It's all Linn-Mar in the first half

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Where do they fit?

You've got Cedar Falls. You've got Iowa City High.

Where do the Linn-Mar Lions fit among the heirarchy of Mississippi Valley Conference football powerhouses?

"I don't know," said Mark Atwater. "We are our own team. If people out there don't talk about us with those other teams, we're OK with that."

Class 4A sixth-ranked Linn-Mar played a virtually flawless first half and routed Cedar Rapids Prairie, 44-14, in an MVC contest Friday night at John Wall Field.

The Lions (5-0) scored on their first seven possessions for a 44-0 lead midway through the third quarter, then coasted home.

"We got great protection -- run and pass -- from our line. They were our backbone, for sure," Atwater said.

A snapshot into the Lions' first-half dominance: Linn-Mar amassed 180 yards on the ground and 174 through the air. The Lions had 354 first-half yards, compared to 20 for Prairie (0-5).

Mitch Wantock rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns; Atwater completed 13 of 17 passes for 174 yards.

The defense was just as impressive.

"The 'D' was clicking," said Zach Martins, who intercepted a pass -- and also caught a TD pass from Atwater. "Coach (Bob) Forsyth had a good gameplan. He always gets us prepared."

Prairie held the Lions to a 22-yard field goal on the game's first possession, then the bottom dropped out.

Wantock had a 25-yard TD run and Atwater hooked up with Martins for a 25-yard scoring pass to give Linn-Mar a 16-0 lead after a quarter.

The second quarter featured a 4-yard scoring run by Wantock, a 39-yard TD pass from Atwater to Andy Henry and a 1-yard QB sneak by Atwater as time expired.

It was 37-0 at halftime, and the majority of the second half was played under the continuous clock and a lot of fresh bodies.

Jake Luerkens' 27-yard keeper gave the Lions a 44-0 lead, then Prairie scored a pair of consolation touchdowns by Cameron Rathje (9-yard run) and Zach Witte (1-yard run).

Prairie's first five opponents this season are a combined 20-5.

Linn-Mar hosts Dubuque Senior next week; Prairie is at Waterloo East.

TEAM STATISTICS

Linn-Mar

CR Prairie

First downs

20

8

Rushes-yards

36 - 220

28 - 131

Passing yards

181

13

Comp-Att-Int

14 - 18 - 0

2 - 13 - 1

Total yards

401

144

Fumbles-lost

1 - 0

1 - 0

Punts-average

2 - 33.0

5 - 31.2

Penalties-yards

3 - 32

3 - 15

Rushing:

 Linn-Mar –

Mitch Wantock 15-137 ,

Mark Atwater 6-36 ,

Jake Luerkens 1-27 ,

Brandon Ophoff 5-12 ,

Michael Redmond 1-7 ,

Tommy Feller 1-6 ,

Brandon Jeffries 1-3 ,

Brandon Schirmer 1-2 ,

Ben Seger 1--3 ,

Rhys Davis 1--4

 CR Prairie –

Alex Nelson 4-46 ,

Cameron Rathje 7-42 ,

Peyton Wagner 3-29 ,

Zach Witte 9-26 ,

Tristan Beyer 1-3 ,

Carson Goodale 1--2 ,

Jace Hanna 2--13

Passing:

 Linn-Mar –

Atwater 13-17-0-174 ,

Luerkens 1-1-0-7

 CR Prairie –

Wagner 1-3-0-10 ,

Hanna 1-10-1-3

Receiving:

 Linn-Mar –

Andy Henry 5-85 ,

Zach Martins 2-31 ,

Jacob Hutchins 2-25 ,

Travis Kvach 2-19 ,

Redmond 2-15 ,

Colton Sanchez 1-6

 CR Prairie –

Rathje 1-10 ,

Trent Schulte 1-3

Linn-Mar

16

21

7

–

44

CR Prairie

7

7

–

14

LM - Quinn Treiber FG 22

LM - Mitch Wantock 25 run (run failed)

LM - Zach Martins 25 pass from Mark Atwater (Treiber kick)

LM - Wantock 4 run (Treiber kick)

LM - Andy Henry 39 pass from Atwater (Treiber kick)

LM - Atwater 1 run (Treiber kick)

LM - Jake Luerkens 27 run (Treiber kick)

CRP - Cameron Rathje 9 run (Austin Reutzel kick)

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CRP - Zach Witte 1 run (Reutzel kick)