CARROLL – Quitting was never an option.

Not after they were embarrassed by Gilbert. Not after they were thoroughly dominated by Clear Lake. Not even after they watched Carroll slice and dice the defense apart.

Instead, they went back to work. And, my oh my, look at them now.

At 0-3 through three weeks of the 2014 season, the eighth-ranked (Class 3A) Webster City Lynx capped the complete turnaround just 12 months later by rolling through Carroll, 35-26, on the Tigers home field Friday night to improve to 3-0.

Was it perfect? No, not even close. But a punishing run game and a run-stuffing defense were more than enough for the Lynx to take a gigantic first step towards their goal of winning a District 2 title.

“I don’t know if there are words to describe it. A 180 maybe?” WCHS linebacker Victor Jergens said after flying all over the field for a career-best 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops. “One of our proudest moments is when we didn’t quit after starting 0-3 last year. Now it feels great to be rewarded for all of the hard work.”

WCHS head coach Bob Howard has been on the winning side of plenty of big games during his career, and he added Friday’s to the haul.

“It’s a huge win to get on the road,” he said. “Sitting where we are now from where we were a year ago is great. Hopefully the kids appreciate all the hard work they did to get to this.”

Carroll threw nine defenders inside the box in an attempt to slow down the WCHS ground attack, but it didn’t work. Oh sure, the Tigers (1-2, 0-1) didn’t give up another 369-yard performance to Gavin Dinsdale like they did in 2014, but he still churned out a game-high 159 yards and a touchdown.

Payton Kannuan and Avery Fuhs did plenty of damage as well, as they gave WCHS (3-0, 1-0) three 100-yard rushers. Kannuan blazed his way to 139 yards and three touchdowns on the perimeter, and Fuhs gutted the Tigers for 111 yards – 101 of them came in the first half – and a score.

The Lynx finished with a handful of big runs and 409 yards on the ground. Fuhs also went an efficient 5 of 9 passing for 67 yards. All five of his completions moved the chains.

“There were big holes out there,” Kannuan, who sprinted to the house on jaunts of 40, 44 and 11 yards, said. “Gavin obviously keyed a bunch of those defensive guys to open holes for me to make big plays.”

Dinsdale’s only touchdown came off left tackle from 13 yards outs midway through the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7. It came on the heels of a 57-yard sprint up the middle by Fuhs, who later found another crease and went untouched nearly all the way to the end zone on a 28-yard scamper early in the second quarter that gave WCHS a two-touchdown edge, 21-7.

“Going up the middle for us, it’s either there or not,” Fuhs said. “I have to give credit completely to the line because the holes were big enough to drive a truck through.”

Kannuan’s first score – the 40-yard journey on a counter over the left side – gave WCHS a 14-7 lead – one they never relinquished – with 2:55 to go in the first quarter.

It was a welcome turnaround after Carroll came out firing on all cylinders on its first drive of the game. Four straight runs by Dayton Ross was followed by a 38-yard rumble to paydirt on a trap by Matthew Pauk less than two minutes into the game.

“We came out flat and you could feel it in warm-ups,” Jergens said. “They came out and punched us in the mouth.”

Carroll was in business once again after blocking a punt inside the WCHS 30 just a few minutes later, but the Lynx averted disaster on the next play, as cornerback Landon Daniels got a good break on an overthrown ball and intercepted quarterback Kolby Molinsky in the end zone.

“I was at the right place at the right time, just trying to make a play for my team,” Daniels said.

Jergens was one of many Lynx players that breathed a sigh of relief.

“(The interception) was huge,” he said. “It’s a great feeling looking back there and seeing a (defensive back) get a pick. So, yeah, thanks Landon.”

In front 21-14 at the half, Kannuan padded the lead on the Lynx second possession of the third quarter when he again took advantage of a slanting Tiger defense and went 44 yards for the touchdown.

“We hit a couple counters when they were playing Dinsdale so hard the other way and we had some good blocking schemes too,” Howard said. “You’ve really got to be in position for (Kannuan) and if he gets to the second level he’s awfully hard to tackle.”

Molinsky quickly made it a one-score game when he kept it on the QB option and went 11 yards untouched with 5:48 remaining in the third.

Dinsdale’s biggest burst of the game – a 40-yard sprint down to the Carroll 2-yard line on the final play of the third period – put WCHS back on the doorstep. It pushed the 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior tailback past 2,000 career rushing yards; he’s just the 12th running back in school history to accomplish the feat.

“Gavin had his best all-around game (of the season) because he came out for just two plays all night,” Howard said.

A fumble on the opening play of the fourth quarter pushed the Lynx back, but that only allowed Kannuan to pad his stats, as he went around the left end and streaked towards the pylon without anyone in his way to up the Lynx cushion back to 15 points, 35-20.

Molinsky again answered and scored on another 11-yard trek on a keeper with 8:28 left. Carroll had the opportunity to get even closer when it drove to the WCHS 14 with under three minutes to go, but a fourth down pass sailed high and the Lynx were able to grind the final 2:36 off the clock.

Molinsky finished 12 of 25 for 141 yards through the air. Matthew Pauk led the Tigers’ ground game with 91 yards and they finished with 180 in all, but a large chunk of that came on the opening possession. From there WCHS held the advantage.

Peter Stevens had four receptions that covered 75 yards for Carroll. Alec Fuhs had three catches for 29 yards, while Kannuan (23 yards) and Sean Vogelbacher (15 yards) both caught one ball for the visitors.

Jodan Moen made 61?2 stops defensively for the Lynx, who will face fellow unbeaten Algona (3-0, 1-0) at home this week to cap Homecoming. Cooper Lawson (four) and James Cherry (three) clogged the running lanes and combined for seven solo tackles. Alec Fuhs also went solo on three stops.

“Cooper Lawson is really tough inside,” Howard said. “I thought Jordan Moen played a helluva game, too.”