THE DUDE
Mathis torches Gilbert for a school-record 7 TDs in Lynx rout
GILBERT — A smiling Trey Mathis wasn’t waving to his teammates and the crowd as he trotted across the end zone and toward the sideline with 8 seconds remaining in the first half inside Tiger Stadium Friday night.
His hand was open and high in the air, but what he was really doing was keeping count. He’d just scored his fifth touchdown in less than 24 minutes, and he wasn’t even close to being done.
Mathis, Webster City’s all-state senior tailback, tacked on a sixth rushing touchdown and a seventh score through the air in the second half, as he occupied the starring role in the seventh-ranked (Class 3A) Lynx 54-13 pasting of Gilbert on Homecoming night for the Tigers.
The six rushing TDs tied the single-game school record, set by Jared Smith against Boone on Sept. 16, 1996. The seven total trips to the end zone broke the school record that was shared by Smith and Keagan Parks, who scored six times — five rushing TDs and a kickoff return for a TD — against Hampton-Dumont on Oct. 22, 2010.
And think about this: Mathis exited the game on offense for good with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter.
Wow.
“It feels great and I got my first receiving touchdown, that was a good one,” Mathis said after he decimated Gilbert for 214 rushing yards and 236 total yards of offense. “It was just good blocking up front, seeing my holes and making good cuts.”
Mathis certainly knew how many times he’d crossed the goal line, but Lynx head coach Bob Howard was unaware of the massive TD haul until after the game.
“He had 7? I pay zero attention to that, so I didn’t know,” Howard said. “It wasn’t on purpose, that’s for sure.
“Mathis looked like an all-state tailback and he has the last three games. He ran hard.”
Mathis enters the final week of the regular season needing just 15 yards for a second straight 1,000-yard season.
WCHS (6-0, 4-0 District 2), which wrapped up the district title and likely first-round postseason bye with the win, gouged Gilbert for 414 ground yards. Spinback Chase Rattenborg gained 90 yards and wingback CJ Hisler churned out 84 more. Connor Hanson took over for Mathis over the final 14 minutes and accrued 31 yards, 4 of them on a touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
“It’s pretty big shoes to fill, but I’ve been doing it since the seventh grade,” Hanson said of Mathis. “But I’m just waiting my turn.”
Gilbert (3-2, 1-2 District 2) left an extra defender on the backside in an attempt to contain Hisler on the counter, but all that did was allow Mathis to run wild. He had 163 yards by halftime and WCHS went into the break ahead 34-7.
“The eight and nine holes were working, so we were going to keep pounding those until they stopped them,” Mathis, who scored on runs of 1, 2, 16, 10, 4 and 6 yards, said. “And (Friday night) they couldn’t stop them.”
In actuality, the entire offense was working. The line again had its way with an opposing defense and there was nothing Gilbert could do to slow down the freight train. The Lynx starting offense scored on all eight of its possessions before exiting the stage midway through the fourth quarter.
“It was play after play and it just felt like they couldn’t stop us,” starting offensive lineman Truman Klein said. “We had a great week of practice and that definitely carried over.”
Gilbert landed the first punch. Quarterback Tanner Henningsen completed 4 of 6 passes for 66 yards, 11 of them on a touchdown pass to Tucker Hanson, on the opening possession.
But WCHS adjusted its defense and limited the Tigers to just one more touchdown, that coming following an onside kick at the start of the second half. Henningsen finished 12 of 29 passing for 149 yards and two TDs, but he was also sacked four times. Freshman Jaxon Cherry was inserted into the rotation at defensive end and dropped Henningsen twice. Skyler Scott also threw him for a loss on a blitz, and Jamin Stuhr had a sack and a team-high seven tackles.
“Once we started pressuring him, the completions went way down,” Hanson, a starting nose tackle who had four tackles, said. “Then they had to turn to running the ball and that wasn’t there for them.”
Gilbert finished with just three net yards rushing.
“The kids that played in that pass defense played pretty well,” Howard said. “They were able to run the ball a couple of times, but they weren’t going to beat us running the ball.”
Sandwiched between the few bright moments for Gilbert was a whole lot of Mathis. Among the highlights, a burst through the middle that included hurdling a defender on his way to a 16-yard TD early in the second quarter, followed by an eight-carry, 51-yard outburst that he capped with a 10-yard score on the Lynx following possession.
The cherry on top came early in the fourth. Expecting run — and why wouldn’t they? — the Tigers loaded the box, but Mathis was able to sneak behind the defense and found himself wide open on one of the few passing plays Howard called. Rattenborg hit him between the numbers for a 22-yard TD.
Rattenborg completed 2 of 4 passes for 35 yards on the night.
Mathis also had 51⁄2 tackles from his linebacker spot.
WCHS will wrap up the regular season on Friday, as it will host winless Boone (0-6, 0-4) for its own Homecoming. And you better believe finishing unbeaten is important.
“We’re the district champs and we want to be the unbeaten district champs,” Howard said. “That’s a big deal. With all of the distractions we’ve had, that’s a pretty good testament to our seniors and the leadership they’ve shown really starting back in March.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Webster City 14 20 13 7 — 54
Gilbert 7 0 6 0 — 13
First Quarter
GIL — Tucker Hanson 11 pass from Tanner Henningsen (Evan Weary kick), 9:17.
WC — Trey Mathis 1 run (Trey Lyons kick), 5:05.
WC — Mathis 2 run (Lyons kick), 1:06.
Second Quarter
WC — Mathis 16 run (Lyons kick), 9:53.
WC — Mathis 10 run (Lyons kick), 3:23.
WC — Mathis 4 run (kick failed), 0:08.
Third Quarter
GIL — Joe Drzycimski 10 pass from Henningsen (kick failed), 10:51.
WC — Mathis 6 run (Lyons kick), 7:57.
WC — Mathis 22 pass from Chase Rattenborg (kick failed), 2:32.
Fourth Quarter
WC — Connor Hanson 6 run (Lyons kick), 9:48.
TEAM STATISTICS
WC GIL
First downs 25 11
Rushing 21 4
Passing 0 4
Penalty 4 3
Rushes-yards 67-414 17-3
Passing yards 35 149
Comp-Att-INT 2-4-0 12-30-0
Return yards 42 80
Sacked-yards lost 0-0 4-36
Punts-Ave 1-31 4-29
Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-3
Penalties-yards 7-75 9-77
Time of Possession 30:41 17:19
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Webster City Lynx
RUSHING
Player Att Yds TD
Trey Mathis 28 214 6
Chase Rattenborg 15 90 0
CJ Hisler 11 84 0
Connor Hanson 6 31 1
Jaxon Cherry 3 1 0
Tristen Maxwell 1 1 0
Raymond Nouanpong 1 0 0
Austin Mason 1 -1 0
Jordan Vankham 1 -6 0
PASSING
Player Com Att Yds TD
C. Rattenborg 2 4 35 1
RECEIVING
Player Rec Yds TD
Trey Mathis 1 22 1
CJ Hisler 1 13 0
Tackles
Player So Ast Tot
Jamin Stuhr 6 2 7
Trey Mathis 5 1 51⁄2
Jaxon Cherry 4 1 41⁄2
Connor Hanson 4 0 4
Skyler Scott 3 1 31⁄2
Trey Lyons 2 0 2
Devon Stoakes 2 0 2
Tyler Olson 2 0 2
Ty McKinney 1 1 11⁄2
CJ Hisler 1 0 1
Ryan Zuetlau 1 0 1
Tyler Moothart 1 0 1
Chase Rattenborg 0 1 1⁄2
Gilbert Tigers
RUSHING
Player Att Yds TD
Ethan Vesey 9 48 0
Tucker Hanson 3 10 0
Christian Cory 1 -12 0
Tanner Henningsen 4 -43 0
PASSING
Player Com Att Yds TD
T. Henningsen 12 29 149 2
Tucker Hanson 0 1 0 0
RECEIVING
Player Rec Yds TD
Tucker Hanson 6 88 1
Joe Drzycimski 3 30 1
Ethan Vesey 2 20 0
Trey Hansen 1 11 0