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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Linn-Mar stops Iowa City High’s 2-point conversion try to hang on for 28-27 win
Little Hawks scored TD with 22.5 seconds left, went for the win for the third time this season but came up short this time
Oct. 18, 2024 11:01 pm, Updated: Oct. 18, 2024 11:27 pm
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MARION — He couldn’t watch.
“I put my head down, looked at the turf and just prayed,” Austin Waller said.
The Linn-Mar quarterback watched Iowa City High score a touchdown with 22.5 seconds remaining in this doozy between top-10 football teams in Class 5A. The Little Hawks lined up to go for the two-point conversion, as they’ve been wont to do multiple times this season.
Everyone at Linn-Mar Stadium looked at what happened next. Except Waller.
It was a fumbled exchange on a reverse play. No good on the attempt and a 28-27 Lions victory.
“Our guys came out on top,” Waller said. “I heard everyone in the community screaming, and I knew. I got up and jumped, hugged (teammate) Landon (Sorg). Just an amazing feeling.”
What a pretty amazing game between these teams.
Waller ran for two touchdowns, threw for another, seventh-ranked Linn-Mar (7-1) got ahead and stayed ahead … barely. Sophomore running back Dawson Kahl plunged into the end zone to make it a one-point game, and there was zero doubt ninth-ranked City High (5-3) would take a shot at the win.
They’d done it twice before this fall, scoring a TD in the final seconds and getting the two-point conversion to beat Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Iowa City West.
“I knew the whole way,” said Linn-Mar running back Dylan Muszynski. “I was on a knee, but I had to watch. Pure excitement. I knew my guys on the defensive side were going to do the job.”
“I just think there’s a confidence within our team that ‘Hey, we’re going to go for two,’” said City High Coach Mitch Moore. “We had a play dialed up … Would have been 3-for-3, but it wasn’t. That’s high school football. Credit to those guys for fighting until the last play.”
Muszynski had just three touches last week in a blowout Linn-Mar win but made up for it here, carrying it 26 times for 172 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a pass in the flat and ran for 44 yards.
Waller was brilliant, with his two rushing scores and going 10-of-15 passing for 180 yards. He hit seven different receivers.
“He’s a dude, right?” said Linn-Mar co-head coach Ben Martens. “He was throwing the ball well and using his legs. He was really able to showcase that. It’s not something he’s had to do this year, (but) we knew that was kind of in our back pocket. What better night than Senior Night to use him like that?”
“I just trust my guys more than their guys,” Waller said. “I trust them to go make a play, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Kahl ran 31 times for 172 yards for City High. Quarterback Bobby Bacon threw for 159 yards on 12-of-16 passing.
Waller’s 1-yard TD gave Linn-Mar a 28-21 lead, with City High taking over at its 23 with 3:55 to go. Eleven plays later, and the Little Hawks had covered the 77 yards.
“It’s wild,” Bacon said. “It’s our commitment to stay with it. Sticking with it, and when things aren’t going our way, just keeping that positive mindset.”
The teams ended up exchanging touchdowns. Linn-Mar scored one first, City High was next, Linn-Mar was next, City High was next, Linn-Mar next for a 21-14 halftime lead.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. City High went on a long drive early in the fourth to tie it: a 20-yard TD pass from Bacon to Adan Carbajal.
Linn-Mar drove right back to score on the ensuing possession, City High followed suit and … the two-point miss was followed by an onside kick recovery by Linn-Mar.
Ballgame.
Linn-Mar is assured of at least one home playoff game if it wins next week’s regular-season finale at Pleasant Valley, which lost Friday night to Iowa City West. The Lions will for sure be a top-five team in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s official RPI rankings.
“We’ve just got to stay level headed,” Muszynski said.
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(At Linn-Mar Stadium)
Iowa City High 0 14 0 13-27
Linn-Mar 7 14 0 7-28
- L-M-Austin Waller 5 run (Bradley Duncan-Porter kick)
- ICH-Gabe Egeland 14 run (Yobenni Tejeda kick)
- L-M-Emerson Gasper 12 pass from Waller (Duncan-Porter kick)
- ICH-Dawson Kahl 9 run (Tejeda kick)
- L-M-Dylan Muszynski 4 run (Duncan-Porter kick)
- ICH-Adan Carbajal 20 pass from Bacon (Tejeda kick)
- L-M-Waller 1 run (Duncan-Porter kick)
- ICH-Kahl 1 run (run failed)
Team Statistics
First Downs - Iowa City High 24, Linn-Mar 18. Rushes-Yards - Iowa City High 47-252, Linn-Mar 36-216. Passing Attempts-Completions-Interceptions-Yardage - Iowa City High 12-16-0-159, Linn-Mar 10-15-0-180. Total Yards - Iowa City High 412, Linn-Mar 396. Punts-Average - Iowa City High 1-31.0, Linn-Mar 0-0.
Individual Statistics
Iowa City High - Rushing: Dawson Kahl 31-172, Gabe Engeland 10-42, Dominic Salibi 4-31, Bobby Bacon 2-7. Passing: Bobby Bacon 12-16-0-159. Receiving: Dominic Salibi 5-84, Parker Sutherland 2-24, Adan Carbajal 1-20, Iyon Harris 1-16, Jack Lampe 2-9, Chayse Newton 1-6.
Linn-Mar - Rushing: Dylan Muszynski 27-172, Austin Waller 5-27, Emerson Gasper 3-18, Tyree Alons 1-1, Team 1-(minus) 2. Passing: Austin Waller 10-15-0-180. Receiving: Dylan Muszynski 1-44, Tate McEowen 2-41, Daniel Peplinski 2-39, Stone Morgan 2-15, Carson Fairley 1-15, Landon Sorg 1-124, Emerson Gasper 1-12.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
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