Key insight leads to North Linn beating Alburnett in overtime

TROY MILLS — The call of the game came from the booth Friday.

With North Linn facing a crucial third-and-goal from the 7 in overtime, assistant coach Jon Wolff shared a key detail with head coach Jared Collum over his headset.

“John Wolff was up in the booth and he’s like, ‘They have an offensive guard as a linebacker on Cael (Benesh),” Collum said. “They have him split out, manned up on Cael … so I drew that play in the mud. I said, ‘We’re going to go ‘twin smash,’ tell Cael to run post corner.’”

It worked to perfection.

Benesh hauled in a well-thrown ball from the arm of sophomore quarterback Will Sommerfelt for the go-ahead and game-winning score Friday as the Lynx (1-0) downed Alburnett (0-1), 12-6, in a non-district high school football season opener.

“I said, ‘It should be there,’” Collum said. “Will threw it up and Cael got it. I actually had to send the play in with a kid that ran cross country last year.”

The game-winning reception was one of two high-impact plays Benesh made Friday.

With 4:31 left in the second quarter, Benesh recovered an Alburnett fumble at the Pirates’ 15.

“I mean, he’s (Benesh) a first-team all-stater at defensive back,” Collum said. “He’s an athlete. He’s a great kid too, so I was really happy for him.”

Four plays later, Landon Mertens found paydirt from 3 yards out, giving North Linn a 6-0 lead late in the second quarter.

The Lynx defense forced two interceptions, one fumble and two turnovers on downs.

“We put it all on our defense tonight,” Collum said. “Just a heck of a ballgame on our defense — they’re tough.”

Sophomore running back Laken Caves was the bright spot for Alburnett’s offense.

Caves rushed for 137 yards on 25 carries and tied the game at 6 apiece with a 3-yard TD late in the third.

Caves’ score was the lone blemish in what was otherwise a dominant night for the North Linn defense.

Offensively, Collum was pleased with how his young quarterback played.

“I thought he (Sommerfelt) played well,” Collum said. “There’s going to be games where he’s going to get loose. He’s fast, really fast. But they did such a good job on our quarterback-counter stuff and our quarterback-power plays that really kept it under wraps.”

Alburnett hosts Camanche next Friday, while North Linn will stay home to play Postville.