Williamsburg falls to ball-hogging Central Lyon/George-Little Rock in 2A state football championship

CEDAR FALLS — Hogs. Plain old freakin’ ball hogs.

You just couldn’t let your opponent ever have the football, could you Central Lyon/George-Little Rock?

Time of possession was the difference in Friday morning’s Class 2A state championship football game. No question about it.

The ball hogs, or ball-hog Lions, in this case, got a field goal and a touchdown on consecutive marathon possessions in the second and third quarters and beat Williamsburg, 10-6, at the UNI-Dome.

Those consecutive possessions ate up the remaining 9:21 of the first half and the initial 9:05 of the second half. Do the math, and Williamsburg went without the ball for a whopping 18 minutes and 26 seconds.

Unreal.

“We had to get the ball back, and we didn’t get that job done,” said Williamsburg’s Derek Weisskopf.

“We ate up the time of possession,” said Central Lyon-GLR’s Zach Lutmer. “That hurts the defense.”

So does Lutmer. A University of Iowa commit as a safety, his athletic skills play so, so well at quarterback.

He runs his team’s mostly read-option offense efficiently, is a running threat every time he takes off. There were many occasions where Williamsburg (12-1) seemed to have him bottled up for losses, but quick feet and elusiveness helped him escape for some type of gain.

He finished with a team-best 140 yards on 29 carries and also dropped a 30-yard touchdown dime to the right front corner of the end zone to Reece Vander Zee for the only TD of the game for CL-GLR (13-0). That capped a 16-play drive in which the Lions converted three times on third down and once on fourth.

Matthew Dieren’s 22-yard field goal on the final play of the first half was the finale of an 18-play march in which Central Lyon-GLR converted on third down three times and on fourth down twice.

“That definitely brings your team down having them in third-down situations, and they keep converting them,” said Williamsburg’s Rayce Heitman. “That’s hard.”

“We played decent,” said Weisskopf, also an Iowa commit. “But it just wasn’t our day on defense. They have a good offense, and Lutmer is a hell of a player. There’s a reason he’s going to Iowa. It was just tough stopping him and them.”

Central Lyon/George-Little Rock ended up hogging the ball to the tune of 35:53 to Williamsburg’s 12:07. CL-GLR ran 65 offensive plays to Williamsburg’s 26.

Twenty six! Again, that’s unreal.

“We definitely were limited with the ball there,” said Williamsburg quarterback Carson Huedepohl. “We got one good drive in there. ... But can’t complain, the game’s over.”

After Central Lyon-GLR took a 10-0 lead, Heitman ran for 4 yards, then caught back-to-back passes from Huedepohl that accounted for 31 and 34 yards, respectively, the latter going for a touchdown. The extra-point kick was wide left.

This was heartbreak again for Williamsburg, which has lost in the finals three times in head coach Curt Ritchie’s outstanding 22-year head coaching career there.

“I know that this is what drives me,” he said. “Honestly, I kind of worried how the process would go if we did win. I love to win just as much as anybody. I think what drives me is the fear of losing.

“This hurts me, and it’s terrible to watch these kids (lose). But I’m proud of them in the end ...”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com