The Braves didn’t win the trophy they wanted.
But they played in a game at the UNI-Dome they’ll still be talking about at their class reunions.
And after 40 years, who knows what embellishments they’ll add to what really happened?
After a 74-74 score through three quarters, one of the announcers on the statewide telecast of Montezuma vs. Remsen St. Mary’s said: “I can’t believe one of these teams won’t be here for the championship game next week.”
At 108-94 for St. Mary’s, this Class 8 semifinal was a record-setter. Here are marks set, with thanks to Cody Goodwin of The Des Moines Register for looking up most of them:
The 202 combined points were the most ever in an Iowa high school football game. The previous marks had been 178 for Class 8, and 180 for eleven-man football.
It was the first game in state history in which both teams scored 90 or more points.
The Braves are the first team to score 90 points and lose. They were just the third team to score 80 points and lose.
Montezuma’s 804 yards of total offense is the most ever in an eight-man game in Iowa, and second to the record of 807 for all classes.
The Braves put up 744 yards of passing, a single game record for Class 8.
Eddie Burgess passed for 689 of those yards, the most ever in Class 8.
Trey Shearer’s 20 catches were the most ever in an eight-man game. His seven touchdown catches and 389 total receiving yards were the second best ever.
Beyond records, Goodwin reported that there were five ties and eight lead changes in a game that took four hours and one minute to complete.
He also noted that the Braves scored almost one touchdown per minute: 14 TDs in 13:58 of possession time.
