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Semifinal heartbreak for Iowa City Liberty
Southeast Polk rallies in second half and edges the Lightning, 38-35, in a thrilling Class 5A state playoff football semifinal Friday night
Nov. 16, 2024 12:59 am, Updated: Nov. 16, 2024 2:04 pm
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CEDAR FALLS - The Class 5A state football championship still goes through Central Iowa. And through Southeast Polk.
Barely.
The Rams got four touchdowns passes from Holden Hansen to Kaden Hills, three in the second half, and outscored Iowa City Liberty, 38-35, in a high-octane offensive semifinal thriller Friday night at the UNI-Dome.
Southeast Polk is the three-time defending 5A champion, with a fourth straight finals appearance a bit of a surprise. The Rams take an 8-4 record into next week’s title game against West Des Moines Valley (10-2).
This is the sixth consecutive season it’ll be an all suburban Des Moines championship tilt. A highly disappointed Liberty team concludes the best of its seven seasons as a school with a 10-2 record and a ton of memories.
“We were supposed to be here,” said Liberty offensive lineman Cole Peden. “A lot of the CIML schools, the Des Moines schools have run the state the last decade. Just to be here and competing with them shows that we belonged and that there is hope for other places outside of Des Moines.”
“We just didn’t make the plays,” said Liberty receiver-cornerback Dallas Miller. “I don’t know. I’m just proud of these boys.”
Miller had an astoundingly monster game. He caught eight passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns, adding an interception and, believe it or not, a TD pass.
That came when he caught a backward pass from Reece Rettig and threw it back across the field to the quarterback for a 49-yard touchdown with 2:40 to go that made it a three-point game. Liberty never got the ball back.
“Obviously not satisfied with how it ended,” Peden said. “We were going for that championship. We left some meat on that bone, but it was definitely a good senior season. I’m just proud of everybody. We didn’t even make the playoffs last year, we were an afterthought to everybody. Being here and having a lead on the three-time defending state champions, it’s a testament to how hard we worked and how talented of a group we are.”
Liberty scored on its first two offensive possessions for a 14-0 lead and was up at halftime, 21-14. But Southeast Polk went ball control in the third quarter, running 20 plays to the Lightning’s six, picking up a Hansen-to-Hills touchdown pass and a Samer Arafa 25-yard field goal for a 24-21 lead.
Hansen completed 15 of 25 passes for 255 yards, adding a rushing touchdown. Hills caught eight balls for 168 yards.
Liberty went right back ahead on the first play of the fourth quarter when Rettig hit Miller on a 62-yard fly pattern left for touchdown. Rettig was brilliant, completing 20 of 26 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns, buying time when plays broke down with uncanny scrambling ability.
Southeast Polk countered Liberty’s seemingly momentum-grabbing TD with one of its own on the ensuing possession: a 32-yard catch and run by Hills on a 4th-and-4 play. That came immediately after a ruled incomplete pass on third down that video review showed actually should have been a Lightning interception following a double deflection.
That’s the way it went all game for Liberty, which had multiple near misses on three onside-kick attempts in the second half.
“I think it was tough to get a break tonight,” said Liberty Coach Scott Chandler. “But sometimes that’s the way the game goes.”
Liberty drove to the SEP 24 after Hills’ go-ahead touchdown but turned it over on downs. Hansen and Hills stuck the dagger in on the very next play, hooking up for a 76-yard touchdown that made it 38-28 with 5:38 left.
“These four years have been amazing,” Miller said. “We left a mark on our school, for sure. I hope in the next 20 years they just keep winning and winning and winning. I’m excited to see what they do.”
“The (seniors), those guys brought an attitude to our workouts and to our team that wasn’t here before,” Chandler said. “They believed that they could get the job done. They played with a different intensity level ... They really set a foundation for us.”
As the new kid on the big stage for the first time, you wondered if Liberty would have any sort of early jitters. That answer was no.
The Lightning went 85 yards on seven plays on the opening possession of the game for a 7-0 lead. Rettig hit Colin Decker with a 7-yard touchdown pass on play action in the right corner of the end zone.
That’s firing an opening salvo.
Colin Weis’ extra point was good. The big play on the drive was a 52-yard pass from Rettig to Miller over the middle deep into SEP territory.
Miller then made a big play defensively on Southeast Polk’s initial offensive possession. A Rams player slipped during a route, with cornerback Miller intercepting the Holden Hansen pass near midfield.
On the very next play, Liberty executed the old flea-flicker play. Decker took a Rettig handoff left side and pitched it back to the QB, who found a wide-open Miller for 40 yards for the SEP 13.
Four plays later, running back Owen Drapeaux busted over the middle for a 3-yard TD, the extra point making it 14-0 Lightning with 5:39 left in the quarter.
After an exchange of punts, Southeast Polk climbed back into things with a 64-yard drive that was capped by a Hansen 1-yard touchdown sneak. Liberty’s defense was called for a pair of 15-yard personal-foul penalties on the march, one for a facemask penalty against Hansen, the other on a late hit against him.
Liberty immediately responded, though, thanks to another big play from Rettig and Miller. Rettig threw a short pass in the slot to the senior wide receiver, he broke one tackle, picked up a couple of blocks and housed it from 62 yards.
The Weis extra point made it 21-7 early in the second quarter. SEP then countered the counter, getting an 8-yard touchdown pass from Hansen to Kaden Hills, the extra point bringing the Rams within 21-14.
That’s the way the half ended. It felt as though Liberty should be ahead by more than the one score, considering it outgained Southeast Polk by a 265-112 margin.
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At UNI-Dome
Southeast Polk 0 14 10 14-31
Iowa City Liberty 14 7 0 14-28
- ICL-Collin Decker 8 pass from Reece Rettig (Collin Weis kick)
- ICL-Owen Drapeaux 2 run (Weis kick)
- SEP-Holden Hansen 1 run (Samer Arafa kick)
- ICL-Dallas Miller 62 pass from Rettig (Weis kick)
- SEP-Kaden Hills 8 pass from Holden Hansen (Arafa kick)
- SEP-Hills 10 pass from Hansen (Arafa kick)
- SEP-Arafa 25 FG
- ICL-Miller 62 pass from Rettig (Weis kick)
- SEP-Hills 32 pass from Hansen (Arafa kick)
- SEP-Hills 76 pass from Hansen (Arafa kick)
- ICL-Rettig 49 pass from Miller (Weis kick)
Team Statistics
First Downs - Southeast Polk 19, Liberty 17. Rushes-Yards - Southeast Polk 33-104, Liberty 23-66. Passing - Southeast Polk 18-25-1-255, Liberty 21-27-0-383. Total Yards - Southeast Polk 359, Liberty 449. Punts-Average - Southeast Polk 1-28.0, Liberty 2-29.0. Penalties-Yards - Southeast Polk 5-55, Liberty 8-64. Fumbles-Lost - Southeast Polk 1-0, Liberty 2-1.
Individual Statistics
Southeast Polk - Rushing: Holden Hansen 12-56, Drew Thompson 13-43, Landon Vander Werff 6-10, Team 2-(minus) 5. Passing: Holden Hansen: 18-25-1-255. Receiving: Kaden Hills 8-168, Teague Cantrall 3-32, Gabe Wheeler 3-25, Drew Thompson 3-18, Bryan Butler 1-12.
Iowa City Liberty - Rushing: Sutton Koller 8-21, Owen Drapeaux 6-20, Reece Rettig 8-13, Dallas Miller 1-7, Cole Peden 0-1. Passing: Reece Rettig 20-26-0-334, Dallas Miller 1-1-0-49. Receiving: Dallas Miller 8-245, Reece Rettig 1-49, Sutton Koller 4-40, Logan Laubenthal 3-23, Collin Decker 2-20, Landon Bell 2-14, Owen Drapeaux 1-(minus) 8.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
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