Linn-Mar finishes, picks up upset win at Cedar Falls

MARION - Athletics Director Scott Mahmens was closing up the press box at Linn-Mar Stadium last Friday night and discussing with a reporter his school's hard-fought loss to Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

'I think we're a good football team,” Mahmens concluded.

Turns out Mahmens was on to something. Linn-Mar got a go-ahead touchdown run from Brennan McGaffe in the final two minutes, and the Lions held on to upset Class 4A 10th-ranked Cedar Falls, 31-24, Friday night at the UNI-Dome.

This was a terrific win for Linn-Mar (3-4, 2-1).

'It's a credit to our kids, a credit to our coaches, who have done a great job,” Linn-Mar Coach Bob Forsyth said. 'We're still a young football team.

'We hadn't finished very well all season, and we really wanted to finish there. We got the ball back and put something together.”

Cedar Falls (5-2, 2-1) took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but Linn-Mar recovered. A touchdown run by quarterback Reese Phillips was followed by a pair of Phillips TD passes as the Lions went ahead, 21-14, at halftime.

Cedar Falls scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie things at 24-24, with 5:38 left, but Linn-Mar went on its winning drive. A Josh Strauss interception inside the L-M 10 cemented this victory.

Phillips threw for 265 yards. Linebacker Logan Hagmeier had an astounding 17 tackles, part of an aggressive Linn-Mar defense that blitzed liberally.

'I'm not sure I've ever had anyone play like that defensively,” Forsyth said.

Linn-Mar concludes the regular season at suddenly short-handed Waterloo West this week and at Cedar Rapids Jefferson the following week in a game that could really be important when it comes to playoff seeding in District 5.

Jefferson (4-3, 1-2) also notched a significant road win in Black Hawk County, toppling Waterloo West, 44-15. Keenan Stewart broke a school record with three blocked punts, and Manny Olutunde and Valentino Green had two touchdowns each.

Outstanding West junior quarterback Devon Moore severely injured a leg on a scramble play in the third quarter.

But back to Stewart's heroics.

'We just game planned it, and it was huge,” Jefferson Coach Brian Webb told the Waterloo Courier.

This and that

-LaPorte City Union running back Isaiah Vaughn had the game of his life Friday night in his team's 49-48 win over Iowa Falls-Alden. The junior rushed for 384 yards and seven touchdowns, both school records. That's the third-best individual game performance in the state this season.

-Peyton Hesse threw for 261 yards and five touchdowns as Waukon beat New Hampton, 46-13. He added 51 yards rushing.

-Maquoketa Valley won its fifth-straight game, 63-34, over Starmont. The Wildcats have scored 173 points in their last three games. Starmont lost for the seventh-straight time this season despite equalling its season point total.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com