North Linn capitalizes on North Cedar turnovers to stay undefeated

TROY MILLS — Fueled by turnovers and the arm and legs of Jake VanEtten, Class A ninth-ranked North Linn continued its healthy start to the season with a 48-0 prep football victory Friday night over North Cedar.

The Lynx forced five turnovers. All of them left the Lynx with short fields. Short fields that VanEtten was able to capitalize on.

“I thought defensively we played really well,” North Linn Coach Jared Collum said. “Up front did a good job getting on the passer. We talked to our (defensive) backs this week about ball-hawking. Balls in the air, we wanted to go get it.”

Coming into the night with 58 pass attempts, the Knights took to the air early and often. They found success, initially. Quarterback Conner Jensen connected with Ty McMellen for 32 yards. Bruising back Ethan Thimmes clamped down on a fourth-and-1 pass and bowled his way to the Lynx 9-yard line. Jensen was dropped for a 10-yard loss on fourth-and-goal.

The Knights (1-3, 0-3) were one play away from sending North Linn off the field. On third-and-12, Cole Griffith broke free of his defender and hauled in a 69-yard touchdown pass to put the Lynx up 7-0 with 5:44 left in the first quarter.

The wheels fell off from there.

Unable to budge the North Linn (4-0, 3-0) front four on the ground, the Knights continued to work through the air, but the Lynx buckled down. The snap on the Knights’ first punt attempt was high and North Linn took over deep in North Cedar territory.

This began three drives where the Lynx went 19, 29, and 10 yards as the lead quickly ballooned to 27-0 with 10:21 left in the half. The barrage included a forced fumble and a Griffith interception.

VanEtten continued to feast on the North Cedar defense, throwing for another touchdown and rushing for two more, including a 26-yard scamper on fourth-and-7.

The Lynx’s final drive of the half spanned 65 yards, highlighted by a 43 yard strike from VanEtten to Carter Hotz. Hotz capped the drive with an 11-yard reception as VanEtten had a hand in all five first-half scores.

“I really give props to my wide receiver and running backs,” VanEtten said. “It starts with the line. It was a lot of fun.”

He added a sixth in the third quarter on a 16-yard pass to Kanye Caryl. VanEtten finished 10 of 15 for 190 yards, completing passes to eight different receivers. He added 50 yards on the ground.

“I can rely on anybody,” VanEtten said. “A lot of receivers this year compared to last year.”

“He’s our main leader,” Collum said of VanEtten. “He’s really stepped up his game this year. He’s a dual-threat type of guy. He can run it, he can throw it. He’s really grown into that quarterback spot.”

Cael Benesch rounded out the scoring with a 48-yard pick-6.

The difficulty ramps up for the Lynx next week, with a trip to East Buchanan to face a team coming off an upset loss to Starmont on Thursday night. That will go a long way toward deciding the Class A District 4 champion.

“They’re gonna be tough,” Collum said. “That score last night (46-0) has no bearing on how we’re going to prepare, how they’re going to prepare. That’s gonna be a dog fight.”

North Linn 48, North Cedar 0

NC NL

First Downs 8, 10

Rushes-Yards 29-44, 22-76

Comp-Att-Int 8-19-3, 11-16-0

Pass Yards 77, 200

Total Yards 121, 276

Penalties-Yards 4-25, 8-50

Fumbles-Lost 2-2, 1-0

Punts-Avg 2-30.0, 2-36.5

North Cedar 0 0 0 0 - 0

North Linn 20 15 6 7 - 48

NL – Cole Griffith 69 pass from Jake VanEtten (Theo Boss kick).

NL – Breckyn Betenbender 11 pass from VanEtten (kick failed).

NL – VanEtten 26 run (Boss kick).

NL – VanEtten 8 run (Boss kick).

NL – Carter Holtz 11 pass from VanEtten (Betenbender run).

NL – Kanye Caryl 16 pass from VanEtten (kick failed).

NL – Cael Benesch 48 Int Return (Boss kick).

Rushing – North Cedar: Peyton Clark 6-11, Ethan Thimmes 16-81, Conner Jensen 6-minus-43, Hunter Lohman 1-minus-5. North Linn: Landen Helmrich 8-19, Jake VanEtten 7-50, Breckyn Betenbender 5-21, Landon Mertons 1-1, Will Sommerfelt 1-minus-15.

Passing – North Cedar: Jensen 8-18-77-2, Lohman 0-1-0-1. North Linn: VanEtten 10-15-190-0, Sommerfelt 1-1-10-0.

Receiving – North Cedar: Thimmes 3-11, Ty McMellen 2-38, Clark 2-25, Nate Wood 1-0. North Linn: Cole Griffith 1-69, Hayden Schmidt 1-5, Betenbender 3-36, Helmrich 1-2, Carter Holtz 2-54, Cael Benesch 1-7, Theo Boss 1-11, Kanye Caryl 1-16.