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Rebels withstand Wolverine comeback

DIKE – The defending Class A state champions haven’t made it look easy, but their methods certainly have been effective.

The fourth-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck football team defeated 2A No. 7 Dike-New Hartford here Friday night, taking a 17-0 lead through three quarters before clinging to a 17-14 victory.

Erik Knaack had two touchdown catches and Walker Thede’s 35-yard field goal gave Gladbrook-Reinbeck (2-0) its 17-0 advantage with 45 seconds left in the third period.

Dike-New Hartford answered in the fourth quarter, starting with Trent Johnson’s 21-yard touchdown run. The Wolverines made it a one-possession game on G-R’s ensuing drive, taking Hunter Lott’s fumble back 21 yards for the touchdown.

Dike-New Hartford was unable to move the ball on its last two drives, falling to (0-2) with losses to two Final Four teams from Class A a year ago.

Knaack finished with three receptions for 113 yards, snaring a 31-yard touchdown pass from Lott in the first quarter in and a 52-yard completion from Thede with 1 second left in the first half. Lott finished 6-for-12 for 89 yards passing, while Parker Bown ran for 110 yards on 29 carries. Thede ran for 59 yards on three attempts, and Lott added 41 yards on the ground.

Thomas Mussig paced the G-R defense with nine solo and six assisted tackles, including three stops behind the line of scrimmage. Matt Johannsen added two solo and six assisted stops. Mussig, Gage Murty and Mason Skovgard each recorded a quarterback sack.

Johnson carried 24 times for 129 yards to lead Dike-New Hartford.

GMG 20, North Butler 12

GARWIN – Garrett Groth scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 6 yards in the second half and GMG recovered a late squib kick to take down North Butler 20-12 in Friday’s non-district football contest.

GMG (2-0) trailed 12-6 at the halftime break but outscored the visiting Bearcats 14-0 in the second half. Cade Bovenmyer accounted for the Wolverines’ only first-half points on his 2-yard touchdown run, but GMG responded to the halftime deficit.

Groth tallied his first of two touchdowns in the third quarter, and Brayden Peterson’s two-point conversion run gave GMG the lead for good, 14-12. The Wolverines tacked on another Groth touchdown with 54 seconds remaining. Carson Wobeter beat North Butler’s return team to GMG’s ensuing kickoff, and his recovery iced the victory for the home team.

Brock Baldazo led GMG with 116 yards rushing, and Owen Beach added 67 more. The Wolverines were 0-for-9 passing with a pair of interceptions.

Wobeter also pulled down an interception for the GMG defense, and Beach recovered a fumble. Conner Stonewall amassed nine solo tackles and 11 assisted stops to lead the front line. Levi Duden and Bovenmyer both had four solo and three assisted tackles.

North Tama 48, BCLUW 24

TRAER – The North Tama football team secured its first win since Week 4 of the 2014 campaign, downing BCLUW 48-24 in Friday’s non-conference affair.

Cael Kopriva threw for 43 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 114 yards and another score as the Redhawks notched their first victory since a Sept. 19, 2014, 14-12 triumph against BCLUW in Traer.

Tyler Morrison ran for 134 yards and touchdowns of 4, 13 and 6 yards, and Noah Bond added four carries for 94 yards and a 7-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter alone as the Redhawks (1-1) ran away from the Comets (0-2) after facing an early deficit.

BCLUW (0-2) held a 12-7 lead in the second quarter before North Tama scored the last 21 points of the first half. Greg Schmitt capped the Comets’ opening possession with a 1-yard touchdown plunge, and Brad Barkema connected with Jack Garber for a 27-yard TD pass. But BCLUW didn’t score again until late in the third quarter, and Caleb Engle’s first of two touchdown runs cut North Tama’s lead to 35-18.

Barkema finished 7-for-17 passing for 95 yards, and he also ran 19 times for 84 yards. Schmitt had 15 carries for 74 yards, while Engle added 47 yards and two TDs. Garber caught three passes for 37 yards, Connor Thompson had two catches for 30 yards, and Bradley Bell had one reception for 22 yards.

Kopriva’s touchdown passes for North Tama covered 29 yards to Nic Sierra and 8 yards to Jacob Gorder, capping the Redhawks’ 28-0 run spanning the second and third quarters.

Grundy Center 11,

South Hardin 7

GRUNDY CENTER – Bryce Flater ran for 77 of his game-high 133 yards in the second half and the Grundy Center football team survived a stern challenge from South Hardin for an 11-7 win in Friday’s non-district showdown.

Sage Klar accounted for the Spartans’ lone touchdown, diving in from 6 yards out to put Grundy Center on top with five seconds left in the third quarter. Flater’s two-point conversion run made it 11-7, and the defense resisted South Hardin’s late push.

The Tigers (1-1), who led 7-3 after Logan Spindler’s 59-yard touchdown run late in the first half, drove down to Grundy Center’s 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter before backing up on a penalty, a fumble and a quarterback sack.

Spindler’s 90 yards rushing, on just three carries, led South Hardin.

East Marshall 6,

Waterloo Columbus 3

WATERLOO – Tyler DeBondt’s 8-yard touchdown run answered Waterloo Columbus’s go-ahead field goal, giving the East Marshall football team a 6-3 victory in Friday’s non-district tilt.

A 20-yard field goal for the Sailors (0-2) broke the scoreless tie with 10 minutes, 38 seconds remaining, but East Marshall took the ensuing drive the distance for the go-ahead touchdown.

DeBondt finished 33-for-50 passing for 205 yards, and five receivers had at least five catches each. Cam Hoskins hauled in nine passes for 42 yards, Zane Johnson made seven catches for 56 yards, while Noah Bandstra, Dru Boliver and Lansin Lacina each made three catches for 55, 40 and 31 yards, respectively.

Dillon Lee was the Mustangs’ leading rusher with 15 carries for 25 yards.

Johnson had three interceptions for the East Marshall defense, while Lee and Cole Nauman both recovered two fumbles. Bandstra had five solo tackles and three assists, while Nauman made six solo stops and Dawson Riemenschneider had five more.

West Marshall 49, Ogden 6

OGDEN – Cameron Bannister threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Beau Coberley, and Alex Dickey had a pair of touchdown runs as West Marshall secured its first 2-0 start since 2013 with a 49-6 clobbering of Ogden.

Coberley totaled three touchdowns in all, hauling in scoring passes of 58 and 11 yards and taking a reverse run 14 yards for another TD.

Bannister broke the scoreless tie with his 35-yard touchdown pass to Ross Randall. Dickey’s 50-yard touchdown dash made it 20-6 just before the half, and his 8-yard TD run opened the second-half scoring. Parker Hulbert capped the Trojans’ scoring with a 1-yard plunge late in the fourth quarter.

Coon Rapids-Bayard 59, Colo-NESCO 34

COON RAPIDS – Seventh-ranked Coon Rapids-Bayard kept the hammer down and didn’t let up, outscoring Colo-NESCO 59-34 in a non-district 8-man game.

Garret Tiarks rushed 36 times for 161 yards and four touchdowns for the Royals (0-2). Garrett Packer led the defense with nine solo and 14 assisted tackles, while Mason Lytle, Dakota Wier and Tiarks each recovered a fumble. Wayne Beard pulled down an interception, and the Royals blocked three extra-point kicks in the loss.

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