MARENGO – It was a draining game . . . physically and emotionally.
A versatile Iowa Valley football team won it, 52-31, Friday evening, Oct. 4.
The Tigers used a big second half, during which they outscored the Braves 38-12.
That was after a comparatively slow-moving first half. Braves quarterback Eddie Burgess threw touchdown passes to Trey Shearer, Cole Watts and Ben Jorgenson as Montezuma took at 19-14 lead into intermission.
Iowa Valley limited Montezuma’s offense like no other team had this season. The Tigers were tough on defense to be sure, limiting Burgess, a strong runner, to 40 yards on 13 carries, and a .420 pass completion percentage.
“Their defense did a great job of creating pressure and keeping our guys contained,” said Montezuma Coach Pat O’Brien.
But the Tigers’ best defense may well have been their ground-oriented offense, which kept itself on the field for long periods of time and wore heavily on the Braves’ defenders in the second half.
“Defensively, we didn’t tackle well at all,” O’Brien said.
Iowa Valley’s rushing offense was a three-headed monster. Quarterback Ben Smith rushed 34 times for 199 yards, a 5.9 per carry average, and four touchdowns.
Running back Derek Leonard had 13 carries for 117 yards (9.0) and a score. Evan Reuter had 54 yards on seven carries (7.7).
The Tigers threw just eight passes, but completed five, two of them for scores. Riley Krienitz caught one of those scoring strikes, which covered 36 yards. Leonard caught the other scoring pass on a much shorter play.
Iowa Valley ran 65 plays for 438 yards, which is 6.7 yards a per.
The Braves ran 72 yards for 274 yards, 3.8 per play.
Iowa Valley’s defense kept somewhat of a lid on Burgess the passer. He completed 21-of-50 (.420) for 205 yards and four touchdowns. That’s good, but the completion percentage was well below his season average.
Burgess also ran for a score.
Five Braves receivers caught passes, but none scored more than one touchdown.
Brian Diaz led Braves defenders with 8.5 tackles. Burgess had 7.5 stops, while Arendt, Trey Shearer and Cole Watts all were at 6.5 stops.
Iowa Valley scored twice out of halftime to lead 30-25.
The Braves put one up to cut the Tiger lead to 30-25 just 1:07 before the end of the third quarter.
Then Iowa Valley scored two touchdowns in succession, taking its fourth quarter lead out to 44-25.
Burgess ran one it with 7:34 left to play, cutting the lead to 44-31. But Iowa Valley was able to eat up yardage and clock until the end and added a score in the closing minutes.
The night’s results left both teams with 4-2 records for the season.
UP NEXT – Montezuma hosts HLV Friday evening, Oct. 11.
Braves Stats
Passing – Eddie Burgess was 21-for-50 for 205 yards, with 4 touchdown passes and one interception.
Receiving – Trey Shearer 7-79 with one touchdown. Ben Jorgenson 4-48 with one touchdown. Brayden Arendt 2 for 39, one touchdown. Cole Watts 6-34 for one touchdown. Masin Shearer 1-6.
Rushing – Burgess 13-40, one touchdown; Arendt 9-29.
Tackles – Brian Diaz 6 solo and 5 assisted, (8.5 total); Burgess 6 and 3 (7.5), Arendt 4 and 6 (6.5), Trey Shearer 5 and 3 (6.5), Watts 4 and 6 (6.5), Connor Van Zee 2 and 3 (3.5), Jorgenson 1 and 4 (3.0), Chandler Carl 1 and 3 (2.5); Joey Kercheval 0 and 4 (2.0).
