Fumble in OT thwarts Prairie at Pleasant Valley

BETTENDORF - The Pleasant Valley football team saved all the drama for the end.

The Spartans scored with 10 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, then recovered a Cedar Rapids Prairie fumble at the 1 yard line in overtime to seal a wild, 31-24, victory in a Class 4A first-round playoff game at Spartan Stadium on Wednesday night.

Pleasant Valley took the ball first in overtime and quarterback Chase Kipper scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to put the Spartans up 31-24. The Hawks (4-6) looked like they would tie the game just as quickly. Senior running back Jomaryon Simpson, who was a load to stop all night for PV, broke several tackles and looked to be stopped at the 1 yard line. But at the last instant, a PV defender hit Simpson and the ball popped free. The Spartans' Chance Cary grabbed the loose ball on the game was over.

'It was crazy,” PV senior running back Brendon Bormann said. 'I saw Chance hop on the ball and everybody started going crazy. It's a great feeling.”

Bormann was a huge reason the Spartans (7-3) were able to rally from a 14-3 halftime deficit. PV had a total of 94 yards of offense in the first half, including zero passing. Bormann had 17 yards on seven carries in the first half. In the second half, the fullback pounded on the Hawks' defense for 125 yards on 22 carries. Bormann carried the ball eight times in PV's final, game-tying drive. He scored on fourth down from 1 yard out with 13 seconds left.

'We just kept pounding on them and I think they started to get a little tired,” Bormann said of the second half adjustment. 'We just kept doing what we do, running the option and running it down their throats. The conditioning paid off, the line did a great job … we did what we needed to do.”

Simpson had 140 yards on nine carries in the first half, including an 89-yard touchdown run. The Hawks also cashed in a Kipper interception in the second quarter to take a 14-0 lead. PV was able to move the ball at times but then would have a mental mistake or penalty to kill any momentum. Austin Adamson's 33-yard field goal with just over 4 minutes left in the first half was the only scoring the Spartans could muster.

But PV's defense clamped down in the second half, forcing the Hawks to go three-and-out in their first three possessions of the second half. In the meantime, the Spartans' offense found their groove turning in touchdown drives on two of their first three possessions of the second half. Bormann had a 20-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Tyler Flanders added a 27-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter to make it 17-14 the home team.

The Hawks tied it up at 17 on a 44-yard field goal by Sam Drysdale with 7:53 left in the game. Prairie later took the lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Simpson.

But in what could have been the Spartans' final drive of the season, PV responded. The Spartans marched 71 yards in 13 plays to eat up the final 3:27 of the game.

'Certainly, we put ourselves in a hole but our guys put everything on the line,” Spartans coach Rusty VanWetzinga said. 'We were fortunate enough to start moving the ball (in the second half), I'm just happy that we came out on top. Both teams played hard, that is what playoff football is all about.”