Boland leads I.C. West to last-minute comeback

IOWA CITY – Quarterback Nate Boland told his coach to just give him the ball.

Boland sure took care of the rest.

Boland executed an 80-yard touchdown drive in the final minute to lead Class 4A No. 3 Iowa City West to an unbelievable 39-35 come-from-behind win over Dubuque Hempstead last night in a MVC Mississippi Division game at Trojan Field.

Senior Micah Kelsay's 3-yard touchdown completed a big 22-point fourth quarter for the Trojans.

'The chips were down again, but they keep finding a way,' West Coach Brian Sauser said. 'Tonight is about our kids never saying die and playing until all the zeros are up there.'

The Trojans (6-0, 3-0) trailed 35-32 with 49 seconds left after Hempstead Matt Zenner's 9-yard touchdown run.

West's big play for on the final drive was a 49-yard pass from Boland to a wide-open Tyler Eads. Boland rolled to his left and then sprinted back to his right to find Eads – who had somehow slipped behind the coverage to move the Trojans to the Hempstead 15-yard line.

Kelsay's 12-yard run set up his own 3-yard score with eight seconds left.

West's Anthony Batie intercepted a pass on the final play to seal the win for West

'We try to never get too worked up,' Sauser said. 'We stayed with our formations and we checked the coverage.'

Kelsay finished with 102 yards and three touchdowns. The Trojans racked up 411 rushing yards to Hempstead's 342.This was a déjà vu nightmare for Hempstead (3-3, 2-2), which lost a remarkably similar game last week to Iowa City High.

Zenner finished with 261 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

The Mustangs trailed 17-14 at halftime, but took the lead after a bizarre two-minute exchange in the third quarter.

Hempstead converted a two-point conversion after a botched snap and Zenner's 29-yard touchdown run came one play after West tried a fake punt from its own 26-yard line.

West stormed back in the fourth with touchdown runs from Kelsay and Boland.

West and Hempstead combined for a back-and-forth 31-point second quarter after a scoreless first.