Henry catches MVC record; Lions go to 9-0

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Atwater to Henry. It's a combination that has reached the Mississippi Valley Conference record book.

And it might last forever.

Andy Henry caught three touchdown passes from Atwater to lead Class 4A third-ranked Linn-Mar past Cedar Rapids Xavier, 28-7, in an MVC football game Friday night at Saints Field.

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The three TD grabs gave Henry 17 this season, the most ever by an MVC receiver. Kahlil Hill of Iowa City High had 14 in 1996.

"It feels really good," Henry said. "I couldn't do it without the team."

And with district football likely to replace the conference format next year, Henry's mark could be around a long, long time.

Linn-Mar concluded the regular season at 9-0 and is the likely No. 1 seed on the east side of the state when the 4A playoffs begin Wednesday. Preliminary calculations would have the Lions hosting Clinton (3-6) in the first round.

"It's a great accomplishment by the kids and the assistant coaches," said Lions Coach Bob Forsyth. "It's tough to do this in our league."

But it wasn't all good news for the Lions. Mitch Wantock, a key two-way starter, went down in the third quarter with an ankle injury -- perhaps a season-ending one.

Wantock is Linn-Mar's leading rusher; his 116 yards before the injury Friday gave him 1,108 for the season.

Henry was Atwater's primary target. Actually, he was the only target. The speedy senior caught 10 passes for 177 yards.

He had a 6-yard catch early in the second quarter, then won a hand-to-hand battle with Xavier's Corbin Woods to catch a 27-yard jump ball in the third.

"Mark put the ball up high," Henry said. "I had to go up and make a play on the ball."

Atwater connected with Henry one more time, on a 12-yard fade pattern, for the third TD and a 21-0 Linn-Mar lead with 11:18 to play.

"Andy's a really good player," said Atwater, who scored the Lions' final touchdown on a 2-yard run. "He makes plays for us. If teams want to put him on an island, then put him on an island. I'm not afraid to go to him at any point in the game."

Xavier (5-4) trailed just 7-0 at halftime, but some missed opportunities scuttled the Saints' upset hopes.

The Saints had two big gains -- one for a touchdown, one to the Linn-Mar 2 -- called back by penalties before intermission. They also drove to the Linn-Mar 8 late in the first half, then went backwards from there and had a 37-yard field goal attempt blocked.

"We didn't get the breaks early," said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. "The kids played hard, but we had some plays that didn't go our way that could have put us on top."

Jordan Hoffman caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Reggie Schulte that brought the Saints within 21-7 with 5:51 left. But the Lions recovered the onside kick and drove for the final TD.

TEAM STATISTICS

Linn-Mar

CR Xavier

First downs

19

12

Rushes-yards

42 - 225

32 - 152

Passing yards

177

118

Comp-Att-Int

10 - 14 - 1

12 - 19 - 0

Total yards

402

270

Fumbles-lost

2 - 0

1 - 1

Punts-average

3 - 34.0

4 - 33.5

Penalties-yards

8 - 74

5 - 54

Rushing:

 Linn-Mar –

Mitch Wantock 16-116 ,

Mark Atwater 15-73 ,

Nick Trabucco 7-40 ,

Brandon Ophoff 2--2 ,

Team 2--2

 CR Xavier –

Matt Hansen 8-83 ,

Carter Valentine 13-63 ,

Reggie Schulte 8-4 ,

Nick Ball 3-2

Passing:

 Linn-Mar –

Atwater 10-14-1-177

 CR Xavier –

Schulte 12-19-0-118

Receiving:

 Linn-Mar –

Henry 10-177

 CR Xavier –

Jordan Hoffman 4-52 ,

Ball 3-56 ,

Hansen 1-12 ,

Kevin Hosch 1-4 ,

Corbin Woods 1-3 ,

Schulte 1--9

Linn-Mar

7

7

14

–

28

CR Xavier

7

–

7

LM - Andy Henry 6 pass from Mark Atwater (Quinn Treiber kick)

LM - Henry 27 pass from Atwater (Treiber kick)

LM - Henry 12 pass from Atwater (Treiber kick)

CRX - Jordan Hoffman 9 pass from Reggie Schulte (Chad Gilmer kick)

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LM - Atwater 2 run (Treiber kick)