NEW SHARON – North Mahaska coach Trey Bennett thought Friday’s contest with rival Lynnville-Sully was like watching an Ali-Frazier fight. Judging by the teams after the contest it was a heavy weight battle. Lynnville-Sully made a couple big plays and third down and long to escape with a 30-22 victory.
The game was a far cry from last season’s 43-0 win by the Hawks. North Mahaska outgained the visiting Hawks 282-241. It looked like L-S was going to the locker room at halftime with the lead. North Mahaska had a drive stall just outside the Hawk goal line. The defense stepped up and stopped the Hawks in the end zone for a safety. That forced LS to free kick and NM got ball at the Hawk’s 41.
North Mahaska hit a pass on fourth down and 3 to go at the LS 35 to get to the 16-yard line. Instead of clocking the ball quarterback Lucas Nunnikhoven ran a pass play with 5 seconds left and found Dylan Meland for a touchdown as time ran out. The 2-point conversion failed, and the teams went into half tied 8-8.
Turnovers via interceptions allowed the Hawks to go back on top 16-8. North Mahaska’s Asher DeBoef returned the favor and picked off Lannon Montgomery. The turnover led to an NM touchdown, but the 2-point effort failed, and LS led 16-14 after three periods.
Each team scored a TD in the fourth period. The Hawks added a late score to secure the victory. North Mahaska’s final drive got the ball into Lynnville-Sully territory, but time ran out with the ball at the Hawk 33.
“It was a rumble,” said Bennett. “That’s a really good football team over there. We just made one or two few plays tonight. In the first half our offense had a hard time getting going. We fought all game. These boys could have quit but they never did.”
Nunnikhoven was 18-for-30 passing for 220 yards. Ryan Groom was the leading receiver with four catches for 75 yards and Chance Angle had five catches for 65 yards. Hunter Wernli added 47 yards on three catches. DeBoef and Meland finished with 13 and 19 yards respectively.
The ground game for the Warhawks struggled with Charlie Goemaat leading with 12 carries for 31 yards. Nunnikhoven rushed 11 times for 26.
Lynnville-Sully was led in rushing by Matthew Mintle who had 60 yards on nine carries. L-S managed just 90 yards on the ground. Lannon Montgomery was 11-for-13 passing for 151 yards.
Nunnikhoven was picked three times while Montgomery threw two. Groom and DeBoef each recorded a pick. One of the big fumble recoveries came when Alex Meland snagged a ball popped into the air.
“We are a great football team too,” said Bennett. “I told these boys, ‘I don’t think they want to play us again.’ I think we beat them up tonight. We beat them up physically. We just didn’t win on the score that mattered. We had too many turnovers and then I got outcoached but that’s on me.
“We got to forget about this one and get back to work tomorrow. We’ll go down there (Central Decatur) and play. They are big but we are fast and physical.
