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Audubon holds off Iowa Valley’s 2nd half charge in 8-player quarterfinal
Tigers close season 10-1, one win short of UNI Dome
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MARENGO — The game came down to the final play.
All you could ask for with a trip to the UNI Dome and the state football semifinals on the line.
Fifth-ranked Audubon (11-0) outlasted No. 4 Iowa Valley’s comeback attempt for a 26-19 win in an 8-player state quarterfinal Thursday night.
Trailing 26-6 in the third quarter, Iowa Valley mounted a comeback, getting within 7 at 26-19, but was unable to score from the Audubon 15 as time expired on the final play.
“We were just a couple of plays here and there away,” Iowa Valley coach Casey Krull said. “When you get to this point, it comes down to the margins, and we didn’t quite get the margins we needed.”
The game could not have started any better for Iowa Valley.
On the first play of the game, quarterback Nolan Kriegel connected with Layne Peska for a 65-yard score. Peska was wide-open down the field as the Tigers ran what appeared to be a designed run, which the Audubon defense came down on.
“We knew going in they were going to be aggressive to stop the run, so we took advantage of that with the run fake,” Krull said.
After the opening play, Audubon controlled the first half.
The Wheelers scored on a 31-yard TD pass to Austin Christensen on fourth-and-24. Quarterback Aiden Kjergaard added TD runs of 30 and 61 yards for a 20-6 lead at halftime.
Iowa Valley was able to get its two drives into Audubon territory and was stopped on fourth down both times.
Audubon scored on its opening drive of the third quarter on a pass play similar to Iowa Valley’s in the first. Kjergaard found Christensen for the 64-yard score.
The Wheelers would not score again, and Iowa Valley made the second half adjustments needed to make this a game until the end.
Those adjustments started with a more efficient rushing attack, led by Kriegel, who battled through physical play all game.
“We made a few adjustments up front and just kept plugging away,” Krull said. We couldn’t single block their guys up front.“
“They’re physical and big, so we tried to get more double teams and we sent a guy at the player who was coming down hard on the run.”
Defensively, the Tigers stymied the Wheelers’ offense, forcing three punts and a turnover on downs after the Wheelers hit 26 points.
Kriegel broke free for touchdown runs of 20 and 34 yards to make the score 26-19 heading to the fourth, and the Tigers were right back in it.
“Everybody had to fight, and we had nobody give up,” Krull said.
Audubon’s defense made some great plays of their own in the fourth quarter, stopping Iowa Valley on back-to-back possessions on fourth-and-1.
“They just beat us up front every now and then and that’s going to happen in a good football game,” Krull said.
With one timeout remaining, the Tigers had one more chance to tie or take the lead with 2:08 remaining.
Iowa Valley drove the ball all the way down to the 15, but the clock ran out of time.
The Tigers’ last hope was a fourth-and-10 play at the 15 with two seconds remaining. The scramble effort came up short.
Kriegel finished the night with an astounding 45 carries for 224 yards. Chance Hoyt added 39 yards.
Kjergaard had 166 yards rushing to lead Audubon.
Emotions were high after the loss, as would be expected after a high-stake game such as this one. The Tigers showed fight until the very end.
Iowa Valley closes its great season 10-1.
“I got to give it to our seniors,” Krull said. “They dedicated a lot to this program over the past four years. A lot of thanks to those guys.”
Audubon is now set to face No. 1 Algona Bishop Garrigan (11-0) in the state semifinals Wednesday.
Iowa Valley will return a lot of key pieces next season and will look to make another run at the UNI Dome.
“This is going to fuel us a lot,” Krull said. “They’re going to remember this taste in their mouth. It’s never easy, but I think these guys are dedicated and committed.
“A lot of them are four-sport guys and that’s key to what we do here (at Iowa Valley). They stay hungry, and we’re going to have some lofty goals next year.”
Audubon 26, Iowa Valley 19
AUD IV
First Downs 8 15
Rushes-yards 32-151 57-274
Passing yards 115 74
Comp-att-int 4-9-0 3-11-1
Total yards 266 348
Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-0
Punts-avg. 5-28.2 1-24.0
Penalties-yards 6-52 5-35
Scoring
Audubon.....14 6 6 0—26
Iowa Valley. 6 0 13 0—19
IV — Peska 65 pass from Kriegel (missed PAT)
AUD— Christensen 31 pass from Kjergaard (Kjergard run)
AUD — Kjergaard 30 run (conversion failed)
AUD — Kjergaard 61 run (conversion failed)
AUD— Christensen 64 pass from Kjergaard (conversion failed)
IV— Kriegel 20 run (conversion failed)
IV— Kriegel 34 run (Mason Hoyt kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Audubon: Kjergaard 24-166, Carson Wessel 1-3, Mason Kasperbauer 6-2, Team 1- (minus 20). Iowa Valley: Kriegel 45-224, Chance Hoyt 5-39, Peska 4-7, M. Hoyt 1-3, Team 1-3, Dane Smith 1- (minus 2).
PASSING — Audubon: Kjergaard 4-8-0-115. Iowa Valley: Kriegel 3-9-1-74, Peska 0-1-0-0, Team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — Audubon: Christensen 3-100, Brody Weber 1-15. Iowa Valley: Peska 1-65, Smith 1-6, C. Hoyt 1-3.
