L-S football seeks second 10-win season in school history

Prior to this season, the last time Lynnville-Sully’s football team started 9-0 was in 2017.

That Hawks’ squad traveled 90 minutes to Hudson for a postseason game and a chance to win 10 games for the second time in school history.

The end result was a season-ending 30-0 loss to a Pirates’ squad which reached the Class A state championship game.

This year’s Hawks hope for a different result on Friday when they host Mount Ayr in the round of 16 playoffs. The Raiders will be the ones making the long trip this time as they will drive more than two hours to face the undefeated and fifth-ranked Hawks.

“The nice thing about being at home is we don’t have to ride on a bus for a long time,” Lynnville-Sully football coach Mike Parkinson said. “Those long bus rides can take something out of you. It doesn’t mean they won’t show up and play well, but it does take something out of your performance.

“We had to go up to Hudson and sit on a bus for an hour and 30 minutes (in 2017). That was a challenge for that group of guys to overcome.”

This year’s Hawks have cruised to 9-0. They are averaging 46.7 points per game while only allowing 7.9 points per contest.

Mount Ayr comes into the week on a five-game win streak. The Raiders’ lone loss — a 41-13 defeat — came against fourth-ranked AHSTW-Avoca.

The winner of Friday night’s game could face AHSTW (9-0) in the next round as the Vikings host Southwest Valley (7-2) in the other game in Pod D.

“There are no breaks anymore. Mount Ayr is a good football team,” Parkinson said. “They have good team speed, they have some size and good athletes in the skill positions.

“Defensively, they’re aggressive and tackle well. It’s going to be a challenge. I think it will be a good football game. I’m excited for the opportunity, and I think the guys are pumped up to play.”

The Hawks’ offense is led by junior Corder Noun Harder, who ranks sixth in Class A with 1,363 rushing yards, fifth in yards per carry at 12.4 and tied for fourth with 24 rushing touchdowns. He also has a punt return touchdown and a kickoff return touchdown.

Noun Harder set a new school record for career rushing yards last week in the playoff win over Earlham.

“He’s a special kid. Looking at him on Friday night, after he broke the record, I went up and gave him a big hug,” Parkinson said. “And I don’t think he knew it. After I told him he set the new rushing record, he just smiled. He’s such a humble kid.”

Conner Maston has nine receiving touchdowns in his first season as a wide receiver. That ranks sixth in Class A.

Lannon Montgomery’s 166.5 quarterback rating is tops in Class A. He’s thrown 13 TDs and only two interceptions this fall.

The Hawks are fifth in the class with an 8.3 yards per carry average and the 60 TDs are second.

Lynnville-Sully’s defense has been just as good this fall. The Hawks are tied for first in Class A with 19 sacks, second with 80 tackles for loss, tied for fifth with 14 fumble recoveries and tied for seventh with 12 interceptions.

Keegan DeWitt has four of those picks, which ranks tied for seventh in the class.

Kyle Squires and Lane Fisk lead the defense with 62.5 and 62 tackles, respectively. Squires has 10 tackles for loss and Fisk has registered 8.5 tackles for loss. Mathias Torres and Dawson James each have a team-best 11 tackles for loss, Torres is sitting on 2.5 sacks and James has recovered three fumbles.

“It’s very rare with this team when you watch the game back on film that you see just one guy making a tackle,” Parkinson said. “Every single tackle, it seems like there are at least two guys on the ball. That’s the mark of a good defense. They do a good job with leverage and pursuit.”

Mount Ayr is loaded with talented seniors.

Jaixen Frost has thrown for 1,170 yards and has 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also rushed for 262 yards and four scores.

Braydon Pierson has a team-high 739 rushing yards and 14 TDs. Defensively, Pierson has four picks and one TD and he’s also returned both a kick and a punt back for scores.

Jaydon Knight has 275 rushing yards, 338 receiving yards and eight total offensive TDs. Defensively, he leads the team with 65.5 tackles and has two sacks, one pick and 16.5 tackles for loss.

The Raiders’ defense has accounted for nine interceptions and 16 fumble recoveries.

Lynnville-Sully will try to avoid a loss in this round for the second straight season. Last year’s 12-8 loss to North Tama has served as motivation for the Hawks this fall.

“There’s motivation there, but we have kept our focus on Mount Ayr for the most part,” Parkinson said. “The guys have bigger goals than winning a second-round game. Not to downplay this game, but the guys have been dreaming about bigger things. This is a milestone. This is one more game on our path to our ultimate goal.

“When you’re rated and the No. 1 seed and at home, there’s certainly pressure. Pressure can do two things — it can make diamonds or it can break pipes. We need to decide what we want the pressure to do.”

The Hawks host Mount Ayr at 7 p.m. on Friday in Sully. BC Moore (http://ia.bcmoorerankings.com) has L-S projected to win by 14 points. L-S is one of five 9-0 teams in Class A.