East Buchanan’s blond bruisers blast Lisbon, 44-14, in a Class A playoff opener

WINTHROP — The line is big. The backs are slippery.

The punter? Not a factor.

Eighth-ranked East Buchanan scored on its first six possessions behind a bruising ground game and dusted Lisbon, 44-14, in a Class A first-round playoff game Friday night at Buccaneer Field.

“We played Buccaneer football,” said Tanner Thurn, who rushed for 223 yards and five touchdowns. “This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. We average about 400 (rushing) yards per game.”

It was 444 yards on the ground (on 55 carries) Friday as the Buccaneers (8-1) won their seventh straight game.

Their second-round matchup, probably on the road, will be set Saturday. Most likely opponents include No. 10 Alburnett and Grundy Center.

“Like Coach (Jerry Alden) said, we don’t have to go play a 1-seed. A 1-seed has to play us,” Thurn said.

East Buchanan cruised despite throwing only one pass (a 31-yard completion from Trystin Russell to Hunter Bowers). The Bucs aren’t balanced run/pass, but they spread the wealth from back to back.

Thurn got his 223 yards on 28 carries. Ryland Cornell added 114 yards on 11 tries, Bowers 101 yards on 14 attempts.

“They make our job easy,” said junior lineman Cody Fox, a University of Iowa commit. “You get one good block, and those guys are breaking away.”

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Photos: Lisbon vs. East Buchanan in Class A playoffs

Thurn called it “a credit to (our) quickness and agility (program). We’ve got a great base, and it helps (the defenders) bounce off you if you’ve got big, strong legs.”

In East Buchanan tradition, the players dyed their hair blond for the postseason. They added a new twist.

“We dyed our beards black,” Fox said.

Fox, by the way, doubles as the Bucs’ punter. He has been used in that capacity only five times this season.

East Buchanan advanced to the Class A state semifinals in the UNI-Dome last year. Adam Hackett, who rushed for 1,751 yards, was a graduation loss, but balance works, too.

“We didn’t have somebody that was going to replace (Hackett), but we had three guys that can make a difference,” Alden said.

Thurn and Cornell crossed the 1,000-yard plateau Friday. Bowers could join them in a week or two.

After stopping Lisbon (5-4) on the first possession of the game, the Bucs got on the board quickly, marching 85 yards in seven plays. Cornell ignited it with a 40-yard run, then capped it with a 5-yard TD run.

The second drive featured the Buccaneers’ lone pass, which set up first-and-goal from the 5. Thurn scored on the next play.

Cohen Kamaus’ 29-yard TD run got the Lions within 12-7, but Thurn scored two more times — on runs of 47 and 6 yards — and it was 28-7 after a first half in which the Bucs netted 324 yards.

Thurn struck two more times in the second half, and the Bucs had their only empty possession with 1:04 left in the game, giving it up on downs at the Lisbon 29.

In addition to two rushing touchdowns, Kamaus passed for 152 yards, completing 18 of 29 throws with an interception.

So, who’s next for the Buccaneers? Grundy Center? Alburnett? North Linn? Lynnville-Sully?

The pairings come out around 10 a.m. Saturday.

“We have a lot of confidence,” Fox said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”

East Buchanan 44, Lisbon 14

CLASS A FIRST ROUND, AT WINTHROP

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: LIS 11, EB 25

Rushes-yards: LIS 8-52, EB 55-444

Passing yards: LIS 152, EB 31

Passing: LIS 18-29-1, EB 1-1-0-31

Total yards: LIS 204, EB 475

Fumbles-lost: LIS 1-1, EB 0-0

Punts-average: LIS 2-48.5, EB 0-00.0

Penalties-yards: LIS 3-32, EB 5-53

SCORING SUMMARY

Lisbon 0 7 0 7 — 14

East Buchanan 12 16 16 0 — 44

EB — Ryland Cornell 14 run (run failed)

EB — Tanner Thurn 5 run (run failed)

LIS — Cohen Kamaus 29 run (Gage Holub kick)

EB — Thurn 47 run (Cornell run)

EB — Thurn 6 run (Thurn run)

EB — Thurn 3 run (Hunter Bowers run)

EB — Thurn 15 run (Thurn run)

LIS — Kamaus 3 run (Holub kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Lisbon — Cohen Kamaus 2-40, Baylor Speidel 4-15, Tiernan Boots 1-0, Luke Czarnecki 1-(minus 3). East Buchanan — Tanner Thurn 28-223, Ryland Cornell 11-114, Hunter Bowers 14-101, Coltyn Torres 1-8, Team 1-(minus 2).

Passing

Lisbon — Kamaus 18-29-1-152. East Buchanan — Trystin Russell 1-1-0-31.

Receiving

Lisbon — Indy Harbaugh 6-64, Reid Fridley 4-51, Tiernan Boots 3-19, Ben Morningstar 2-10, Henry Neymeyer 2-6, Speidel 1-2. East Buchanan — Bowers 1-31.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com