Decorah smashes Harlan, 35-14

CEDAR FALLS -- Josey Jewell grew up watching Decorah football teams compete for state titles, aspiring to be in their position one day.

Some youth may be looking at him and the rest of the Vikings the same way.

Jewell led an explosive and effective running attack that racked up 373 yards and overwhelmed Harlan for a 35-14 win in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 3A semifinal Monday at the UNI-Dome. The Vikings (11-2) return to the state championship game for the first time since 2008 for a chance to win its first state title since 1989.

"It was always my dream to get to the state championship," Jewell said. "Now we're here, it feels amazing. It's like a dream come true."

Harlan was the team known for a high-powered offense, but Decorah (11-2) ignited early. Jewell took a handoff, bounced through the middle of the line and rumbled 66 yards for a touchdown and 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game.

“Our whole line got in the secondary,” Jewell said. “It was a good team effort right there.”

The “Fullback Four Lead” play came up big later in the game. Jewell ran it again, scoring a 39-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and increasing the Vikings lead to 21-7. He admitted he got excited when it was called.

“It's a fun play to run,” said Jewell, who led Decorah with 139 rushing yards.

Those runs were two of 18 rushes for seven yards or more. They spread the ball around in the run-heavy attack. Kyle Hove had 93 yards on 11 carries and Gayge Samuelson and quarterback Blake Moen had eight totes apiece, gaining 44 and 34 yards, respectively. Samuelson scored a seven-yard TD making it 35-7 with less than six minutes remaining.

Drew Schwartz helped ice the game with a 50-yard run off a double handoff to start the fourth quarter, giving the Vikings a 28-7 lead.

Vikings Coach Bill Post said he thought his team could run on the Cyclones defense, but the big-play ability surprised him.

“I thought we'd be more of a three, four, five yards and a cloud of dust kind of thing,” Post said. “We were able to pop some big ones that really turned a difference there.”

Decorah's defense made a difference as well. The Vikings forced some timely turnovers.

After their opening drive score, the Vikings regained possession, sacking Zach Osborn, whose fumble was recovered by Gavin Nimrod at the Cyclones' 11. It led to Kyle Hove's five-yard TD run and a 14-0 with more than 10 minutes to go in the first.

Samuelson produced two more turnovers. The Decorah senior defensive back picked off Osborn, helping the Vikings recapture momentum after a Jewell fumble. His second interception came on Harlan's opening drive of the second half. The Cyclones trailed 14-7 and drove to the Vikings 24. Osborn threw a deep pass in the end zone, but Samuelson made a spectacular leaping grab.

“Gayge has made some really timely interceptions all year for us,” Post said. “He's done an excellent job for us in the (defensive) backfield.”

Harlan got on the board with a long scoring drive in the second, covering 77 yards on 20 plays. Osborn rolled to his right, hitting Lucas Musich, who made a sliding grab for a 5-yard TD with 5:34 to go in the first half.

The Cyclones wouldn't get on the board again until 4:41 left in the game when Osborn hit Musich for a 10-yard score. Osborn entered the game with 3,062 passing yards and 31 touchdowns. The Vikings contained the Cyclones offense for most of the game, refusing to give up the deep completion. Osborn did manage 228 yards, on  21-of-36 attempts, including 94 to Musich.

“We knew to cover the deep patterns,” Post said. “We thought our linebackers would cover just a little bit better.”

It was good enough to hand perennial power Harlan (9-4) a rare fourth loss of the year. The Vikings notched their eighth state championship appearance, which will be at 4:05 p.m. Saturday. It completes a big turnaround from a season-opening loss to Union, which played in the other 3A semifinal.

“Unbelievable,” Decorah offensive lineman James Ostlie said. “We had expectations coming in. We suffered our first loss our very first game. We've been fighting back ever since. This has just been the ride of a lifetime, I tell you.”

TEAM STATISTICS

Harlan

Decorah

First downs

18

16

Rushes-yards

25 - 69

47 - 373

Passing yards

246

16

Comp-Att-Int

23 - 43 - 2

3 - 7 - 0

Total yards

315

389

Fumbles-lost

1 - 1

1 - 1

Punts-average

4 - 42.5

4 - 38.8

Penalties-yards

2 - 27

2 - 20

Rushing:

 Harlan –

Zach Osborn 7-26 ,

Austin Hess 10-20 ,

Ben Bruck 1-13 ,

Lucas Musich 4-10 ,

Josh Bruck 1-4 ,

Christopher Hopkins 1-1 ,

Team 1--5

 Decorah –

Josey Jewell 12-139 ,

Kyle Hove 11-93 ,

Drew Schwartz 1-50 ,

Gayge Samuelson 8-44 ,

Blake Moen 8-34 ,

Gavin Nimrod 2-5 ,

Dustin Smith 2-3 ,

Jacob Kvale 1-3 ,

Michael Peter 1-2 ,

Dylan Korsness 1-0

Passing:

 Harlan –

Osborn 21-36-2-228 ,

Adam Juhl 2-7-0-18

 Decorah –

Moen 3-7-0-16

Receiving:

 Harlan –

Musich 8-94 ,

J. Bruck 4-37 ,

David Ratigan 3-34 ,

Hess 1-22 ,

Trey Lansman 2-20 ,

Nathan Cave 2-18 ,

B. Bruck 2-17 ,

Nate Kloewer 1-4

 Decorah –

Jewell 1-7 ,

Hove 1-5 ,

Peter 1-4

Harlan

7

7

–

14

Decorah

14

7

14

–

35

DEC - Josey Jewell 66 run (Josh Lee kick)

DEC - Kyle Hove 5 run (Lee kick)

HAR - Lucas Musich 5 pass from Zach Osborn (Greg Conry kick)

DEC - Jewell 39 run (Lee kick)

DEC - Drew Schwartz 50 run (Lee kick)

DEC - Gayge Samuelson 7 run (Lee kick)

HAR - Musich 10 pass from Osborn (Conry kick)

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