Iowa City High tops Iowa City West in 40-39 thriller with late 2-point conversion

IOWA CITY — For the fourth straight season, The Boot is staying in Iowa City High’s possession.

Powered by a methodical gameplan and clutch late-game offensive execution, the Little Hawks (2-2) took down Iowa City West (2-2), 40-39, in a Class 5A thriller Friday at Trojan Field.

The play of the game was a two-point conversion from City High quarterback Bobby Bacon to Jack Lampe with 22 seconds remaining.

“Man, our guys believe in him (Bacon),” City High Coach Mitchell Moore said. “You should have heard our sidelines with two minutes to go … we’re going down, scoring two and winning this game.”

Dominic Salibi capped a final six-play, 76-yard drive for the Little Hawks with a 7-yard touchdown making the score 39-38.

Moore put the ball in Bacon’s hands for the two-point conversion, and Bacon made magic by finding Lampe in the back of the end zone.

“What happened was we called our bootleg,” Bacon said. “They did a great job coming off the edge and containing that, so I just kind of set up and I knew I would have a guy running along the back.”

Bacon was nearly perfect, completing 16 of 17 passes for 262 yards.

“I just trust these guys so much,” Bacon said. “This is kind of the group I’ve been with and I love these guys. They got my back, I got theirs.”

The game was a back-and-forth battle between two effective offenses with different approaches.

City High was methodical; West had more quick strikes.

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Photos: Iowa City High at Iowa City West in Battle for the Boot

Bacon found Chayse Newton for an 11-yard touchdown that capped a 13-play, 80-yard opening drive that took more than 6 minutes.

Less than a minute later, West quarterback Jack Wallace connected with Julian Manson for a 16-yard TD.

City’s second drive was a similar — a 14-play, 76-drive that ate more than 6 minutes of clock, as Bacon found Parker Sutherland for a 16-yard score.

Again, the Trojans struck quickly as Wallace connected with Iowa commit Mason Woods for a 29-yard TD just 53 seconds after City’s score.

West took a 22-17 lead into intermission.

The Trojans opened the second half with a 34-yard field goal from Adam Salem.

Salibi punched it in from 1 yard out, and Bacon found Sutherland for two to tie it at 25 apiece midway through the third quarter.

The teams traded scores with a Wallace 14-yard TD pass to Woods putting the Trojans up by 7 with 2:07.

The rest was all Bacon.

“This was a program win for us,” Moore said. “I’m just so proud of these guys.”

“We knew it would be a shootout,” Bacon said. “All credit to Mason Woods and Jack, those guys are great players. We just had a little extra tonight.”

City High will travel to Cedar Rapids Thursday to square off against Kennedy. The Trojans will head to Ankeny to play the Hawks next Friday.

Iowa City High 40, Iowa City West 39

AT IOWA CITY WEST FOOTBALL FIELD

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: ICH 24, ICW 22

Passing yards: ICH 262, ICW 225

Rushing yards: ICH 192, ICW 179

Comp-att-int: ICH 16-17-0, ICW 12-16-0

Fumbles-lost: ICH 0-0, ICW 1-1

Total yards: ICH 454, ICW 404

Punts-average: ICH 1-39, ICW 0-0

Penalties-yards: ICH 5-64, ICW 3-30

SCORING SUMMARY

Iowa City High 7 10 8 15 — 40

Iowa City West 7 15 10 7 — 39

Iowa City High — Chayse Newton 11 pass from Bobby Bacon (Nichols-Lindsey kick)

Iowa City West — Julian Manson 16 pass from Jack Wallace (Salem kick)

Iowa City High — Parker Sutherland 16 pass from Bobby Bacon (Nichols-Lindsey kick)

Iowa City West — Mason Woods 29 pass from Jack Wallace (Butali Butali run)

Iowa City High — Jackson Nichols-Lindsey 26 field goal

Iowa City West — Ethan Headings 29 pass from Jack Wallace (Salem kick)

Iowa City West — Adam Salem 24 field goal

Iowa City High — Dominic Salibi 1 run (Sutherland pass 2 from Bacon)

Iowa City West — Campbell Janis 1 run (Salem kick)

Iowa City High — Dawson Kahl 1 run (Nichols-Lindsey kick)

Iowa City West — Mason Woods 14 pass from Jack Wallace (Salem kick)

Iowa City High — Dominic Salibi 7 run (Jack Lampe 2 pass from Bobby Bacon)

Individual Statistics

Rushing — Iowa City High: Dominic Salibi 18-84, Dawson Kahl 13-30, Bobby Bacon 8-14, Gabe Egeland 10-64. Iowa City West: Butali Butali 16-69, Campbell Janis 3-10, Jack Wallace 10-78, Mason Woods 1-14, Henry Elser 1-8.

Passing — Iowa City High Bobby Bacon 16-17-262-0. Iowa City West: Jack Wallace 12-16-225-0.

Receiving — Iowa City High: Chayse Newton 4-57, Parker Sutherland 4-53, Gabe Egeland 1-45 Connor Cross 5-71, Drew Nye 1-5, Iyon Harris 1-32. Iowa City West: Mason Woods 6-134, Julian Manson 3-33, Henry Elser 2-12, Butali Butali 1-14, Ethan Headings 1-33.