Decorah brings the defense in 3A playoff shutout

INDEPENDENCE – Despite an up-and-down season, Decorah proved its defensive mettle once the playoffs arrived.

The Vikings' defense forced three turnovers and held an opponent scoreless for the first time in two years with a 14-0 shutout of fifth-ranked Independence Wednesday night in a Class 3A first-round playoff game.

'We made a couple of tweaks with our alignments and our schemes,” Decorah Coach Bill Post said. 'We got some different people in there. We made some adjustments with some people and it just blossomed.”

Strong winds made advancing the ball difficult for both offenses, but Decorah managed to pop a big run in the first quarter when senior running back Garrett Wise took a handoff from quarterback Cole Steffen on 3rd-and-6, shed a couple of Independence defenders and sprinted down the sideline for 47 yards inside the Independence 10-yard-line.

'Just made a cut on the inside and I had some blockers downfield,” said Wise, who ran for 101 yards. 'I was able to get down the sideline and take off.”

Three plays later, Steffen executed a nifty play-action fake, rolled left and tossed the ball across his body to receiver Marshall Johnson for a 3-yard score and a 7-0 lead with 2:02 left in the opening quarter.

Independence appeared to be in good shape to score in the second quarter after forcing Decorah to punt into the wind from its two-yard line. The ball fluttered in the wind, but Independence returner Nicholas Holt couldn't corral the ball and Decorah recovered at its 25.

Independence threatened to tie the game on three occasions in the second half, but each time the Decorah defense bowed up. Defensive back Dawson Meyer intercepted a pass in the third quarter, then helped stuff a fourth-down try at the Decorah 11 late in the fourth.

The last hope for Independence (8-2) was snuffed out by Decorah senior defensive end Tim Winter, who stopped quarterback Nicholas Holt behind the line twice to force a punt with less than three minutes to go.

'You've just got to go for it,” Winter said. 'You've got to see the ball, you've got to go and you've got to have that fire in your gut. You've got to go find the ball, get the ball and make the play. You've got to think it's coming to you every single time.”

The wind kept the punt from getting past the line of scrimmage, so on the very next play Wise took a pitch from Steffen and found a streaking Meyer for the clinching 40-yard score.

'We were waiting for the right time to use it,” Wise said. 'Now seemed like the perfect time and it happened to work out well.”

Holt finished with 115 yards rushing for the Mustangs, which were denied their first playoff victory. Decorah advances to Monday's second-round game at No. 2 Cedar Rapids Xavier (9-0).

Decorah 14

Independence 0

AT INDEPENDENCE

DEC IND

First downs 8 17

Rushes-yards 149 138

Passing 76 76

Comp-Att-Int 8-12-0 8-26-1

Punts-Avg. 6-18.8 5-31.4

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2

Penalties-Yards 2-15 3-20

Decorah 7 0 0 7-14

Independence 0 0 0 0 - 0

DEC - Marshall Johnson 3 pass from Cole Steffen (Parker Lane kick)

DEC - Dawson Meyer 40 pass from Garrett Wise (Lane kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Decorah: Garrett Wise 20-101, Zach Lea 6-16, Cole Steffen 5-16, Marshall Johnson 1-7, Brendan Numedahl 4-11, Team 1-(-2); Independence: Nicholas Holt 30-115, Jake Juhl 5-15, Mason Wood 2-2, Colin Butzlaff 1-6.

Passing - Decorah: Cole Steffen 7-11-0-36, Garrett Wise 1-1-0-40; Independence: Nicholas Holt 8-26-1-76.

Receiving - Decorah: Dawson Meyer 2-42, Zach Lea 2-6, Shawn Shindelar 1-12, Marshall Johnson 2-11, Brendan Numedahl 1-4; Independence: Colin Butzlaff 3-20, Spencer Pink 2-26, Nick Steger 1-11, Matt McMillan 2-19.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com