Lions christen new home with rout of Kennedy

MARION -- New home, sweet home.

Andy Henry returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and Class 4A eighth-ranked Linn-Mar routed Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 42-14, in front of nearly 6,000 at shiny, new Linn-Mar Stadium Friday night.

"What a way to kick off the new place," said Linn-Mar's Mark Atwater, who passed for two touchdowns and ran for another.

Five different Linn-Mar players scored (Zach Martins got in the end zone twice on passes from Atwater) as the Lions improved to 2-0.

Linn-Mar dominated from the start. Literally, the start.

Henry, who collected three touchdown receptions in the Lions' season-opening win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson, got the new joint jumping immediately, and the Lions didn't let the Cougars (0-2) up for air.

The speedy senior took the opening kick at the 5-yard line, sprinted forward to the 20, cut right and sprinted untouched for the Lions' first score.

"We set up a return to the right," said Henry, who scored Linn-Mar's first special-teams touchdown in Bob Forsyth's three-plus years at the school.

"The front line gave me a hole, and I just took it."

Twelve seconds in, and Linn-Mar was on the board. It was 35-7 by halftime, and the majority of the second half was played under a continuous clock via the 35-point mercy rule.

All in all, it was a festive night for the home team.

"The kids were really excited for this," Forsyth said. "They came out and exploded."

Linn-Mar accumulated 375 yards, compared to 123 for the Cougars, who have been outscored 70-14 in their first two games.

Atwater completed 12 of 17 passes for 177 yards.

Watch the video highlights:

After Kennedy went three-and-out on its first series, Mitch Wantock added a 15-yard TD on a draw play to put the Lions up 14-0.

Alex Hillyer's 3-yard run made it 14-7 early in the second quarter, then the Lions answered immediately, moving quickly downfield and scoring on on Brandon Ophoff's 7-yard run.

Atwater hit Martins for a 20-yard scoring pass, then kept it himself for a 20 -yard TD run to make it 35-7 at the half.

Martins' second TD -- a 5-yard aerial from Atwater -- set the clock ticking nonstop with 5:53 left in the third quarter. It stayed that way until Kennedy's Trevor Heitland tallied on 1-yarder with 28 seconds remaining in the game.

Linn-Mar makes its lone trip outside the Metro all season, next week at Dubuque Wahlert. Kennedy faces Cedar Rapids Washington at Kingston Stadium.

TEAM STATISTICS

CR Kennedy

Linn-Mar

First downs

9

21

Rushes-yards

35 - 38

32 - 198

Passing yards

85

177

Comp-Att-Int

7 - 14 - 1

12 - 18 - 1

Total yards

123

375

Fumbles-lost

0 - 0

3 - 2

Punts-average

5 - 32.8

0 - 0.0

Penalties-yards

7 - 60

10 - 78

Rushing:

 CR Kennedy –

Trevor Heitland 16-51 ,

Alex Hillyer 10-18 ,

Josh Jahlas 1-1 ,

Shane Williams 2-1 ,

Jimmy Lizarraga 6--33

 Linn-Mar –

Mitch Wantock 11-88 ,

Mark Atwater 6-50 ,

Brandon Ophoff 5-45 ,

Nick Trabucco 3-28 ,

Zach Martins 1-11 ,

Jake Luerkens 1-5 ,

Austin Burbridge 2-1 ,

Rhys Davis 1-0 ,

Team 2--30

Passing:

 CR Kennedy –

Lizarraga 7-14-1-85

 Linn-Mar –

Atwater 12-17-0-177 ,

Team 0-1-0-0

Receiving:

 CR Kennedy –

Hillyer 2-34 ,

Jahlas 2-23 ,

Heitland 1-12 ,

Williams 1-9 ,

Benjamin Struss 1-7

 Linn-Mar –

Andy Henry 4-80 ,

Jacob Hutchins 3-29 ,

Martins 3-27 ,

Michael Redmond 1-24 ,

Luerkens 1-17

CR Kennedy

7

7

–

14

Linn-Mar

14

21

7

–

42

LM - Andy Henry 95 kickoff return (Quinn Treiber kick)

LM - Mitch Wantock 15 run (Treiber kick)

CRK - Alex Hillyer 3 run (Jordan Holzer kick)

LM - Brandon Ophoff 7 run (Treiber kick)

LM - Zach Martins 20 pass from Mark Atwater (Treiber kick)

LM - Atwater 20 run (Treiber kick)

LM - Martins 5 pass from Atwater (Treiber kick)

CRK - Trevor Heitland 1 run (Holzer kick)

KCRG 9.2 will be replaying Friday night's game. Here are the replay times:

9/3: 9 a.m.

9/4: 2:40 a.m.

9/8: 2:40 a.m.

9/10: 11:30 a.m.

9/11: 2:40 a.m.

9/14: 7:00 p.m.

9/16: 2:40 a.m.

9/20: 2:40 a.m.

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