City High rallies past Linn-Mar, 47-32

IOWA CITY -- They were outplayed for a considerable amount of this one, but the Iowa City High Little Hawks found a way. Just like they always seem to.Win number 22 in a row didnt come easily for the defending Class 4A state champions. It took three touchdowns in a fourth-quarter rally, in fact, for No. 2 City High to overcome No. 6 Linn-Mar, 47-32, last night at Bates Field in an exquisite battle of unbeatens."We're giving them credit. Linn-Mar is a good football team. That's obvious," said City High Coach Dan Sabers. "We came back after getting down there in the second half and put together some drives that we needed to."Quarterback Mark Atwater's 7-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run gave Linn-Mar (7-1) a 32-26 edge going to the final quarter of this beauty, but it was all City High in the fourth. Andrew McNultys 1-yard TD sneak and the ensuing extra point by shaky sophomore kicker Drew Cornwell put the Little Hawks back up, 33-32.Pass interceptions by Jeremy Johnson and McNulty led to two more touchdowns that allowed City High (8-0) to escape."This was a fun game to play in," said City High running back Cedric Readus, whose 4-yard TD run with 1:18 left officially put this one away. "We learned a lot about ourselves tonight. We've got to play four quarters, the whole four quarters. Just keep going strong."Atwater had another strong two-way game at QB and linebacker for Linn-Mar, running for two touchdowns and throwing another. But all three of his interceptions led to City High scores.The Little Hawks were definitely opportunistic. They also got a 90-yard kickoff return for touchdown from Readus and scored after a seven-yard punt gave them the ball at the Lion 29.Linn-Mar actually outgained City High by a 279-240 margin, rallying from a 26-10 second-quarter hole. Jer Garman finished with 139 yards rushing and a touchdown on 27 carries for the Lions.All but 23 of City High's yards came via the ground, as you'd expect from a team that runs two tight ends regularly. The Little Hawks belief in their rushing attack was evident late in the game when they converted a 4th-and-2 at the Linn-Mar 45 while nursing an eight-point lead.Readus ran for four yards and the first down and eventually the touchdown."I just don't like punting," Sabers said. "That play scares me. Our strength is our power running. And, boy, a 4th-and-2 is still tough for people to stop."Linn-Mar never folded even though it got down 26-10. A 70-yard drive consisted almost entirely of Atwater-Garman runs, including Garman's exquisite 15-yard scoring rush in which he spunt away from would-be tacklers twice en route to the end zone. The only other yard on the march was on a pass from Atwater to Aaron Hunter.The Lions then forced a City High punt, taking over at their 20. That's when Atwater went to work through the air, completing three huge throws, including a 40-yard beauty over the middle to Michael Thul and an 11-yard slant for TD to a sliding Josh Montague.The extra point somehow made it a 26-24 game at halftime. Linn-Mar held a surprising yardage edge of 207-104.Here is the game boxscore and a short video interview with Coach Sabers:

Iowa City High 47 Linn-Mar 32

AT BATES FIELD L-M ICH First downs 18 16 Rushes-yards 44-197 44-217 Passing yards 82 23 Comp-att-int. 6-16-3 2-7-0 Punts-avg. 2-18.5 3-41.0 Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties-yards 6-35 4-36

Linn-Mar 7 17 8 0--32 Iowa City High 12 14 0 21--47 ICH--Adam Pribyl 24 run (kick failed) L-M--Mark Atwater 3 run (Michael Zimmerman kick) ICH--Andrew McNulty 5 run (run failed) ICH--Ronald Thompson 2 run (Drew Cornwell kick) L-M--Zimmerman 33 FG ICH--Cedric Readus 90 kickoff return (Cornwell kick) L-M--Jer Garman 15 run (Zimmerman kick) L-M--Josh Montague 11 pass from Atwater (Zimmerman kick) L-M--Atwater 7 run (Atwater run) ICH--McNulty 1 run (Cornwell kick) ICH--Thompson 18 run (Cornwell kick) ICH--Readus 4 run (Cornwell kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING -- Linn-Mar: Jer Garman 27-139, Mark Atwater 16-60, Aaron Hunter 1-(minus) 2.

Iowa City High: Ronald Thompson 15-86, Cedric Readus 10-64, Adam Prybil 5-35, Andrew McNulty 12-30, Amos Lavela 1-4, Team 2-(minus) 2.

PASSING -- Linn-Mar: Mark Atwater 6-16-1-82.

Iowa City High: Andrew McNulty 2-7-0-23.

RECEIVING -- Linn-Mar: Michael Thul 1-40, Josh Montague 3-34, Jer Garman 1-7, Aaron Hunter 1-1.

Iowa City High: Jasper Washington 1-15, Jeremy Johnson 1-8.