Lions play spoiler at Iowa Valley

Tigers eliminated from postseason with 42-40 loss to Lone Tree

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 10/18/21

After winning the last three games, Iowa Valley was playing to reach the postseason on Friday, while Lone Tree was simply playing for pride. 

The Lions left Marengo with a 42-40 win and …

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Lions play spoiler at Iowa Valley

Tigers eliminated from postseason with 42-40 loss to Lone Tree

Posted

After winning the last three games, Iowa Valley was playing to reach the postseason on Friday, while Lone Tree was simply playing for pride. 

The Lions left Marengo with a 42-40 win and plenty to be proud of. 

Cade Shield threw for over 300 yards and finished with five total touchdowns as Lone Tree snapped its three game losing streak.

“I am so proud of how our team bounced back,” Lone Tree coach Aaron Bohr said. In the last three games that we lost, not much seemed to go right — and we knew that Iowa Valley was playing as good of football as any team in our district. We also lost our leading tackler, Mathew Hemsted, due to injury, so it felt like the deck was stacked against us.”

Iowa Valley scored twice in the final three minutes of the game, and had a chance to tie the game with a 2-point conversion with 25 seconds left. Andrew Hotz and Joe Boxwell combined for the tackle to preserve the lead. 

Iowa Valley was given the ball after the ensuing onside kick and completed a pass in the final seconds, but Ethan Bockleman made a game-saving tackle at the 1-yard line. 

“I think it speaks volumes about the players that we have,” Bohr said, “that they were able to pick themselves up off the ground, have a great week of practice and then give the type of inspiring performance that they did.”

The Tigers briefly held a 22-20 lead after a 10-play, 62-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, but Lone Tree came right back. 

Facing second-and-19, Shield found Patterson for a 31-yard completion to move the chains. Two players later, Shield ran right up the middle from 15 yards out, avoiding tacklers and finding the end zone with a key block from Bockleman. 

Shield and Drew Gauley ended the next two Iowa Valley possessions with interceptions.

Gauley’s pick gave the Lions great field position with a 28-22 lead in the fourth quarter, but a pair of penalties put Lone Tree in third-and-22 from the 27. An 18-yard completion to Patterson set up a clutch 6-yard grab by Gauley to get the first down. Boxwell scored on a three yard rush on the next play to extend the lead. 

“We did a great job in our execution for both pass offense and defense,” Bohr said. “Offensively, I had our quarterbacks coach Kale Render draw up some schemes and he did a tremendous job of preparing our quarterback Cade Shield for the different looks he would face.”

Shield completed 20-of-38 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns, accounting for all but five yards of the Lions’ total offense. 

“Cade did a great job of getting the ball out to the open man, and Cade Patterson and Drew Gauley were nothing short of outstanding when it came to making plays," Bohr said. "Our offensive line also really stepped up and gave us time to throw the ball down the field.”

Patterson led Lone Tree with nine catches for 150 yards and a touchdown, while Gauley had seven catches for 111 yards and a score. 

Gauley was credited with 32 receiving yards on his first-quarter touchdown, but not a reception, as Patterson initially made a 22 yard catch, but lost the ball after being hit by a Tiger defensive back. The football bounced right to Gauley, who won a race to the end zone. 

Patterson and Shield led the defense with nine tackles each and combined for three interceptions.

Tiger quarterback Evan Kearney completed over 60 percent of his passes and was intercepted only three times through the first seven games. He was just 9-of-23 with three interceptions against Lone Tree. 

“Defensively, our guys did a great job of limiting a very explosive offense,” Bohr said. “Our defensive front was terrific in limiting their power running game, and our secondary played their best game of the year, picking off four passes against a quarterback that doesn't turn the ball over much. Ethan Bockelman was one player who really stepped up in his first extensive action at cornerback by sticking with his receiver and making several big tackles.”

Bockelman finished with 8.5 tackles and had a catch for 22 yards. Boxwell had two catches for 20 yards and had a pair of 2-point conversions in addition to his rushing touchdown. 

Caden Smith led the defense with 1.5 tackles for loss and had 7.5 tackles total. 

The loss drops Iowa Valley to 3-5 as both teams finish 2-4 in district play. The Lone Tree (4-4) football team is still searching for a week nine opponent. 

“I was impressed by everyone,” Bohr said. “From the top to the bottom, all of our guys played with a lot of heart, and the guys that didn't play gave a great look in the scout team this week.  This was a total team victory, and if this was our last game of the season, it was a special one to go out on.”

Scoring Summary

Lone Tree  14   6   8   14  -  42

Iowa Valley  8   6   8   18  -  40

LT - Cade Shield 12 run (pass failed)

IV - Brody Hoyt 3 run (Hoyt run)

LT - Drew Gauley 32 pass from Shield (Joe Boxwell pass from Shield)

LT - Cade Patterson 25 pass from Shield (pass failed)

IV - Clayton Kinzenbaw 60 pass from Kearney (run failed)

IV - Hoyt 1 run (Pierce Kienitz pass from Kearney)

LT - Shield 15 run (Boxwell run)

LT - Boxwell 3 run (Jack Buser pass from Shield)

IV - Brody Ward pass from Zane Keim (pass failed)

LT - Shield 34 run (pass failed)

IV - Hoyt 9 pass from Keim (pass failed)

IV - Kearney 6 run (run failed)

Lone Tree passing: Shield, 20-of-38, 308 yards, 2 TDs.

Rushing: Shield, 19-105, 3 TDs; Boxwell, 2-6, 1 TD.

Receiving: Patterson, 9-150, 1TD; Gauley, 7-111, 1 TD; Ethan Bockelman, 1-22; Boxwell, 2-20; Tyce Alt, 1-5.

Leading tacklers: Patterson, 9; Shield, 9; Bockelman, 8.5; Caden Smith, 7.5; Andrew Hotz, 5.