‘Pound the rock to the promised land’

SIGOURNEY - There is the adage in football that a team can't score if it doesn't have the ball.

After a back-and-forth first half sent the Cobras to the locker room with a 21-19 lead on the Sailors, No. 3-ranked Sigourney-Keota took control of the Class 1A playoff quarterfinal with ball control in the second half in a win over 10th-ranked Waterloo Columbus 35-32 Friday at the Snake Pit.

'We had to continue to pound the rock and it got us to the promised land,” SK head coach Jared Jensen said. 'We are on to the dome and that is all that matters.”

The Cobras ran 45 plays in the second half and Columbus ran nine.

'The single wing is tough to prepare for and that is the best team we have seen this year,” Columbus head coach Brad Schmit said.

The Sailors third-quarter production was two incomplete passes, an interception and two runs totaling three yards. However their fourth quarter production was four plays and two touchdowns.

'Their athleticism is what we were worried about because they are the most athletic we have seen all year,” Jensen said. 'We knew it would be tough to stop them. we just had to try to contain them when we could. They did a great job of finding ways to score and getting us out of position.”

The Cobras opening drive of the second half was 15 plays and a failed fake field goal. An interception by Levi Crawford gave the Cobras possession at midfield. Six plays later, it was a 28-19 lead on Sam Sieren's second touchdown of the game.

'My line gives me the holes and I just fight for all I can get,” Sieren said.

Sieren ran 40 times and totaled 210 yards. Of those 40, he had one carry that didn't gain a yard, while 39 were positive yards.

'Sam is a beast, an absolute beast out there,” Jensen said. 'He takes one guy on and you know he is going to win that battle. Then it is going to take two or three guys to get him down. Even when it looks like a zero-yard gain, he is pulling three and a half. That is just the mind-set he has.”

It is a mind-set the Cobras endorse with their powerful single-wing rushing attack.

'We like to get our punch yards so we keep our defense off the field, keep them healthy,” Sieren said. 'Then that gets the opponents offense all panicked and that's what we like to see.”

Those punch yards of the attack helped take control of the game despite the Sailors quick-strike ability that nearly changed the outcome late with a pair of two-play touchdown drives.

'It doesn't have to be pretty or cute, but when you're faced with adversity and pull through, we're going to come out ahead,” Jensen said. 'That was the most skilled team we saw all year. They have skill guys coming out of everywhere.”

After a time-consuming drive by the Cobras that took nearly half of the fourth quarter ended in a punt, the Sailors took over at their own 13. An incomplete pass meant second-and-10 and that was when Sailors quarterback Carter Gallagher connected with Alex Feldmann, who caught the pass at the 20 and rocketed past the defense for an 87-yard TD to bring Columbus within 28-25 with 6 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the game.

'No. 5 (Feldmann) is the best player we have seen all year,” Jensen said. 'We knew we just had to try to match up the best we could.”

SK answered by going 63 yards in 12 plays, all on the ground. With 1:06 remaining, Sieren's ninth carry of the drive was his third TD of the night and seemingly put the game out of reach at 35-25.

'We were talking about taking a knee there but that's on me because I said we are going to put this thing in and we have the defense to make the stand,” Jensen said.

The Sailors ran a hook-and lateral to Feldmann on the first play after the kickoff and it went 58 yards to the 3-yard line.

'We even called out the hook-and-ladder, but they just got it on us,” Jensen said. 'In hind sight, I'm taking a knee next time.”

Feldmann caught the TD pass on the next play and it was 35-32 with: 48 on the clock.

'I wanted my touchdown to be the end, that we got that last final punch into the end zone,” Sieren said. 'Hats off to them with their excellent skill guys to be able to make a play like that. This was just a great game all-around.”

An onside kick attempt went out of bounds and the Cobras lined up in the victory formation to take a knee and take the win.

'At the beginning of the year, our goals were to get revenge on Mepo and get in the playoffs to get to the dome,” Sieren said. 'We want to get to the championship and win a state title.”

'We found a way to win all year long and that's what we did here when we needed to,” Jensen said. 'We know we have to go three and a half on every single play and if we can do that, we are going to be in good shape.”

Three was a deciding factor in the game as each team scored five touchdowns, but SK converted all of its point after touchdown kicks by Colten Clarahan. Columbus' kick was wide after it took the opening possession of the game in for a score. Feldmann capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive with a TD.

SK's Brady Duwa knocked away a PAT pass on the Sailors' third TD and they missed another kick after the fourth score.

Duwa, who had nine rushes for 126 yards, answered Columbus' first score the first time the Cobras had possession with a 21-yard TD. The Cobras used just five plays to go 47 yards and it was 7-6 with 4:38 left in the first quarter.

A 40-yard run by Josh Heine led to the Sailors second score, a Gallagher TD with 3:16 in the first quarter.

The single wing was then engaged to march out 14 plays, capped by Sieren's first TD for a 14-13 lead with 10:31 on the second-quarter clock.

Carson Sprouse made the play of the half for the Cobras with a sack of Gallagher on third-and-9, forcing a punt on fourth-and-18.

Six plays later, Duwa scored his second touchdown with a 47-yard jaunt and a 21-13 lead.

A 40-yard run by Gallagher was the key play in a seven-play 71-yard drive that Feldmann finished with an 18-yard sweep at 2:48 left in the first half to make it 21-19.

'Our kids gave a great effort and never stopped fighting,” Schmit said. 'We just came up a few plays short unfortunately. It was a heck of game between two very good teams. I can't fault the effort of our team - the kids really battled.”

'This means everything to us and it helps make up for last year,” Jensen said of the 8-1 2019 Cobras that were left out of the playoffs. 'Columbus is the most skilled team we have played all year. (Feldmann) was a really good player but we found a way.”