Phillips sets Linn-Mar record with five TD passes against Clinton

MARION - It took Reese Phillips all of three games to set Linn-Mar's school record for touchdown passes in a game.

Phillips, a junior starting his third game for the Lions, threw five touchdown passes - four to Daniel Gorsich - and Linn-Mar strafed Clinton, 50-14, Friday night in a non-district football game at Linn-Mar Stadium.

Clinton (2-1) came into the game with the state's top-ranked passing unit, throwing for 625 yards in its first two games.

But it was Linn-Mar's aerial assault that proved deadly. Phillips completed 10 of 12 passes for 211 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. All four went to Gorsich, who scored on plays of 58, 19, 7 and 10 yards.

'Danny is just so versatile, they really couldn't guard him. He's just too fast for them,” said Phillips, who broke the record of four TD passes set in a game by Ryan Schmidt last season at Waterloo West.

Phillips' fifth touchdown pass - a 62-yard play to Kirby Kerr - gave the Lions a 41-7 lead just over three minutes into the second half.

Phillips turned his ankle carrying the ball in the third quarter, but is expected to be able to play Thursday when the Lions (1-2) play Cedar Rapids Washington at Kingston Stadium.

The Lions weren't too shabby running the ball, either. Brennan McGaffe rambled 30 yards for a touchdown on his first carry and finished the first half with 87 of the Lions' 203 rushing yards.

'That's his first football game since ninth grade,” Linn-Mar Coach Bob Forsyth said of McGaffe, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior transfer from Waterloo.

Linn-Mar finished with 564 yards of total offense.

Clinton's Jonny Sullivan, who came into the game as the state's top passer, finished 8 of 20 for 204 yards and an interception. The River Kings also fumbled away the ball four times.

Clinton's Gage Harris had 229 yards rushing that included a 75-yard TD run. Theo Harris caught an 87-yard touchdown pass.