Lisbon Lions are Class A kings

CEDAR FALLS -- Skylar Ellerbach was the drive-killer. Ben Knake was the clock-killer.

And the Lisbon Lions are state champions.

Ellerbach intercepted Eric Cox's pass at the goal line, then top-ranked Lisbon milked the final 5:14 and edged No. 2 West Hancock, 14-12, for the Class A football title Friday afternoon at the UNI-Dome.

"It's a great feeling. This is the pinnacle," said Lisbon Coach Kent Allison. "Every coach should have a group of kids like this. They came together with a goal, and they reached it."

Ellerbach made amends for a pass-interference penalty four plays earlier by snagging Cox's fourth-down throw for the first interception of his career.

"We had two safeties back and I was playing out," Ellerbach said. "He threw it right to me."

But the Lions weren't out of the woods yet. They were two points up and 6 yards from their own goal line with a lot of time remaining.

"When we got the ball back with 5 minutes left, we looked at the clock and said, 'Hey, we've got this,' " said Tait Simpson.

On second-and-12 from the 4, Knake threw downfield for Jordan Bahl, who made a sliding catch at the 32.

Big play. Then came a bigger one.

Knake got loose on a quarterback keeper for 53 yards, down to the West Hancock 9-yard line.

"It was a sucker play to the left," Knake said. "We had (lineman) Tyler Smith pulling to take out their defensive tackle, and I saw a big hole."

A touchdown would have been nice, but a missed conversion would have made it 20-12 and kept the Eagles (12-2) alive. Instead, the Lions played it super conservative with three quarterback sneaks.

Six seconds remained on fourth-and-goal from the 6. Knake took a deep drop, then threw the ball high into the end zone. It fell harmlessly to the ground, and the Lions were champions.

The game figured to be full of offensive fireworks -- Lisbon averaged 47.5 points per game, West Hancock 46.0 -- but instead was a defensive chess match.

Zac Schleuger and Chris Schleuger combined for more than 3,500 rushing yards this season. Chris Schleuger (6-foot-4 and 235 pounds) rushed for 157 yards on 33 bruising carries while Zac Schleuger managed just 32 yards on 17 totes.

"(Chris Schleuger) was tough," Smith said. "The whole week we watched film, and we knew we had to focus on tackling him low."

West Hancock started its final drive at its own 33 late in the third quarter,  then marched methodically downfield. An illegal shift on third-and-5 at the 12 was costly.

"It was a matter of stopping ourselves. You're a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust team and you get a five-yard penalty, that makes it tough," said West Hancock Coach Bob Sanger.

The fourth-down interference call on Ellerbach gave the Eagles another shot. But the Lions toughened up from there:

First-and-goal from the 7: Chris Schleuger up the middle for a loss of 1.

Second-and-goal from the 8: Zac Schleuger pitch left, gain of 1.

Third-and-goal from the 7: Chris Schleuger up the gut for 2.

Fourth-and-goal from the 5: Cox was forced right, then Ellerbach made the interception at the goal line.

"I caught it, and I didn't know what to do," Ellerbach said. "I just knew not to fumble."

Chris Schleuger said of the final few series of downs on that drive: "We missed some blocks, and they ran through our line."

West Hancock kicker Gerardo Ibarra was injured on a blocked PAT in the first half, and was not available for what would have been a field goal opportunity to take the lead.

"That would have been the best percentage play," Sanger said.

The game was tied 6-6 at halftime, then the Lions fumbled it away on their first two possessions of the second half.

Chris Schleuger's 3-yard run capped a scoring drive after the first fumble to put the Eagles in front 12-6 with 8:13 left in the third quarter.

Simpson coughed it up after a long run, and the Eagles drove to the Lisbon 32 before giving it up on downs.

Lisbon responded with the go-ahead drive, with Knake hitting Ellerbach for a big gainer to put the Lions in West Hancock territory. Simpson ran 14 yards to put the Lions on the doorstep, then Knake scored on a sneak to tie it at 12-all.

Knake's conversion connection with Seth Hall turned out to be the winning points.

Knake finished with 143 rushing yards and 97 in the air. Simpson added 110 yards on the ground, including a 3-yarder that put Lisbon in front, 6-0.

Zac Schleuger's 13-yard run got the Eagles even.

Lisbon has won 14 traditional state wrestling titles (as well as eight duals crowns), plus three in softball and one in baseball.

"It's a football school now, too," Knake said.

TEAM STATISTICS

Lisbon

W. Hancock

First downs

12

19

Rushes-yards

34 - 249

60 - 235

Passing yards

97

54

Comp-Att-Int

7 - 12 - 0

1 - 4 - 1

Total yards

346

289

Fumbles-lost

3 - 3

1 - 1

Punts-average

0 - 0.0

1 - 32.0

Penalties-yards

4 - 27

3 - 20

Rushing:

 Lisbon –

Ben Knake 16-143 ,

Tait Simpson 14-110 ,

Trevor Moore 2-0

 W. Hancock –

Chris Schleuger 33-157 ,

Gerardo Ibarra 6-37 ,

Zac Schleuger 17-32 ,

Gunnar Clark 1-7

Passing:

 Lisbon –

Knake 7-12-0-97

 W. Hancock –

Eric Cox 1-4-1-54

Receiving:

 Lisbon –

Skylar Ellerbach 2-34 ,

Trevor Moore 2-16 ,

Jordan Bahl 1-28 ,

Tait Simpson 1-25

 W. Hancock –

Zac Schleuger 1-54

Lisbon

6

8

–

14

W. Hancock

6

6

–

12

LIS - Tait Simpson 3 run (run failed)

WH - Zac Schleuger 13 run (kick blocked)

WH - Chris Schlueger 3 run (run failed)

LIS - Ben Knake 1 run (Seth Hall pass from Knake)

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