CEDAR FALLS — Patrick Brown III picked up one more win on the UNI-Dome turf on Saturday evening while helping a worthy cause.

The Grundy Center lineman was part of an offensive front that created a second-half surge for the North All-Stars in a 29-15 victory in the 51st Iowa Shrine Bowl in Cedar Falls.

The game comes a few months after Brown III shared a Class A state championship with his Spartan teammates.

“I didn’t know if I’d ever play on this field again,” said Brown III, who has signed to play football at Iowa Central. “Going out with a win in November was great and being selected to play in this game was even better. It’s just really awesome.”

Brown III was also the top fundraiser for the North squad this season, the second year in a row that a Grundy Center athlete has achieved that feat following Logan Knaack in 2022.

“They understood that it was going to a good cause,” Brown III said. “And that’s the great thing about Grundy, everyone supports everyone, so it was easy to ask someone and know there’s a good chance the community will support you.”

And under the tutelage of head coach Travis Zajac and his staff, Brown III said that the Spartan football program creates players that are worth that support.

Funds raised by the Shrine Bowl game and by its participants are distributed to Shriners’ Children hospitals and burn centers all across the Midwest, as well as to Shriner transportation funds to transport patients to and from hospitals and clinics.

“It’s important in our program to take off the pads and be a good person off the field,” Brown III said. “And it was a super busy week, but one thing that’s really special is to be able to meet people less fortunate than I am and be able to represent them. It’s about these kids and it’s super special.”

The South led 7-0 at halftime on a touchdown rush from Indianola’s Bennett Brueck.

Handling the snaps at center as he had done for the Spartans countless times, including their undefeated championship season this fall, Brown III and the offensive line made a roaring comeback in the third quarter, fending off talented pass rushers to give CLGLR’s Zach Lutmer, an Iowa recruit and North Offensive Most Valuable Player on Saturday, time to produce in the backfield.

Lutmer threw two touchdown passes, bookending a safety forced by Evan Snyders of West Lyon, and the North never trailed again.

With less than a week of preparation, Brown III and the North delivered.

“The South side had some talented players on their defensive line, so to be able to do what we did, especially for me as an undersized blocker, it’s a lot of fun,” Brown III said.

Snyders was North’s defensive MVP; Durant’s Nolan DeLong and Pella’s Trey Van Hauen claimed offensive and defensive top honors for the South, respectively — DeLong is an Iowa recruit, Van Hauen a Dordt signee.

Players and cheerleaders from across Iowa attended Shrine Bowl camps throughout the week and had an opportunity to attend a mini-camp with hospital patients to interact with them, play games and share stories.

It’s also a valuable experience for Brown III to meet new people as invested in the game as he is before he heads to the Fort Dodge campus next month, where he’s expected to flip to the defensive side of the line of scrimmage at lineman.

“I’m excited,” Brown III said. “I’m undersized for an offensive lineman so to be able to use my speed and quickness on the other side of the ball is going to be very helpful. I think our program’s going to be really good and we’ll do a lot of good things up there.”