Linn-Mar has ‘come a real long way,’ earns playoff spot

MARION - When the 2015 high school football season started, Linn-Mar found itself off to a fairly unfamiliar start. With losses to Cedar Rapids Prairie, Pleasant Valley and Cedar Rapids Washington, the Lions found themselves 1-4 headed into district play.

But after a season-defining win at Cedar Falls last week moved them to 2-1 in the district, the outlook for this season changed in a hurry.

The Bob Forsyth-led group went one step further Friday night, locking up a Class 4A playoff berth with a 26-13 win at Linn-Mar Stadium against Waterloo West, which was eliminated from playoff contention.

'We've come a real long way. We've worked really hard to even up our record again and the kids have been real focused on that,” Forsyth said. 'I think the biggest thing is our young guys are growing up a little bit. Our young guys are getting a lot of reps. That's what's changed. We're getting better in a lot of things every week.

'That's what you have to do. We'd have liked to do some things better tonight, but we're going to have to work hard to correct them next week.”

Forsyth holds his team to a high standard, and even in a win, he didn't feel his team was totally up to snuff.

The Lions were a bit sloppy with the football, fumbling three times and losing one - after a first-down catch from Kirby Kerr - that led to the Wahawks' first touchdown in the second quarter. Coming off such a big win in Cedar Falls last week, a letdown is always a worry for coaches and players, and while the result didn't reflect that, Forsyth thought the mental mistakes his team made throughout Friday night's game did.

'We're still doing some things not well that we've got to do better, but I'm really happy with this outcome,” Forsyth said. 'Our mental mindframe wasn't what it was last week, but that's kind of the challenge of coaching. I was just a little baffled because we had such a great week of practice that we didn't approach this game mentally. I know our kids will do a great job to try to correct that. It's a quick turnaround.”

That quick turnaround is for a Thursday night showdown at Kingston Stadium with Cedar Rapids Jefferson, which beat Waterloo East, 50-3, on Friday night.

The Lions (4-4, 3-1) will need a repeat of the defensive performance they put on against the Wahawks (3-5, 1-3) if they're going to slow down the fast-paced offense of the J-Hawks next week. Linn-Mar held West to just 179 total yards, forced two fumbles, totaled 10 tackles for loss - including a loss of 23 on a bad snap to punter Adijan Muhamedagic that set up a Neme Siaway touchdown run - and intercepted quarterback Levi Lenius twice. The Wahawks were without starting quarterback Devon Moore, who was out with a leg injury.

And though Linn-Mar locked up a playoff berth, there's plenty left to play for next Thursday. A win secures a home playoff game for the Lions.

'Next week is about us getting better and correcting the mistakes we made tonight,” Forsyth said. 'It's absolutely about trying to get ourselves a home playoff game if we can. And we also want to finish with a winning record. Those are big. If we can do that, that will be awesome.”

The Lions were led offensively by quarterback Reese Phillips, who finished 15 of 31 for 183 yards, one touchdown and one interception. They got 17 carries for 86 yards from Brennan McGaffe and 13 carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns out of Siaway.

The effort, Forsyth said, is a result of the Linn-Mar players learning from early-season losses to highly ranked teams like Pleasant Valley, Cedar Rapids Washington and Cedar Rapids Kennedy. Forsyth can only hope what they've learned continues to build headed into the playoffs.

'Football is a tough game. It takes everything you've got every week,” Forsyth said. 'You can't cheat football. If you're not ready and you're not doing the things you should do, I don't care who you're playing or what their record is, you're going to have a hard time winning. I feel we were lucky to win this game, but we'll take it and keep moving on. That's the whole point now at this point of the season. You've just got to keep winning.”

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