PHOTO GALLERY: Big afternoon for Coe, 37-7 homecoming victory

CEDAR RAPIDS - Coe went from forgettable to memorable in one week.

The Kohawks rebounded from an 18-point loss in their Iowa Conference opener last week against Central with a dominant performance Saturday that resulted in the Kohawk seniors' only homecoming victory.

Quarterback Brad Boyle powered a Coe offense that scored 30 unanswered points and trounced Dubuque, 37-7, in an Iowa Conference contest at Clark Field.

The Kohawks, especially Boyle, rebounded well.

“We talked about resilience before the game,” Coe Coach Steve Staker said, “about bouncing back ... It's a sign of a good quarterback and a good team.”

Boyle shouldered the load, handling the ball for nearly two-thirds of the Kohawks offensive plays. He led the team with 85 rushing yards on 20 carries with a touchdown, and was 20 of 25 passing for 204 yards and three TDs.

“He had a great week of practice,” Staker said. “I thought he stepped up with a lot of confidence (Saturday) and did an outstanding job in both carrying and throwing the football.”

Boyle, a sophomore, was calm and collected while picking apart the Spartan defense.

“Last week I was trying to do too much, putting too much pressure on myself,” Boyle said. “This week I was going through my reads and it worked that way.”

Boyle, who converting 14 of 17 third-down chances, engineered four long scoring drives. He guided the Kohawks 78 yards on their opening drive, hitting Tyler Takes in the front right corner of the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

The Kohawks (4-1, 2-1 IIAC) broke the game open when Boyle scored on a 3-yard keeper to extend the lead to 16-7 with 12:14 left in the second.

A big blow was delivered before halftime when Boyle marched the Kohawks 96 yards on 17 plays, hitting a sliding Michael Rozum for a 9-yard TD in the final minute for a 23-7 lead.

“I think that was really huge,” Staker said. “We didn't take big chunks of yardage. We just nickel-and-dimed them. We (took) what was there.”

Jared Kuehner added a 4-yard TD reception from Boyle in the third, and running back Sam Hammes added a 4-yard scoring run and had 73 yards rushing.

Former Olin prep Colton Hansen finished with 164 yards passing for the Spartans (2-3, 1-2), connecting with Steve Smith with a 13-yard TD to tie it 7-7 in the first.

The Kohawks defense kept the Spartan offense in check, capturing the momentum and the lead at 9-7 with a safety on Dubuque's next drive.

“They have put some points up,” Staker said. “Our defense did a really outstanding job understanding the situation we were in as far as down and distance.

“They didn't want to go away from here, especially those seniors, losing another homecoming.”