A PLAYOFFS FLEX
No. 8 Lynx rip off 500 yards rushing, bury No. 10 Norwalk
Webster City’s Kyzer Stanley (15) and Jamin Stuhr (77) celebrate a tackle in the backfield during Friday’s 57-20 rout of Norwalk. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
WEBSTER CITY — Bob Howard has now coached 154 games in 15 seasons at Webster City, and entering Friday only three times had his teams rushed for 500 yards in a single game.
Go ahead and make it four. And it may have been the most impressive offensive performance of them all.
No. 8-ranked WCHS ran around, through and over No. 10-ranked Norwalk to the tune of 500 yards rushing and 505 yards of total offense in a Class 4A state playoffs first-round game at Lynx Field. The result was a stunning 57-20 thrashing that sent the Lynx into the state quarterfinals for the second straight season.
It wasn’t stunning that WCHS walked away victorious. But how the Lynx went about their business? Whoa.
“We went in with the mindset to just play our best and that’s what happened,” WCHS junior wingback CJ Hisler said after he carved up the Warriors for a game- and career-high 220 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. “Our linemen, they give us the great holes and then it’s easy from there. They had some big boys, but our linemen definitely carried them out of the way for us.”
WCHS spinback Ty McKinney cuts back toward the middle of the field on a 20-yard gain in the first half against Norwalk on Friday. The Lynx rushed for 500 yards in a 57-20 victory. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
Jaxon Cherry was the workhorse, as the sophomore lugged the ball a career-high 23 times for 142 yards and four touchdowns. Spinback Ty McKinney, a junior, did his damage — 138 yards and one trip to the end zone on seven totes — right through the teeth of the defense.
WCHS (8-2) did what it wanted, when it wanted. And there was nothing — seriously, nothing — Norwalk (6-4) could do to stop it.
“To be honest, I was surprised,” McKinney said. “But on the first drive (a three-play, 75-yard dissection capped by a 55-yard touchdown run by Cherry) everything worked and as soon as that happened I knew they couldn’t stop us.”
Strictly yardage wise, this wasn’t the Lynx finest performance under Howard. The 2011 team lit up Humboldt for 548 yards rushing and Iowa Falls-Alden for 527, and the 2014 club shredded Boone for 531. But those three foes were a combined 9-18, while Norwalk was a top-10 team with a win over No. 3-ranked Indianola under its best.
Sorry 2011 and 2014 Lynx, but this moves to the top of the heap.
WCHS senior Devon Stoakes (5) breaks up a pass as Austin Mason (6) provides coverage deep during the fourth quarter against Norwalk on Friday. Stoakes had a team-high 9 tackles in the Lynx 57-20 win. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
“I suppose playoffs wise, it’s probably as impressive a win as we’ve had,” Howard said. “I thought we could move the ball, but I certainly didn’t foresee rushing like that. That’s a 4A school with all those kids and size, so I’m very happy for our kids to play that way. That was a big win for us.”
Chunk plays was the name of the game for WCHS. Hisler, Cherry and McKinney combined for 12 double-digit gains ranging from 10 to 80 yards. Hisler went for 60, 14 and 14 in the first half, opened the second half with an 80-yard sprint to the house, and added a 30-yard gain in the fourth quarter. Cherry reeled off runs of 55, 10 and 11 yards, while McKinney had sprints of 20, 48, 42 and 12 yards.
“All of us thought this was going to be a 50/50 game,” WCHS junior blocking back Connor Hanson said. “Their defensive line is massive, so for us to move the ball 14 or 15 yards per carry is incredible.”
It was actually 12.5 yards per carry on the night, but who’s counting? WCHS averaged 13.7 yards per tote in the first half en route to a 29-13 lead.
The Lynx couldn’t have scripted a better first quarter, as they bolted out to a 21-0 edge following Cherry’s long TD, a 60-yard scoring run by Hisler and a five-yard TD jump pass from McKinney to a wide open Devon Stoakes.
WCHS sophomore tailback Jaxon Cherry attempts to stay on his feet after getting hit low during the first quarter against Norwalk on Friday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
Norwalk, meanwhile, went nowhere early on and didn’t even notch a first down until the 11:55 mark of the second quarter. The Warriors found their footing though, as quarterback Ky Pearson scored on matching 11-yard runs through the middle to make it 21-13. Norwalk also recovered an onside kick and was inside the Lynx 35 looking to get even closer, but they turned it over on downs and then watched WCHS march 68 yards down the field just before the half. A 48-yard gain by McKinney set the Lynx up inside the red zone, and Cherry polished off the drive with a 2-yard TD run with 51 ticks remaining in the half.
“I don’t think anyone was in a panic,” WCHS senior Kyzer Stanley said of the second-quarter hiccup. “It was just focus on the next play.”
Hisler’s 80-yard counter with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter extended the lead to 36-13. Taking it down the Lynx sideline, he make a quick cut back toward the middle of the field that left three Norwalk defenders grasping at air, and he was gone.
“A lot of that, I’m not thinking, I’m just in the moment,” Hisler said. “But that one felt really good.”
The two teams traded blows in the final period. A 42-yard scoring scamper by McKinney with 8:37 to go seemingly put the game on ice, but Pearson answered with a 70-yard TD run on the first play of the Warriors ensuring drive to pull within 43-20.
The Webster City football team watches as Norwalk receives its playoffs trophy following the Lynx 57-20 victory in the Class 4A first round Friday night at Lynx Field. WCHS advanced to the state quarterfinals for the second straight season. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
No worries.
A pair of Cherry scores — runs of 7 and 5 yards — extended the cushion and even started a running clock over the final 2:58.
Norwalk played without starting quarterback Landon Hochstein, a junior with more than 2,000 yards of total offense during the regular season, due to injury. But Hochstein doesn’t play defense.
Pearson was plenty capable as well. He accounted for 162 of Norwalk’s 166 yards rushing, and he also completed 16 of 36 passes for 145 yards. He was intercepted by McKinney.
The WCHS defense got its licks in on Pearson though. The Lynx racked up a pair of sacks by Stanley and Charlie Stansfield, as well as 10 tackles for loss. Jamin Stuhr had three stops in the backfield and five total tackles. Stanley and Keegan Hisler had a pair of tackles for loss as well, and Stoakes led the unit with nine total stops.
The rout set WCHS up for a long road trip to Cedar Rapids on Friday where it will face No. 2 Cedar Rapids Xavier (9-1) with a spot in the semifinals on the line. Sure, the Lynx will be the underdog, but don’t expect them to be intimidated.
“This is a statement that we’re not scared of anybody,” McKinney said. “We want to go to the (UNI) dome.”
“After the start of the season (WCHS was 1-2 after Week 3), I didn’t think we’d be here,” Hanson said. “To win the district and make the (quarterfinals) is huge and there’s no backing down now. Now we’ve got to get going because we’re this far and why stop now?”
THE RATINGS
Offense: 5 Stars
Give the WCHS offense every dang star in the sky following its performance in a 57-20 win over Norwalk on Friday. For just the fourth time in the Bob Howard era, which spans 15 seasons, the Lynx reached 500 yards rushing and it came against a ranked opponent. Um, wow. CJ Hisler put moves on the Warriors that made you chuckle. Jaxon Cherry and Ty McKinney both ripped through tackles and the offensive line was simply imposing. This group gets better every week.
Defense: 4 Stars
When it mattered most, namely the first quarter, the WCHS defense was fierce. Norwalk didn’t record its initial first down until the 11:55 mark of the second quarter and was staring at a 21-point deficit by that point. Yeah, the Warriors eventually moved the ball and there were some holes in the Lynx defense, but give the opponent some credit for that. Norwalk was ranked 10th for a reason, folks, but the Lynx collected 10 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.
Special Teams: 5 Stars
JJ Moore went a long, long … long time between punts. Try the second half against Spencer in Week 7 to the second half against Norwalk on Friday. And when he finally went back to boot it, he pinned the Warriors at their own 5-yard line. Throw in another great week of kicking by Levi Mussman, coverage teams that didn’t yield much and a return unit that picked up some nice yards, and you really have nothing to complain about with the WCHS special teams.
SCORING SUMMARY
Norwalk 0 13 0 7 — 20
Webster City 21 8 7 21 — 57
First Quarter
WC — Jaxon Cherry 55 run (Levi Mussman kick), 10:35.
WC — CJ Hisler 60 run (Mussman kick), 7:17.
WC — Devon Stoakes 5 pass from Ty McKinney (Mussman kick), 1:09.
Second Quarter
NOR — Ky Pearson 11 run (Gabe Johnson kick), 9:02.
NOR — Pearson 11 run (kick failed), 4:56.
WC — Cherry 2 run (Cherry run), 0:51.
Third Quarter
WC — Hisler 80 run (Mussman kick), 8:23.
Fourth Quarter
WC — McKinney 42 run (Mussman kick), 8:37.
NOR — Pearson 70 run (Johnson kick), 8:12.
WC — Cherry 8 run (Mussman kick), 5:26.
WC — Cherry 5 run (Mussman kick), 2:58.
TEAM STATISTICS
NOR WC
First downs 13 14
Rushing 4 12
Passing 7 0
Penalty 2 2
Rushes-yards 34-166 40-500
Passing yards 145 5
Comp-Att-INT 16-36-1 1-2-0
Return yards 88 75
Sacked-yards lost 2-12 0-0
Punts-Ave 3-37 2-34
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 13-108 8-71
Time of Possession 27:38 20:22
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Webster City Lynx
RUSHING
Player Att Yds TD
CJ Hisler 10 220 2
Jaxon Cherry 23 142 4
Ty McKinney 7 138 1
PASSING
Player Com Att Yds TD
Ty McKinney 1 1 5 1
Devon Stoakes 0 1 0 0
Tackles
Player So Ast Tot
Devon Stoakes 8 2 9
Jaxon Cherry 5 0 5
Jamin Stuhr 5 0 5
Connor Hanson 4 2 5
Evan Estlund 4 0 4
Austin Mason 3 2 4
Keegan Hisler 3 1 31⁄2
Kyzer Stanley 3 1 31⁄2
Ty McKinney 2 3 31⁄2
Truman Klein 2 0 2
Brendyn Carlsen 2 0 2
Charlie Stansfield 1 0 1
Tristen Maxwell 1 0 1
Norwalk Warriors
RUSHING
Player Att Yds TD
Ky Pearson 24 162 3
Chase Monroe 6 8 0
Luke Jones 1 -4 0
PASSING
Player Com Att Yds TD
Ky Pearson 16 36 145 0
RECEIVING
Player Rec Yds TD
Braedon Carlson 7 91 0
Cade Campbell 3 33 0
Dillon Ranck 5 25 0
Jackson Campbell 1 -4 0
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- Webster City’s Kyzer Stanley (15) and Jamin Stuhr (77) celebrate a tackle in the backfield during Friday’s 57-20 rout of Norwalk. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
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- WCHS sophomore tailback Jaxon Cherry attempts to stay on his feet after getting hit low during the first quarter against Norwalk on Friday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
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- WCHS spinback Ty McKinney cuts back toward the middle of the field on a 20-yard gain in the first half against Norwalk on Friday. The Lynx rushed for 500 yards in a 57-20 victory. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
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- WCHS senior Devon Stoakes (5) breaks up a pass as Austin Mason (6) provides coverage deep during the fourth quarter against Norwalk on Friday. Stoakes had a team-high 9 tackles in the Lynx 57-20 win. DFJ photo/Troy Banning
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- The Webster City football team watches as Norwalk receives its playoffs trophy following the Lynx 57-20 victory in the Class 4A first round Friday night at Lynx Field. WCHS advanced to the state quarterfinals for the second straight season. DFJ photo/Troy Banning