By Becky Walz,
A 50-yard drive, spearheaded by the interception by senior Joseph Bockman, was the spark the Decorah offense needed as the Decorah football team (7-3) defeated Class 4A No. 1 North Scott (9-1) Friday night on the road, 14-10.
Trailing 10-7 late into the fourth quarter, the Vikings scored the winning touchdown with 26 seconds remaining.
“We are very proud of our efforts. The coaches created a great game plan and the team worked very hard to learn it and execute it. We went into the game very determined to be our best on Friday. We also knew they were an excellent team and would make some good plays,” said Coach Pat Trewin.
Decorah advances to round 2 of the Class 4A playoffs and will be at Winterset (8-2) Friday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m.
Taking down No. 1
North Scott was the first to get on the board in the opening quarter on a 20-yard field goal and a two-yard dive into the end zone to put Decorah down 10-0.
The Vikings responded in the second period, driving the ball 80 yards on 12 plays to culminate with a 17-yard pass from Keenan Tyler to Joseph Bockman to narrow the margin to 10-7.
Following a scoreless third quarter, the final period looked to be headed in the same direction until Bockman came away with an interception at midfield. The Vikings set to work keeping the ball on the ground before Tyler found an open Noah Storts for the go-ahead TD with 26.5 seconds left to play. One last effort by North Scott was brought to abrupt halt with Ryan Johanningmeier recovered a fumble, allowing Tyler to take a trio of knees to end the game.
“We got down 10-0 early when they hit a couple of plays and we had a punt blocked, but we still felt fortunate that it was only 10-0. During that run we were able to make several good plays and be physical with them. Getting a touchdown at the end of first quarter gave us a lift and from then on it was back and forth with us really good defense and our offense controlling the ball right up until the end of the game,” said Coach Trewin.
On track
Decorah’s offense found a groove, getting 18 first downs, 197 yards rushing, 123 passing and 320 total.
North Scott had 11 first downs, 77 yards rushing and 220 passing for 297 total yards.
Tyler passed and rushed for over 100 yards each. He completed 13-for-28 passes for 123 yards and carried the pigskin 26 times for 103 yards. Ben Wymer had six carries for 38 yards, while Bockman had nine carries for 34 yards. Young also had 33 yards on four touches.
Jacob Pipho was the top receiver for the Vikes with three receptions for 61 yards, while Storts had four catches for 30.
The Vikes had a strong defensive effort from Tyler, Johanningmeier and Storts, each with six total tackles. Storts had five solo stops, while Tyler and Johanningmeier had four solo tackles apiece.
“It was one of the more physical games that we played this year. We caused some fumbles, hit their running backs hard, and blocked with intensity. It was very much a team effort. We can look at everything from efforts at practice, to special teams and then to the offense and defense and see great contributions by people throughout the program,” noted Coach Trewin.
Long road trip
“We will need another great effort to win the next playoff game against Winterset. They are a very big team with an excellent running back. We want to continue to be aggressive on defense and special teams and we want to increase our scoring this week. We see it as another great opportunity to try to go on the road and beat a team who is favored and playing well,” concluded Coach Trewin.
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q F
Decorah 0 7 0 7 14
North Scott 10 0 0 0 10
Scoring sequence
1st Quarter
N. Scott – 20-yard field goal
N. Scott – 2-yard run (PAT)
2nd Quarter
Decorah – Joseph Bockman 17-yd. pass from Keenan Tyler (Brody Young PAT)
3rd Quarter
None
4th Quarter
Decorah – Noah Storts 6-yd. pass from Tyler (Young PAT)
Game stats
Total yards: Decorah 320; North Scott 297
Passing (comp/att/yds): Keenan Tyler (13-28, 123 yds., 2 TD, 2 INT); Noah Storts (0-1)
Rushing (att/yds): Tyler (26-103); Ben Wymer (6-38); Joseph Bockman (9-34); Brody Young (4-33)
Receiving (att/yds/TD): Jacob Pipho (3-59); Storts (4-30, 1 TD); Bockman (5-24, 1 TD); Young (1-10)
Tackles (total): Storts (5.5); Tyler (5.0); Ryan Johanningmeier (5.); Young (4.5); Brayden Reiser (4.0); Joseph Hjelle (3.5); Pipho (3.0); Bockman (3.0); Trysten Finholt (2.5); Zach Jermier (2.0); Kendall McCain (1.5); Wymer (0.5); Thomas Ostlie (0.5)
Interceptions (no/return yds): Bockman (1-5); Tyler (1-0)
Fumble recoveries: Tyler (1-0); Johanningmeier (1-0)
Punts (att/yds): Storts (3-76)
Punt returns (att/yds): Bockman (3-12)
Kick-offs (att/yds): Young (3-162)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Bockmam (2-42)
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