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’Cats clipped by Little Cyclones

By Ross Thede 8 min read

AMES -- Jamison Niehouse's leg broke, but the Bobcats' spirits didn't.

The Marshalltown football team fought for its debilitated quarterback, but archrival Ames had one more play in its bag for Friday's season opener.

Jace Hennigar connected with Suvan Kalivarapu for a 28-yard touchdown pass with 49 seconds left in the game as the Little Cyclones overcame a late deficit and denied Marshalltown 23-16 in Friday's Week 1 showdown at Ames High School.

The Bobcats, who had won two in a row in the series against their Highway 30 rival, rallied behind a bunch of sophomores and nearly pulled off an improbable victory. Marshalltown led 6-0, 9-7 and lastly at 16-15 with three minutes left to play. Senior slotback Zane Moore reeled in a 19-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Deegan Grant, and Angel Gomez's extra-point kick put MHS in front.

The Little Cyclones responded by marching 73 yards in seven plays, converting a fourth-and-eight with a 35-yard pass to Kalivarapu and overcoming two penalties along the way to the game-winning touchdown.

Marshalltown's final possession reached midfield before ending on an interception as time expired.

"You're kind of speechless after that," said MHS head coach Adam Goodvin. "You make big plays and then big plays are made against you and it's just … it's tough. It's extremely tough, but we made sure they understood how their efforts didn't go unnoticed and how proud of them we were.

"We made sure they understood the importance of keeping your head down and working and how that's a non-negotiable. If we continue to build on the toughess and the execution and be consistent with our practices, the wins will come."

Niehouse was injured on a hip-drop tackle on the final play off the first half, rolled up on a takedown from behind by Ames lineman Morgan Fjelland. Marshalltown's signal caller laid on the turf as trainers called for the stretcher and ambulance, placing his right leg into an air cast immediately.

The rest of the team went to the locker room in a 7-6 deficit, but there's no words for how they felt.

"Guys stepped up all game," Goodvin said. "We've got a tough group, I don't think there's any doubt about that. They had all the reason to fold there right at half, but the seniors and upperclassmen stepped up.

"We always talk about celebrating when things go well and picking each other up when things don't, and they won't. It's football, there's always bad things, but how they responded -- I couldn't be more proud of them."

Niehouse gave the Bobcats a 6-0 lead on the fourth play of the game, pulling the option handoff and scampering 53 yards untouched on his way into the end zone.

Ames claimed the lead on their second possession, getting a 44-yard touchdown dash by sophomore running back Elijah Deardorff early in the second quarter.

On the final possession of the first half, Marshalltown moved to midfield before calling one final play. Niehouse looked to throw before scrambling sideways out of the pocket, and he was caught from behind and dragged down.

The hip-drop tackle is deemed illegal in the National Football League, but NCAA college football and the National Federation of State High School Associations -- the governing body which Iowa follows -- does not consider it a penalty.

"It's tough, obviously," Goodvin said of Niehouse's injury. "He's Jamison. He's a captain, a senior leader, does a lot of the right things. I think that really put the rest of that senior group in a tough position, and there was some uncertainty, but we told them there was nothing Jamison would want more than for us to go out there and just keep competing our tails off and go win the dang football game.

"And you know -- we gave ourselves a chance."

Niehouse and fellow senior captain and running back Tyler Englund, two of the state's top returning rushers from a year ago, both went down in the game. Englund was injured on Marshalltown's first possession of the third quarter, which ended when Gomez's 37-yard field-goal attempt was blocked.

The Bobcat defense forced a three-and-out before the offense used a nine-play, 51-yard drive to set up another 37-yard field goal chance for Gomez. The soccer standout split the uprights to give MHS a 9-7 lead with 1:37 left in the third.

Ames countered 12-play, 80-yard drive that spanned 6:05 and ended when Hennigar hit Trey Rogers on a 5-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal. MHS junior defensive back Terry Wyant even deflected the pass, but it still found its way to Rogers. A two-point conversion run put the Little Cyclones on top, 15-9, with 6:32 to play.

The Bobcats, still dedicated to their run-heavy flexbone offense, pulled a fast one on Ames. On third-and-10, Grant connected with Moore on a 66-yard pass play to get into the red zone, and on third-and-15 from the 19, Grant found Moore again on a 19-yard scoring strike. Gomez tacked on the extra point, giving MHS a 16-15 lead with three minutes remaining.

It turned out to be too much time, however, as Hennigar went 3-for-6 for 76 yards on the game-winning drive. Ames used a halfback pass play that was nearly intercepted by sophomore safety Maximus Leger, and another Hennigar toss was nearly picked off by senior defensive back Edgar Meraz.

Instead, MHS was left with 44 seconds left to go 60 yards with no timeouts remaining. Grant connected with junior wideout Garrett Thede for eight yards on the first play, but back-to-back incompletions forced the Bobcats to run for a first down.

Marshalltown turned to junior Hunter Fors for its Hail Mary from midfield, but his toss was intercepted by River Hernandez as the clock ran out.

"We talk about controlling the controllables, and there were some things that were out of our hand tonight that were unfortunate," Goodvin said, "but I think at the end of the day, I've not been more proud of a team after a loss in my life. That's definitely certain.

"A lot of guys really, really stepped up and just competed their tails off that quite simply didn't have any snaps under their belt at the varsity level."

Marshalltown used just 22 players in the game, including 10 sophomores.

"We heard the upperclassmen talking about they wanted to do it for (Niehouse)," Goodvin said. "They're all really great friends, and he's an elite competitor. He wouldn't want this team out here feeling sorry for themselves or feeling sorry for him, even though I'm sure that was in the back of our minds."

Niehouse still finished as the team's leading rusher, carrying 10 times for 82 yards, while McLeod got 38 yards on seven carries after Englund went to the sideline. Grant ended 3-for-6 passing for 93 yards, while Moore hauled in four passes for 90 yards.

Hennigar finished 13-for-18 for 160 yards, while Braylen Chambers carried 18 times for 103 yards for the Little Cyclones. Kalivarapu had four receptions for 80 yards.

Neither team turned the ball over until Marshalltown's last-ditch attempt at the final horn.

"It hurts because that's a tough loss, and I know how hard our kids played and how tough they were," Goodvin added. "Our backs were against the ball from the get-go. I'm proud of them."

The Bobcats play their home opener on Sept. 4, entertaining Waterloo East for a 7 p.m. game at Leonard Cole Field.

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Ames 23, Marshalltown 16

At Ames

Score by Quarters

MHS 6 0 3 7 -- 16

AMES 0 7 0 16 -- 23

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

MHS -- Jamison Niehouse 53 run (kick failed), 10:09.

Second Quarter

AMES -- Elijah Deardorff 44 run (Corwyn Evans kick), 10:34.

Third Quarter

MHS -- FG Angel Gomez 37, 1:37.

Fourth Quarter

AMES -- Trey Rogers 5 pass from Jace Hennigar (Dilmar Martinez run), 6:32.

MHS -- Zane Moore 19 pass from Deegan Grant (Gomez kick), 3:00.

AMES -- Suvan Kalivarapu 28 pass from Hennigar (Braylen Chambers run), :49.

TEAM STATISTICS

MHS AMES

First Downs 10 16

Rushes-yards 38-204 28-191

Passing yards 98 160

Comp-Att-Int 5-10-1 13-19-0

Total Offense 48-302 47-351

Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-0

Penalties-yards 7-45 7-58

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING -- MHS: Niehouse 10-82, Quinn McLeod 7-38, Tyler Englund 12-37, Larrs Schoenfelder 3-31, Moore 5-16, Hunter Fors 1-0; AMES: Chambers 18-103, Deardorff 3-65, Luke Hill 1-12, Hennigar 4-10, Martinez 2-1.

PASSING -- MHS: Grant 3-6-93-0, Niehouse 2-2-5-0, Fors 0-2-0-1; AMES: Hennigar 13-18-160-0, Deardorff 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING -- MHS: Moore 4-90, Garrett Thede 1-8; AMES: Kalivarapu 4-80, Jonas Strosahl 3-26, Peyton Johnson 2-25, Rogers 3-18, Willoughby Wright 1-11.

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