Don Bosco rallies past Exira-EHK on two-minute drill to win 18-14; Dons earn first ever-state state football title
By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / Nov. 22, 2013
CEDAR FALLS – Don Bosco led for only 1:13 in Thursday’s 8-Man State Championship game against Exira-EHK.
But, it proved to be the only minute and 13 seconds that counted.
Don Bosco scored three times in the final quarter-and-some-change and took the lead at last on a two-minute drill led senior All-State quarterback Jake Hogan, who plunged in the final score from one-yard-out.
Hogan also intercepted a pass on defense in the waning seconds to kill the Spartans’ final drive and set up one play of victory formation.
So went the Dons’ dramatic 18-14 come from behind victory over a stunned Spartans’ squad that watched a two-touchdown second-half lead evaporate.
“It’s a tough loss,” Spartans’ head coach Tom Petersen said afterwards. “It was a tough defensive day for both sides, and we came up just a little bit short.”
Exira-EHK led 14-0 at the half after long scoring runs by senior Trey Sander and junior QB Drew Peppers set the tone early. The Spartans shut down Hogan in the first two quarters while holding the Dons to 80 yards and two first downs.
Exira-EHK had minus 10 yards rushing on its first three possessions before Sander broke loose through the middle and went 35 yards for a touchdown. Peppers then went 40 yards for a score in the second quarter, and the Spartans were sailing.
Peppers carried the ball 27 times for 100 yards and completed 9-of-23 pass attempts for 106 yards.
In the first half, Hogan was limited to 40 yards on 15 attempts, a sliver of the 9.5 YPC average he brought into the final.
But Hogan got his offense moving in the second, and finished with 111 yards on 32 carries while adding 172 yards on 8-of-21 passing. He carried the ball on nine of the game’s final 10 plays.
It truly was a tale of two halves.
“We missed some opportunities and didn’t make enough plays (on offense),” coach Petersen says of the second half. “But the defense kept us in the game the entire time.”
The way this matchup unfolded was a stark contrast to the 110 points per game (combined) the two squads had averaged during the season.
Bounces shifted from the Spartans’ fortune to the Dons in the second half and the defensive line play from Don Bosco found a way to plug the running lanes and gaps that were there for EEHK in the first half.
And then there was the remarkable.
Twice the Dons started drives on their own 1-yard-line, and drove the length of the field in the second half to eat up a significant portion of clock and redirect the winds of momentum.
“We changed things up a little bit and went to some pitch and catch,” coach Don Bosco coach Colby Yoder says. “Jake settled down for us in the second half and threw the ball well for us. To get pinned down on our 1-yard line twice and then go down and score on both of those drives…how resilient is that?”
Don Bosco was able to get its passing game going in the second half, and picked at weak spots in the Spartans’ man coverage.
The final drive capped off in 12 plays on the eventual winning score that secured the Dons’ first-ever state football championship in 10 years of competition.
Exira-EHK finishes the season 12-1, and the program’s only two losses over the past two seasons have come at the UNI-Dome to the (eventual) State champion.
“The kids executed really well on both sides of the ball,” coach Petersen says. “They’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. It’s just one of those days. Unfortunately one team has to lose, and our kids came up on the short end. But what a group to have.”
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