In a thrilling and back-and-forth affair, the CAM Cougars Football team defeated the GTRA Titans to move on to the second round of the Iowa High School Football Playoffs.  Makade Paulsen was the star of the show, factoring in on all nine of CAM’s touchdowns while rushing for 347 yards.  In addition to the run game, Paulsen teamed up with Colin Bower multiple times to have a solid night through the air.  However, in a game with 18 total touchdowns and 131 points, it all came down to a Kegan Croghan field goal to give CAM the 67-64 win over the Titans.

On the opening drive, GTRA performed as advertised, moving the ball down the field with pace and efficiency to score 8 points and take the early lead. Looking for a response, CAM drove down the field but nearly stopped. However, on fourth down, Paulsen would roll out to his right and find Kayden Winther at the pylon for a 13-yard touchdown reception to bring the game to within two. It would be their first of three fourth-down touchdowns on the night. In one of the few defensive stops, the CAM defense forced the only turnover of the night when Karson Calhoun picked off Kasey Hough inside Titan territory. The interception would set up an 11-yard Bower touchdown reception to give CAM their first lead of the game. However, they missed their second straight two-point conversion leaving the advantage of 12-8.

Both defenses would earn stops, giving the ball back to the Titans. Once again, they drove down the field and cashed in on a jet sweep to Caleb Swedin to reestablish their lead in the second quarter. Then in a surprise move, GTRA recovered an onside kick in side CAM territory and took advantage. Hough would pick up his first of three rushing touchdowns to put the Titans up by 10. With the ball back, the Cougars marched down the field as Bower caught his second of three touchdown passes to bring the deficient to two. After getting another stop on defense, it didn’t take CAM long to retake the lead. Paulsen hit his first explosive run of the night to give the Cougars a 28-22 lead. However, as would come to be commonplace, GTRA would respond to tie the game before the half.

The score tied at 28; the game had a different feel in the second half. Where CAM had been chasing GTRA for a large portion of the first half, it was the Titans now chasing the Cougars. This was in large part due to CAM receiving the kickoff and capitalizing on the opening drive with a 13-yard Paulsen touchdown run. The one downside was that GTRA had an answer for everything CAM did.  when the Cougars scored, the Titans scored. Where CAM missed a two-point conversion, GTRA did the same. The only real difference was that the Titans had a few more explosive plays, including two 60-plus-yard passing touchdowns from Teagan Hanson, who played much of the 2nd half and threw for 277 yards. However, Paulsen added another huge run for a touchdown as well.

With the game tied at 64 and the clock starting to wind down, CAM started moving the ball down the field. With just seven seconds remaining, Bower made one last reception and stepped out of bounds. Still, 7 yards away from the emdzone, the next play would likely be the last of regulation. CAM called their timeout and came back with the field goal unit. The pressure now was all on Croghan, who had not attempted a field goal all year. Despite this and a shaky snap, Croghan nailed it and gave the Cougars a 67-64 lead with two seconds remaining. All that was left for the Titans was the lateral play on the kickoff and CAM handled it and put a seal on their first round victory.

Head Coach Barry Bower was pleased with his team’s mental fortitude.

Bower said that he appreciated Paulsen’s toughness but also said that his success helped the team in more ways than one.

Despite never attempting a field goal this year, Coach Bower was confident in Croghan.

Bower’s feelings on the win.

CAM will await their next opponenet.

The Exira-EHK Spartans football team were overwhelmed in their 72-16 loss to the Lenox Tigers on Friday night in the first round of the 8-man playoffs. From the first play Lenox was locked in as Gabe Funk intercepted the Spartans which led to an immediate 55-yard touchdown pass from Funk to Gabe Robles to put the Tigers up 7-0. After a mishandled kick return Lenox scooped the ball up for an onside recovery. The following play saw a 20-yard touchdown sprint by Laramie Stoaks making it a 13-0 game. At that point the tone was set and Exira-EHK would struggle to catchup. The reminder of the first quarter had three more scores for the Tigers all rushing, including a 73 yard race from Stoaks putting them up 35-0.

The second quarter didn’t fair much better for the Spartans as a running clock started. Midway through the second quarter Funk faked a pitch and kept the ball on a 36 yard touchdown scramble. The score then increased to 42-0. Right before the end of the second quarter Funk had one more long touchdown run left as he weaved his way through the Exira-EHK defense for 51 yards, creating a 50-0 lead at halftime.

The Spartans did rally in the third quarter with two goal line touchdown runs by Alex Hansen to chip away at Lenox’s lead, even with a 59 yard touchdown pass and punt return by Funk. The end of the third quarter would sit at 64-16. Exira-EHK’s defense held in the fourth while only giving up one Tiger touchdown by Ashton Leonard. The final score of the game would then be 72-16.

Lenox’s main scorer Gabe Funk had an impressive outing with six total touchdowns showing a wide range of skill and decision making. The Spartans top producer on Friday was Hansen with his two scores. Exira-EHK head coach Drew Buckholdt noted that he was impressed with the way Hansen carried himself throughout his time as a Spartan.

Looking at the future of Spartan football, coach Buckholdt is optimistic about the talent he has returning.

The loss drops Exira-EHK’s final record to 3-6. Lenox stays undefeated at 9-0.

Iowa takes a 4-3 record into Saturday’s game against Northwestern. The Wildcats enter with a record of 3-4. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz.

The Hawkeyes needed a late field goal to escape with a win last season in Wrigley Field.

In the last eight games in this series each team has won four.