Linn-Mar stays close, but falls to No. 4 Pleasant Valley

MARION — In a season of what might have been, the Linn-Mar football team just did not have enough in Friday night’s regular-season finale against Class 5A No. 4 Pleasant Valley.

Decimated all season by injuries, the Lions could not find a way to slow down the Spartans’ potent running attack. Pleasant Valley racked up 269 yards on 50 carries en route to a hard-fought, 28-14, win at Linn-Mar Stadium.

For the Spartans (8-1), a home playoff game awaits next Friday against West Des Moines Valley. For Linn-Mar (4-5), there is also a playoff berth. The final RPI rankings gave the Lions the 16th and final spot in the field. They will play at No. 1 Southeast Polk next Friday night.

Still, 2023 will go down as a season of wondering for Lion followers.

Linn-Mar lost starting quarterback Austin Waller and tight end/linebacker Keaton Roskup to injury early and the list continued to grow. Roskup missed the rest of the season and Waller returned, mainly as a receiver due to a shoulder injury. Some others also missed time and were able to return, but Coach Tim Lovell's crew was forced to make adjustments on the fly week to week.

“The future is really bright for Linn-Mar football but I am really sad for some of these seniors,” Lovell said. “We started off so well but then the injuries started. The good thing is that we have 16 starters now coming back for next year.”

Friday's game started well as the Lions drove down and took the lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Stone Morgan to Landon Sorg late in the first quarter. The Spartans responded with a pair of quarterback sneaks from Coy Kipper to lead 14-7 at the break.

The Lion defense held to start the second half, forcing a PV punt. The Spartan defense came up big, picking off Morgan which set up Tate Lyon’s 4-yard TD run, giving PV a 21-7 lead.

“That was probably the play that decided the game,” Lovell said of the interception. “We had the stop, but they made the big play to get it back.”

Linn-Mar still had a chance. A 15-yard Morgan to Daniel Peplinski pass on the first play of the fourth quarter cut the lead to 21-14.

However, PV went back to the ground and drove it down the field for the clinching score. Kipper scored for a third time, this one from the 2 to seal the game.

“It just comes down to assignment football,” Lovell said about preparing for the Spartans. “You've got a job to do and you have to do it, but PV does a great job of finding alignments and finding where you are leaving holes. That is the nature of their triple-option offense.

“We told our guys it was going to be a fistfight in a phone booth and one guy was going to come out on top. Unfortunately, that wasn't us tonight, but I am really proud of the way our guys prepared and gave it all they had.”

Pleasant Valley 28, Linn-Mar 14

At Linn-Mar Stadium

PV LM

First downs 18 18

Rushes-yards 50-269 39-162

Passing yards 43 133

Comp-Att-Int 4-6-0 13-19-1

Punts-Avg. 2-46.0 1-29.0

Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 2-30 2-12

Pleasant Valley 0 14 7 7 — 28

Linn-Mar 7 0 0 7 — 14

LM - Landon Sorg 21 pass from Stone Morgan (Bradley Duncan-Porter kick)

PV — Coy Kipper 1 run (Austin Bullock kick)

PV — Kipper 1 run(Bullock kick)

PV — Tate Lyon 4 (Bullock kick)

LM - Daniel Peplinski 15 pass from Morgan (Duncan-Porter kick)

PV — Kipper 2 run (Bullock kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - PV: Tate Lyon 13-54, Tyge Lyon 12-75, Coy Kipper 19-100, David Gorsline 4-9, Ben Birkel 2-31. Linn-Mar: Tyree Alons 13-68, Dylan Muszynski 13-52, Stone Morgan 7-30, Austin Waller 5-12, Team 1-0.

PASSING - PV: Coy Kipper 4-6-0-43, Linn-Mar: Stone Morgan 13-19-1-133.

RECEIVING - PV: Ty Gardner 2-19, Tate Lyon 1-15, David Gorsline 1-9. Linn-Mar: Kade Jesse 5-40, Landon Sorg 2-35, Dylan Muszynski 2-39, Daniel Peplinski 1-15, Talan Sivertsen 3-4.