Tigers to the dome

MARENGO - It's a dream come true for New London football. The sixth-ranked Tigers went into Marengo and wiped out No. 2 Iowa Valley 56-20 in the quarterfinals, getting revenge for a 10-point loss in the regular season and earning a spot in the UNI-Dome for the first time in school history.

'Unbelievable,” said head coach Mark McSorley. 'I can't put it into words. What I can say is that our goal from the beginning of the season was to get to the state tournament. The kids embraced that, and the key factor was that they believed.”

Keontae Luckett haunted Iowa Valley on both sides of the ball, and he didn't waste any time to do so. Luckett reached the end zone three times in the first quarter to silence the home crowd and ignite those on the visiting sideline.

'You gotta get that energy, and the only way to get that is to get your team pumped up with some touchdowns, I guess,” Luckett said. 'Coming out like that really solidified our dominance in this game.”

Iowa Valley went three and out on their first drive and that opened the door for the first of Luckett's scores, a 45-yard touchdown run, capped off by his own two-point conversion. He scored on a 30-yard pick-six on Iowa Valley's next drive on a halfback pass attempt. He scored again with 24 seconds left int he period on a 44-yard run.

Luckett accounted for almost every point in the first quarter. Roberto Carrillo's extra point on his third TD was the only other point, and that gave New London a 21-0 lead.

Jordan Johnson scored on a one-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter after a failed fake pumt from Iowa Valley, and the two-point conversion from Isaac McSorley to Darius Whaley gave New London a 29-0 lead. To that point, Iowa Valley had less than 25 yards of total offense.

The home squad did have their spurt. Ben Smith found Noah Mumby on a 53-yard touchdown pass with 9:19 remaining in the half. The two-point try was no good but a surprise onside kick gave the ball right back to home team.

Garet Sims scored the second Iowa Valley touchdown on a four-yard run on fourth-and-goal on the next drive. The two-point try failed but it was a game again, at 29-12 with 5:58 left in the half.

That feeling was short-lived, as Luckett scored on New London's next play from scrimmage, 44 yards to the house. The PAT made it 36-21, and seven more on a quarterback sneak from I. McSorley later in the half gave New London a 43-21 advantage at the break.

Iowa Valley tried another surprise onside kick to start the third quarter, but New London recovered and Luckett led the visiting Tigers downfield for another score. He and Caydin Wahls both scored in the red zone in the second half and New London had a 56-12 lead late in the third.

Iowa Valley scored twice more, once on a one-yard touchdown run by Smith, and once on a safety in the fourth quarter. The safety, a high snap through the end zone on fourth down, ended the scoring with 3:03 left in the game.

Luckett finished the day with a ridiculous 233 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, averaging 11.7 yards per carry on the night. Johnson was the second leading rusher, but only had 15 yards after being knocked out early with a lower-body injury.

'We won this game without him, and he is a key part of our offense and defense,” Coach McSorley said after the game. 'That says a lot about our kids that are coming back next year too. We had a sophomore in Currey Jacobs that stepped up on defense and did a heck of a job. We had Caydin Wahls, who's a sophomore, who stepped up and played offense for Jordy, and he did a heck of a job.”

For the second-straight game, a dominant running performance made I. McSorley's job easier behind center. The senior quarterback threw just six passes, finishing 2-6 for 32 yards, and adding six yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Whaley caught one pass for 19 yards to lead the team in receiving. Luckett caught one pass for 13 yards.

The defense gave Iowa Valley fits all night. Luckett, Porter and Whaley each had an interception on the day, and Jacobs recovered a fumble. Luckett finished the night with 10.5 tackles. Porter finished with eight. Wahls and Whaley had 7.5 apiece, and Holmes finished the night with seven.

'From the start we were just hitting them as hard as we could,” Whaley said after the game. 'Help them back up and then hit them again and help them back up again.”

Smith, the Iowa Valley quarterback who threw for over 1,000 yards this season and ran for over 1,000 as well, finished the day 9-21 passing the ball for 152 yards, two interceptions and one touchdown. He ran for 50 yards and a score. Noah Mumby finished with 83 yards receiving and a touchdown, and ran for 48 yards, but he had a rough day throwing the ball. Iowa Valley's knack for the trick play didn't pay off, as their halfback went 1-4 for five yards throwing the ball including the pick-six in the first quarter.

'Our defense has played stellar all year, and they take a lot of pride in what they do and how they do it.” Coach McSorley said. 'Their hustle, determination and spirit tonight were not going to be broken. They were warriors tonight.”

It was a rough night for the home team in Class 8-Man as all four quarterfinals were won by the road squads. No. 1 Ar-We-Va was upset 46-44 by No. 5 Southeast Warren, who blocked a game-winning field goal attempt in the final seconds. No. 3 Don Bosco was stunned, 32-26 by unranked Rockford, and No. 4 Fremont-Mills thrashed No. 7 Exira-EHK 61-20.

New London wasn't the only 8-Man team to avenge their only loss of the year. Fremont-Mills lost to Exira-EHK in the first game of the year, and Rockford was demolished by Don Bosco in early September.

New London (10-1) will play Fremont-Mills (10-1) in second quarterfinal of the weekend, on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 12 p.m. Southeast Warren (12-0) will take on Rockford (10-1) in the first semifinal, at 9 a.m.

'I just can't wait to get on that turf and see the boys out there,” Coach McSorley said. 'I still want to cry right now.”