JAYDEN WEINZETL OF WEBSTER CITY scores a touchdown at Fort Dodge on Friday. (Photo by Britt Kudla)

FORT DODGE — Any questions about Andy Brim’s debut as the Webster City head football coach were answered with resounding authority here on Friday.

The Lynx aren’t backing down anytime soon.

Brim’s squad put on a show inside Dodger Stadium, scoring 28 unanswered second-half points to drub Fort Dodge by a final of 41-13 in the season opener for both schools.

Webster City showed both its trademark toughness and a few new wrinkles in overwhelming the Dodgers for the fourth year in a row. The offense functioned in a similar capacity to the single-wing attack championed by Hall of Fame coach Bob Howard, who had the Lynx running like a well-oiled machine during the final nine seasons of his tenure.

With the departure of Howard — who retired last November — as well as all-everything star Jaxon Cherry and most of the offensive line, Webster City looked to be in a period of transition with Brim taking over after 17 seasons as the program’s assistant.

Against the Dodgers, the Lynx instead didn’t skip a beat.

“I’m really lucky as a first year head coach to have the staff I do surrounding me,” said Brim, a Webster City native. “We have a couple new guys. We also have several guys, though, that have not only been around the game for a long time but also been in our program for a long time. That’s huge when it comes to communicating and making sure everyone is on the same page. Coach (Clint) Howard did a really nice job calling the offense, and Coach (Marty) McKinney has a new offensive line playing pretty well for this point in the season.”

Webster City faced some immediate adversity when it gave up a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game. The Lynx didn’t panic, though, settling in and establishing itself quickly and effectively up front against the Dodgers.

“We talk a lot in our program about not letting one bad play or mistake create more,” Brim said. “To really play one play at a time. When Fort Dodge returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, we had to really believe in that mentality — and I thought the kids responded really well.

“With it being the first game and a lot of new kids playing, that opening play had potential to decide (the outcome). Instead, the kids forgot about it right away and moved on.”

A 13-13 contest at halftime turned in Webster City’s favor during the opening few minutes of the third quarter. Junior Jaxon Griffith returned the opening kickoff of the second half 96 yards for a touchdown, and the Dodgers fumbled on the next snap from scrimmage. The Lynx drove and scored again, never looking back.

Griffith rushed 12 times for 145 yards, including a 62-yard gallop to paydirt for the final Webster City touchdown. Senior spinback Luke Estlund (88 yards rushing) and senior Jayden Weinzetl (84) were both tough to bring down on the ground as well. Estlund found the end zone three times.

Defensively, the Lynx allowed just 176 yards of total offense – including only 46 on the ground.

“It’s no secret that we plan to run the ball and want to control the line of scrimmage,” Brim said. “For a pretty much brand new offensive line in – Max McGilligan, Brian Alaniz, Eli Estlund, Jacob Feldhaus, Cole Nohrenberg, and Gabe Ruby along with our blocking back Carson Bertran – we moved the ball well offensively and rushed for over 300 yards. Jaxon Griffith was obviously a huge positive, and we are really excited to see him develop as the year goes on. He’s another kid that really doesn’t have a ton of varsity experience (coming into 2024).

“Defensively, the kids played great. First games are always tough, because you don’t really know what the other team is going to do. But our kids did their jobs and played great team defense. Aiden Hrnicek played really well at middle linebacker, which is not an easy position in our scheme. Kaleb Hansen also played really solid on the defensive side as a sophomore seeing his first varsity action.”

Hrnicek and Alex Staley recovered fumbles in the win. Hrnicek and Luke Estlund were the top tacklers from a balanced defensive effort.

The Lynx rushed for 331 total yards on 50 carries. Estlund attempted only one pass – a 13-yard completion to Ruby.

Webster City, a Class 3A state quarterfinalist last season, is now 73-23 overall since 2015.

The Lynx return to action on Friday at home versus Spencer. Varsity kickoff is set for 7 p.m.