Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – North Scott, 9-2 a year ago and a quarterfinalist in Class 4A, returned its stylish quarterback and top receiver this season to compete in Class 3A.

The Lancers entered Friday’s game with a 6-1 record, their only loss to 4A 7th-ranked Iowa City West. They led 3A District 5 in total yards, touchdowns, receiving yards and points scored.

The fourth-ranked Lancers put on a show worthy of all but a handful of 4A teams Friday night in defeating previously unbeaten Clear Creek Amana, 45-7, at Clipper Field.

With one regular-season game remaining, the victory gave the Lancers the district championship in the showdown of 3-0 district leaders.

“They’re as good a football team as there is out there in Class 3A,” Clipper coach Gabe Bakker said. “They took it to us right away. They did what they had to do, and our kids were reeling a little bit and we just never found our footing.”

Running a no-huddle offense and using quick, short passes, the Lancers sliced and diced the Clipper defense.

Quarterback Nile McLaughlin completed 20-of-28 passes for 238 yards. McLaughlin was precise and efficient even though his offensive line gave him plenty of time to throw.

The Lancers also ran the ball effectively with Jacob Portis and Quentin Allison combining for 152 yards on 29 carries.

“I thought we played well,” North Scott coach Kevin Tippet said. “We had some good practices, and special teams really contributed. We put it all together tonight and played well.”

They controlled the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively.

The Clippers were trapped in terrible field position throughout the first half and couldn’t get a first down until about three minutes were left in the second quarter. That was their only first down in the first half. They gained 33 yards rushing and just three passing in the half.

“They were coming in undefeated and we had to come out strong, and we did,” Lancers defensive back Kade Sandknop said. “Our coaches and players have been watching film of them all week, and we knew what they would run from their formations, so we anticipated that and played it perfect.”

The sixth-ranked Clippers started first-half drives at their own 28, 9, 5, 13, 1, 20 and 21. North Scott’s special teams pinned the Clippers back on kickoffs and Sandknop returned a punt 31 yards for a touchdown.

“I think if we could have stretched the field a bit and hit a vertical ball early on that would have helped,” Bakker said. “We were inside our 20 four times. We had three turnovers, and they returned a punt. We could never get things going.”

The first-half highlight came when the CCA defense mounted an impressive goal-line stand, halting an eight-play North Scott drive, to get possession at the 1. 

But the Lancers led 24-0 at the break in a game that already felt like it had gotten away.

“We didn’t finish a few drives,” Tippet said. “I thought our defense put us in some really good situations.

“They’re well-coached; their kids played hard. They have a lot of movement defensively. They were gambling. They were blitzing a lot, and that’s tough for our offensive line. They’re a good defense.

“That second half I thought we did a great job of, even when we got stalled out offensively we were trying to push tempo. We were trying to make the plays add up and be physical with them because I thought we were deeper than they were.”

North Scott added three TDs in the second half on drives of 95, 77 and 62 yards.

The Clippers didn’t score until nine seconds remained on a nine-yard pass from Andrew Rohret to Mitch Evans.

Clear Creek Amana is 7-1, 3-1 and still has a chance to reach the playoffs if it can defeat Central DeWitt (5-3, 2-2) next week on the road.

“This can go one of two ways,” Bakker said. “We can learn from it, and then put it behind us. Or we can dwell on it. Because we have a chance to win an eighth regular-season game which has never happened here. It’s going to be against a tough Central DeWitt team. They are much improved, and they’re going to cause us problems.”

                                    NS                  CCA

First downs                24                      7

Rushing-yards           48-186             32-100

Comp-att-int             21-29-1             6-13-2

Passing-yards            247                   56

Punts-avg.                  1-37               5-32.8

Fumbles-lost              0-0                   2-1

Penalties-yards          3-25                 4-30

North Scott               17  7  7  14  –  45

Clear Creek Amana  0   0  0   7   –  7

NS – Andrew Lundvall 40 field goal

NS – Nile McLaughlin 7 run (Lundvall kick)

NS – Kade Sandknop 31 punt return (Lundvall kick)

NS – Carson Rollinger 24 pass from McLaughlin (Lundvall kick)

NS – Jacob Porth 3 run (Lundvall kick)

NS – Nile McLaughlin 1 run (Lundvall kick)

NS – Noah Kline 3 run (Lundvall kick)

CCA – Mitch Evans 9 pass from Andrew Rohret (Evans kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing – NS: Quentin Allison 13-78, Jacob Porth 16-74, Noah Kline 7-26, Jake Matthaidess 1-6, Carson Rollinger 1-4, Trent Allard 1-3, Nile McLaughlin 7-1, Kade Sandknop 1-0, Team 1-(-6). CCA: Andrew Rohret 18-50, Alex Figueroa 9-22, Sam Stevens 2-18, Harrison Cory 2-9, Zach Kabbage 1-1.

PASSING – NS: Nile McLaughlin 20-28-1-238, Trent Allard 1-1-0-9. CCA: Andrew Rohret 6-13-2-56.

RECEIVING – NS: Carson Rollinger 7-114, Tytan Anderson 7-50, Andrew Lundvall 5-52, Jacob Porth 1-22, Grant Solis 1-0. CCA: Sam Stevens 2-36, Nolan Schwarting 2-9, Mitch Evans 1-9, T.J. Bollers 1-2.

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