IOWA PREP FOOTBALL: Bulldogs survive unusual, scary finish

It was a most unusual ending to a great football game between two of the state's top-ranked teams Friday evening at TouVelle Stadium in Bettendorf and left a pall over the Bulldogs' heartstopping 27-24 homecoming victory over Linn-Mar.

Linn-Mar junior Brody Pata absorbed a sledgehammer blow on a kickoff return with 1:55 left in the game and had to be taken away in an ambulance.

L-M co-head coach Chad Tompkins reported after the game that Pata never lost consciousness and had movement in all extremities when he was removed from the field on a stretcher after being down for 23 minutes. He was first attended to by school trainers and then Bettendorf fire department personnel before being taken to a local hospital for what the coach called precautionary measures and observation.

Coaches were mixed on whether or not the game should resume with Bettendorf leading 27-16 with 1:55 when the injury occurred.

But it did, and the Lions roared back to make it an even more interesting finish in a game that endured huge swings of emotions both ways the entire game and not just toward the finish.

A 64-yard pass play on the first play from scrimmage when the game resumed set up Linn-Mar for a Hud Turner 9-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback Austin Waller with 1:24 left in regulation.

Tyree Alons ran in the two-point conversion on an option play from tailback Dylan Muszynski (178 yards from scrimmage) to pull the Lions within 27-24.

Linn-Mar then recovered the onside kick and moved to the Bulldogs' 27-yard line as time wound down.

However, senior Remy Amisis came up short on a 44-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

"I don't even know what just happened," said Bettendorf coach Aaron Wiley after his team survived the harrowing finish to move to 4-0. "We just found a way to win it."

The Bulldogs won it with a combination of big plays and staunch defense that held the 3-1 Lions scoreless in the second half until after the injury delay.

"The game just felt different after that," said Bulldogs' senior linebacker Sam Beecher of the stoppage.

Between halftime and the stoppage, the game was all Bettendorf's.

Trailing 16-10 at halftime, the 'Dogs came out and turned a fumble recovery on the first defensive possession into Jacob Whipple's second touchdown, a 6-yarder that capped a short 3-play, 30-yard drive.

In the fourth quarter, QB Jackson Laver capped an 11-play 80-yard drive with a 3-yard burst up the middle behind his hulking line that gave the hosts a 24-16 lead after Cade Buhr's point-after boot.

Buhr then added a 35-yard field goal with 2:00 left that gave the hosts a 27-16 lead after a drive ate nearly five minutes off the clock.

Then, it was just a matter of holding on after the lengthy stoppage.

sports writer/golf editor