COUNCIL BLUFFS — After Dylan Barrett's 95-yard kickoff return with 3:43 left in the third put Harlan Community up 34-28, you could almost hear the murmuring in the Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln crowd.
“Here we go again. Same old Lynx.''
But these are not the same old Lynx. On fourth-and-12 at the Harlan 17, Alex Olsen found 6-foot-6 tight end Jamison Lalk for a touchdown, and Nolan Webster's kick put the Lynx up 35-34 with 8:41 remaining. A.L. added two more scores in the final 4:34 to beat the Class 3-A No. 1 Cyclones 49-34 in a wild one before an estimated 5,500 at Council Bluffs Stadium.
“That was one of the scariest moments of my life,'' Lalk said of the tying touchdown reception. “I just knew I had to concentrate. I trusted Alex, and he threw it right in the perfect spot.''
The Lynx students swarmed the field at game's end to join their athletes in celebration.
“The kids didn't give up,'' an emotional A.L. coach Justin Kammrad said. “The defending 3-A state champions are up on us, and our kids stayed after it and never gave up. That's the thing that we've been fighting for years and years, stick with it and good things will happen.''
Class 4-A Abraham Lincoln, with zero wins in 38 years of Iowa playoff football, improved to 3-0. Harlan, with Iowa records of 81 playoff wins and 12 state titles in Class 3-A, dropped to 1-1.
Harlan still had plenty of time to answer in the fourth quarter. But Josh Kinney's sack of Zach Osborn forced a Harlan punt, giving A.L. possession on its 15 with 5:39 left. The Lynx scored in four plays, with Devin Thomas running 43 yards and then Austin Ebertowski the final 27 to make it a 42-34 game with 4:34 left.
Colton Thompson's interception – the third of four Osborn picks in the game – gave the Lynx the ball again, and Ebertowski's 6-yard TD run iced it with 2:31 remaining.
Kammrad said the decision to go for it on fourth and 12 and call Lalk's number made sense. It also came two plays after A.L. thought it had tied the game on a third-and-12 play at the 17 when Olsen found Ebertowski for an apparent touchdown. But the TD was called back on a block in the back.
The Lynx didn't let that disappointment fluster them. Kammrad felt good about the fourth-down play call.
“It was do or die at that point, and we have a 6-6 guy out there,'' Kammrad said. “We've been practicing it, and we had the perfect throw. I don't know if we've ever had a perfect throw like that, but that's what we needed.''
It was an offensive showcase the whole way. The fireworks hit their zenith in the third quarter, with four touchdowns in a span of 4:37. Harlan had three of the four scores.
The Cyclones took a 21-20 lead when Osborn found Derek Schwartz wide open in the flat for a 6-yard score. After the Lynx went three-and-out, Osborn found Barrett on a short pass, and he turned it into a 57-yard touchdown reception for a 28-20 lead with 6:35 left in the third.
Ebertowski answered with a 23-yard TD run, and Olsen hit Lalk for two points to tie it at 28. But then Barrett returned the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
However, the Lynx responded like champions down the stretch.
For the winners, Ebertowski carried 22 times for 168 yards and four touchdowns. Olsen finished 10 of 19 through the air for 144 yards and three TDs.
Osborn finished 15 for 26 for 211 yards, with four touchdowns and the four picks for Harlan. Barrett carried 14 times for 96 yards in addition to his long TD catch and kickoff return for a score.
Lalk said the victory should lead to great things for the Lynx this season.
“I plan on going undefeated,'' he said. “I don't know about the rest of this team, but I plan on going undefeated.''
Harlan (1-1)......................7 7 20 0—34
CB Abraham Lincoln (3-0)...............14 6 8 21—49
AL: Jamison Lalk 34 pass from Alex Olsen (Nolan Webster kick
AL: Austin Ebertowski 15 run (Webster kick)
Harlan: Derek Schwartz 4 pass from Zach Osborn (Trent Wendt kick)
AL: Webster 27 pass from Olsen (kick failed)
Harlan: Adam Cave 15 pass from Osborn (Wendt kick)
Harlan: Schwartz 6 pass from Osborn (Wendt kick)
Harlan: Dylan Barrett 57 pass from Osborn (Wendt kick)
AL: Ebertowski 23 run (Lalk pass from Olsen)
Harlan: Barrett 95 kickoff return (kick blocked)
AL: Lalk 17 pass from Olsen (Webster kick)
AL: Ebertowski 27 run (Webster kick)
AL: Ebertowski 6 run (Webster kick)
Contact the writer:
444-1055, kevin.white@owh.com
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