into words how hard this team has worked, and I just love playing with them.”

Noun Harder rushed for 155 yards on 25 carries and added 23 receiving yards on four catches.

With the Hawks down 14-0 at halftime, Noun Harder said the discussion at the break involved simply not beating themselves.

“We just talked about fixing the little things and playing our brand of football,” Parkinson said. “Fix what you are doing wrong and keep doing what you’re doing right. We knew we could move the ball, but we just had to find a way to finish. Defensively, it was about playing fundamental football, shedding blocks, making tackles and executing at a high level.”

Noun Harder gained 121 of his 155 rushing yards in the first half. Montgomery threw for 151 yards but 119 of that and both TD passes came in the second half.

Squires added 44 yards on his eight carries, Maston tallied three catches for 87 yards and two scores and Rea grabbed four passes in the second half for 33 yards. Maston and Rea combined for just one catch for 14 yards in the first half.

All 358 of West Hancock’s total yards came on the ground and the Eagles held a 23-18 advantage in first downs.

Mitchell Smith ran for 123 yards on 19 carries, Kellen Smith totaled 99 yards on 11 carries and Zuehl gained 98 yards and scored twice on his 19 carries.

“They had a bunch of lead blockers and used a bunch of misdirection,” Noun Harder said. “They aren’t going to break a 75-yard run typically. We had to put our bodies on the line for this game and it’s a bummer we came up short.”

West Hancock had 214 rushing yards at halftime and finished 6-of-9 on third down. The Eagles also were 3-of-3 in their red zone chances.

Lynnville-Sully was 1-of-9 on third down and scored on just one of its three red-zone opportunities. Both teams turned it over four times and the Hawks’ seven penalties were too much to overcome.

“That’s something we’d like to have back. But I told the guys we are going to have zero regrets from this game,” Parkinson said about the penalties. “No matter what we call and no matter what we do, we aren’t going to regret it as long as we play as hard as we can.

“As far as I’m concerned, we accomplished everything we wanted to accomplish except for one thing. We didn’t get the win.”

Squires led the Hawks’ defense with 10.5 tackles, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble. Noun Harder added 10 tackles, Maston chipped in nine tackles, one pick, one forced fumble and one blocked punt and Rea snagged an interception and recovered a fumble.

Lane Fisk also registered 8.5 tackles and forced a fumble, Dawson James had 4.5 tackles, Mathias Torres and Nikkel each finished with 3.5 tackles and Bryce Richards and Jager Huyser added three tackles apiece.

Notes: West Hancock will play second-ranked Grundy Center in next week’s Class A championship game. The Eagles defeated the Spartans 19-14 in last year’s title game. Grundy Center blew out third-ranked Woodbury Central 49-20 in the other semifinal game. … Maston broke a tackle and sprinted past the West Hancock defense on his 59-yard TD catch that ended the third quarter. He left the game briefly after the 2-point conversion because of cramps. “I knew I was going to score when I got to the 5-yard line,” Maston said. “I knew there were a few guys on my tail. I could feel my calves tingling as I ran down the sidelines. I was just trying to get to the end zone as fast as I could without cramping or being caught.”