North Linn continues winning and shutout streaks against Starmont

ARLINGTON — Ten. Six. Twenty-four.

Those numbers may seem meaningless and random to most. They accurately describe North Linn’s success against Starmont.

To be specific, 10 straight wins, six straight shutouts and 24 scoreless quarters.

All remained intact after the Lynx upended the No. 6 Stars, 14-0, in a Class A District 4 prep football showdown Friday night at Starmont. Cole Griffith reeled in a touchdown pass from Will Sommerfelt and rushed for another, connecting with Cael Benesh on a two-point conversion to all but seal the victory.

“I’m just really happy,” Griffith said. “This was one of our biggest games of the season. Starmont is really good.

“Our biggest goal is to win the district. That was the first step and maybe the biggest step.”

The game promised to be a slobber-knocker that featured stout defenses and it delivered. Points were hard to come by but the Lynx were able to produce two scoring drives late in the second and fourth quarters.

North Linn conjured a huge 71-yard, 10-play drive that melted 5:04 off the clock. It was the longest drive of the game, using Sommerfeldt and Drew Ries runs to reach the 1.

“At halftime, we made some really good adjustments,” North Linn Coach Jared Collum said. “They weren’t giving us what we wanted inside so we went inside our inside zones. We went right over center. We worked in our quarterback counters and Will is a dude. He can run it.”

After a penalty, the Lynx capped the drive with a new wrinkle from the week of practice. Griffith lined up in the wildcat formation, took the snap and ran around left end for a 6-yard TD run.

“He’s so shifty,” Collum said of Griffith. “He can find a hole even when there isn’t one. These bigger backs will try to put their nose down and push through. He can do that but then he can beat you with his feet to the outside, which he did.”

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Griffith said he was excited for the play call. He’s been itching to run the new package. Griffith converted the final first down on a similar play.

“We practiced it a lot,” Griffith said. “I didn’t know if we’d actually go to it. I like being back there. It’s fun.”

North Linn (3-0) got on the board with 24 seconds to go before halftime. After squandering good field position with four straight incompletions, the Lynx went back to the corner post. Sommerfelt hit Griffith in stride for the TD.

“I just trusted him,” Collum said. “He’s completed that 100 times in practice. We liked that route combo.”

Sommerfelt finished with 80 yards on 6-of-13 passing. Griffith hauled in three catches for 52 yards to lead the Lynx, who amassed 236 offensive yards.

The Lynx defense has stymied Starmont using a gap defense, scheming for linemen to occupy blockers and manage gaps, while letting the linebacker corps of Drew Ries, Tate Woods and Benesh make plays.

They protected the ongoing goose egg, holding the Stars to 73 total offensive yards, including 66 on the ground. The last points Starmont scored against North Linn was Oct. 13, 2017.

“It’s showing up for practice every day,” said Ries, who also led North Linn with 73 rushing yards. “We know we’re the smaller team but we just made it happen. We were more physical than them the entire game and they couldn’t match it.”

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Starmont (1-1) entered the game without one of its top players, losing Keaton Moeller to a knee injury that was reaggravated in the season-opening win against South Winneshiek. During the first half, Avery Vaske left the game with an injured knee.

“We wanted the outcome to be different but they never quit fighting,” Starmont Coach Mike Augustine said. “We were moving guys in different spots and sometimes it catches you but I’m proud of the way they fought.”

The Stars rebounded from last year’s North Linn loss and finished the regular season 8-1. They were already looking ahead and ready to tackle the rest of the schedule.

“The same boat we were in last year,” Augustine said. “The guys are already talking about that. We just have to let this one burn and get up in the morning and get ready for E.B. (East Buchanan) next week.”

North Linn 14, Starmont 0

AT ARLINGTON

NL STAR

First Downs 12 6

Rushes-yards 41-156 27-66

Passing yards 80 7

Comp-att-int 6-13-0 3-8-1

Total yards 236 73

Fumbles-lost 4-1 2-1

Punts-avg. 5-33.8 7-33.1

Penalties-yards 6-40 8-66

North Linn 0 6 0 8 -- 14

Starmont 0 0 0 0 -- 0

NL – Cole Griffith 35 pass from Will Sommerfelt (kick failed)

NL – Griffith 6 run (Griffith pass to Cael Benesh)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – North Linn: Drew Ries 19-73. Sommerfelt 18-60, Griffith 2-32, Team 1-(-2), Hayden Schmidt 1-(-7). Starmont: Vincen McManigle 8-39, Jack Thole 2-26, Jase Tommasin 3-16, Avery Vaske 4-2, Nick Willfong 10-(-17).

PASSING – North Linn: Sommerfelt 6-13-0-80. Starmont: Willfong 3-8-1-7.

RECEIVING – North Linn: Griffith 3-52, Nolan Woods 1-16, Benesh 2-12. Starmont: Thole 1-6, McManigle 1-4, Camden Hamlett 1-(-3).

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com