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Riverhawks slip through Bobcats’ grasp

By Ross Thede 6 min read

MASON CITY -- The Marshalltown football team has held the lead in each of its three losses this season, twice in the fourth quarter.

The offense built not to play from behind is struggling to win from ahead.

The Bobcats took a seven-point lead with a minute to go in the third quarter before Mason City scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth to close out a 22-13 triumph on Friday night at Riverhawk Field.

Marshalltown has now been outscored 54-14 in the fourth quarters this season, sending the Bobcats to an 0-3 start.

"We really liked where we were at going into the fourth quarter, obviously, with the lead," said MHS head coach Adam Goodvin. "They had a long way to go to drive the field and our guys had been playing well up until that. You talk about limiting those big plays and it's hard -- it's much easier said than done -- but that certainly was one that wasn't good for the 'Cats."

That one was a reverse run for Mason City wide receiver DeSavian Portis, who took a second handoff 69 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Marshalltown had broken a 6-all tie with a trick play of its own late in the third quarter, when slotback Zane Moore took a pitch to the right before throwing a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Garrett Thede, who was all alone behind the Riverhawk defense. Angel Gomez converted the extra-point kick to give the Bobcats a 13-6 advantage with 1:04 left in the period, but the fourth frame was all Mason City.

Three plays later, the Riverhawks retaliated from their bag of tricks, setting up a reverse run as the Marshalltown defense got caught over-pursuing the original handoff to Chase Lacour. Mason City got the two-point conversion as well to take a 14-13 lead.

The Bobcats' next possession went three-and-out, only the snap to punter Innocent Ishangulungu sailed over his head and he kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

The Riverhawks all but secured the victory by marching 65 yards on 10 plays on their ensuing drive, capitalizing on a pair of Bobcat penalties while consuming 6:30 off the clock to take a 22-13 lead.

The two-score advantage was more than Marshalltown's run-first offense could overcome in the final 3:24.

"Yeah, things aren't clicking, clearly," Goodvin said. "You can sit back and point fingers and blame this and blame that, but we've got to get creative and find ways to be a little more consistent and move the football and have confidence in what we're doing."

Marshalltown's defense produced three turnovers but gave up twice as many yards as the offense gained. Edgar Meraz intercepted a pair of Jameer Falls passes and Kieron Sharp scooped up a Falls fumble on the first drive of the game, setting up the Bobcats' go-ahead score midway through the first quarter.

Sharp's 33-yard return set up the MHS offense in the red zone, and Larrs Schoenfelder capped the first drive of his first varsity start at quarterback with a 4-yard touchdown run. Fellow sophomore Deegan Grant replaced injured senior Jamison Niehouse in Weeks 1 and 2, but Schoenfelder got the call this week.

"He's a competitor, (but) it's a tough situation for him to be in," Goodvin said of Schoenfelder. "Saw some good, saw some bad, which we knew would happen, but we're overall proud of the effort he put forth tonight. He'll continue getting better and he'll work at it and continue to learn and see the big picture of what we're trying to accomplish."

Another long, productive offensive possession nearly reached paydirt again, but a Schoenfelder pass to Faith Banissan in the end zone fell incomplete. Five plays later, a 32-yard field goal attempt by Gomez sailed wide to the left, and Mason City scored the tying touchdown on its next drive.

The Riverhawks went 80 yards in 10 plays, propeled by a personal foul penalty, and Falls found the end zone on a 7-yard run.

Falls finished as the game's leading rusher, taking 18 carries for 90 yards, as Mason City won the fifth-straight game in the series.

The Riverhawks totaled 353 yards to Marshalltown's 181, getting 240 yards on the ground and another 113 through the air. Falls was 8-for-11 with two interceptions and a lost fumble, but moved the offense down the field often enough.

Portis took his only handoff 69 yards for a touchdown while making four receptions for 75 yards. Lacour had 60 yards rushing and 31 receiving.

Marshalltown, which ranked sixth in Class 5A a year ago in rushing yards per game (245.1), was held to 104 yards on the ground and 181 yards overall in the loss. Schoenfelder was 5-for-7 for 77 yards passing, with Moore catching two balls for 31 yards. Quinn McLeod carried 15 times for 60 yards and Banissan had five attempts for 43 yards.

The Bobcats returned a number of players to their active lineup from injury and ineligibility, but the roster boost wasn't enough on this night.

"There's a lot of things we've got to fix," Goodvin said. "We've got to do a better job of making sure that our guys are taking practice a little more seriously and being a little more consistent. I think we had a poor practice on Tuesday and you can't have that.

"Obviously we're facing some challenges that we didn't plan for or no one planned for, but that's the boat we're in and we can't make excuses about it, we've got to develop better mental toughness, and when things don't go well we've got to be able to overcome that and not cry and pout and all that stuff."

The Bobcats are back at Leonard Cole Field on Friday, Sept. 18, for a homecoming game against Des Moines East.

Mason City 22, Marshalltown 13

At Mason City

Score by Quarter

MHS 6 0 7 0 -- 13

MC 0 6 0 16 -- 22

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

MHS -- Larrs Schoenfelder 4 run (kick blocked), 6:25.

Second Quarter

MC -- Jameer Falls 7 run (run failed), 4:15.

Third Quarter

MHS -- Garrett Thede 39 pass from Zane Moore (Angel Gomez kick), 1:04.

Fourth Quarter

MC -- DeSavian Portis 69 run (Isaac Buhr pass from Falls), 11:49.

MC -- Safety, ball kicked out of end zone, 10:01.

MC -- Falls 1 run (kick failed), 3:31.

TEAM STATISTICS

MHS MC

First downs 11 19

Rushes-yards 36-104 31-240

Passing yards 77 113

Comp-Att-Int 5-7-0 8-11-2

Total offense 43-181 42-353

Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-1

Penalties-yards 6-40 5-45

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING -- MHS: Quinn McLeod 15-60, Faith Banissan 5-43, Drake Gersema 1-6, Moore 1-1, Drewmex Aichy 1-1, TEAM 1-(minus-1), Schoenfelder 12-(minus-6); MC: Falls 18-90, DeSavian Portis 1-69, Chase Lacour 13-60, Henry Steele 2-16, Immanuel George 4-10, Jackson Hummel 1-(minus-1), TEAM 2-(minus-4).

PASSING -- MHS: Moore 1-1-39-0, Schoenfelder 4-6-38-0; MC: Falls 8-11-113-2.

RECEIVING -- MHS: Thede 1-39, Moore 2-31, Levi Bell 1-7, Banissan 1-0; MC: Portis 4-75, Lacour 3-31, Aden Kraft 1-7.

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