Iowa City High strikes for pivotal win over Linn-Mar in Class 5A playoff race

IOWA CITY — The first lightning strike delayed the start by about 50 minutes.

Iowa City High provided the second lightning strike that produced a charge that was consistent as the rain that fell over Bates Field.

Bobby Bacon and Jeremiah Madlock struck for a 63-yard touchdown pass in the opening quarter. Miles Parlet added the thunder behind a strong rush attack that complemented a stingy defense. The Little Hawks improved their postseason standing Friday night with a dominant 30-0 victory over Linn-Mar.

“I’m proud of our team effort,” City High Coach Mitch Moore said. “The character and continuity of our team really showed tonight. We’re a team that has been battle-tested all year long. We’ve faced a lot of adversity. We’ve lost four starters on defense that we’ve had to have guys learn on the job, on the fly, during the season, and we have.”

The teams exchanged possessions in the first but the Little Hawks got on the board on their second drive. With conditions hampering play, Bacon hit Madlock down the middle of the field, allowing Madlock to split defenders and out-run everyone to the end zone. Bacon passed for 172 yards.

“It was huge,” Moore said. “We’re a tough team to beat when we have big strikes. The last few years we’ve had a potent offense.

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Photos: Linn-Mar vs. Iowa City High football

“I think we’re a strike-first offense. We’re a big-play offense. We’re a momentum team and when you get those plays early it builds. You can feel it permeate on the sidelines.”

Parlet and the Little Hawks offensive line powered the next drive. City High capitalized on good field position, going 47 yards on nine plays — all Parlet rushes. He capped the drive with a 6-yarder, carrying defenders over the goal line for a 14-0 lead with 10:31 left before half. Jake Mitchell added a 1-yard TD run in the second half.

“We’re not a ground-and-pound team per se,” Moore said. “We showed we could be tonight.”

Parlet finished with 142 rushing yards on 29 carries and scored twice. He added a 1-yard plunge in the third to make it 21-0. Parlet has been a workhorse for the Little Hawks, increasing his season rush total to 1,177 and 11 TDs. His style of running played well in the elements.

“He ran through arm tackles,” Moore said. “He runs hard. He finishes runs. You never see Miles going backwards. He is downhill finishing runs.

“You talk about a running back mentality, that is Miles Parlet.”

City High’s defense notched its second shutout this season, both coming in the last three games. The Little Hawks held Linn-Mar to 19 passing yards and 108 total offensive yards. City High’s defense added a safety in the 16-point third.

“It’s a credit to our defensive line,” City High linebacker Sam Kueter said. “Those guys are putting work in all the time. The whole offseason they are getting bigger and stronger and bringing young guys along.”

The Lions were unable to sustain any drives or muster many big plays. They managed just three double-digit gains and only nine of six yards or more.

“We didn’t play very well,” Linn-Mar Coach Tim Lovell said. “You have to execute in some big plays but we didn’t block very well.

“Give them credit for fighting through the conditions, but that’s not an excuse (for us). We have to fix some things and that’s our job. We have a lot to play for still and that will be our focus when we get into our meetings on Sunday. The players understand that.”

The game was critical for both teams’ postseason hopes. Linn-Mar entered the game No. 12 in the Class 5A RPI. City High was 13th but improved its chances for a playoff berth with a 5-3 record now. City High travels to No. 8 Bettendorf.

The Little Hawks knew what was at stake.

“Coming into this, it was all about we want to win,” Kueter said. “It is senior night. We need to beat these guys, take care of them and move on to next week.

“Hopefully, us seniors get to play at Bates again.”

Linn-Mar dropped to 4-4 and could be on the outside looking in depending on next week’s home game against fifth-ranked Pleasant Valley.

“We’ve got to learn from it (Friday night),” Lovell said. “As a staff, we have to get our guys ready to go. They have to show up to watch film and get ready to go for Pleasant Valley, which is a good football but it’s no different in terms of importance from other good teams we’ve played this year.

“We proved we can play with those guys. We did not tonight.”

Iowa City High 30, Linn-Mar 0

AT BATES FIELD

LM ICH

First Downs 8 14

Rushes-yards 38-89 44-157

Passing yards 19 172

Comp-att-int 6-15-1 6-14-1

Total yards 108 329

Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-1

Punts-avg. 8-34.0 5-36.2

Penalties-yards 4-20 4-35

Linn-Mar 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Iowa City High 7 7 16 0 -- 30

ICH – Jeremiah Madlock 63 pass from Bobby Bacon (Will Perrill kick)

ICH – Miles Parlet 6 run (Perrill kick)

ICH – Parlet 1 run (Perrill kick)

ICH – Team safety

ICH – Jake Mitchell 1 run (Perrill kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Linn-Mar: Dylan Muszynski 17-45, Tyree Alons 6-28, Landon Sorg 1-16, Talan Sievertsen 2-6, Stone Morgan 10-8, Emerson Gasper 1-3, Team 1-(-17). City High: Miles Parley 29-142, Gabe Egeland 6-24, Mitchell 3-6, Dominic Salibi 1-(-1), Bacon 4-(-14).

PASSING – Linn-Mar: Morgan 6-15-1-19. City High: Bacon 6-14-1-172.

RECEIVING – Linn-Mar: Alons 4-18, Muszynski 1-2, Alex Thurm 1-(-1). City High: Connor Cross 2-73, Madlock 1-63, Dax Judge 2-18, Carsen Newton 1-18.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com