Crusaders march past Harlan
By Terry Hersom, thersom@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Saturday, November 08, 2008
Heelan's Cole Wegher, left, tackles Harlan's Eric Croghan Friday at Olsen Stadium. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
Brandon Wegher carried the ball a career-high 39 times and finished with a season-low 178 yards rushing.
And, that was enough for the third winningest coach in the history of Iowa high school football to put the Bishop Heelan running back in some very special company.
"I don't think we've ever seen anybody step on the field as good as he is in (Class) 3A,'' allowed Bladt after his fifth-ranked Harlan squad lost a state quarterfinal playoff game to Heelan for a second year in a row, bowing 38-21 on a cold and wintry Friday night at Olsen Stadium.
Leading just 14-7 at halftime, Heelan scored the first 24 points of the second half to blow the game open, gaining a 38-7 advantage as Wegher scored his last of four touchdowns on the night with 9:40 left in the fourth quarter.
Two Harlan scores in the final 5:36 took some of the edge off a blowout that sends No. 1-ranked Heelan into the state semifinals on Monday, Nov. 17 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
Improving to 12-0, the Crusaders will have all of 10 days to prepare for that matchup against No. 2-ranked Clear Lake, also 12-0. And, the other two 3A semifinalists, No. 4 Decorah and No. 7 Pella, are also both undefeated at 12-0.
Heelan, which defeated the Cyclones 28-13 on the second Friday of the regular season, turned two costly Harlan miscues into an early 14-0 lead.
Nonetheless, Bladt's team quickly got one touchdown back to make it a 14-7 battle at the intermission.
With blowing snow starting up during the recess, Heelan Coach Roger Jansen felt the first series of the second half would be crucial. And, Jansen was correct.
"We saw that snow and thought an early score (early in the third quarter) would be golden,'' said Jansen, who got what he wanted just four plays after his team received the second-half kickoff.
First, it was junior quarterback Zach McCabe, spotting a gaping hole over the middle and electing to take a second-down snap straight down the field. The 6-foot 6-inch McCabe rambled for all of 47 yards before Harlan's Luke Lansman finally ran him out-of-bounds.
Two plays later, Wegher zoomed around the right side of his line and scored from 21 yards out.
"We kind of got after the offensive linemen (at halftime),'' said Jansen. "There's five guys who all either started two or three years and they just weren't getting it done. There wasn't a lot of yelling and screaming. We just challenged them to do better.''
"Our linemen came out (in the second half) and smashed them in the mouth,'' said Wegher, who has 46 touchdowns on the season, 106 for his career and now boasts the fifth best single-season rushing total in Iowa prep history with 2,743 yards. "We changed a couple of things in our blocking and things really came around.''
Heelan wound up scoring on its first four possessions of the second half, a performance that included a 31-yard field goal by sophomore Zach Maxey to make it 24-7 with 5:12 left in the third quarter.
On the first play after the kickoff, Harlan quarterback Jeff Hastert coughed up a fumble and Heelan recovered at the Cyclones 14. Four plays later, Wegher scored on a four-yard run, opening up a 31-7 advantage.
A quarterback sack by Jake Skibinski helped Heelan gain enviable field position on its last scoring drive, which started from the Harlan 45. Preston Ives contributed a 17-yard flanker reverse before three more carries by Wegher chewed up the last 17 yards to paydirt.
Wegher needs just four more yards to overtake Terrance Freeney (2,746 yards for Cedar Falls in 2000) as the fourth highest single-season rusher in the state and he's actually within range of the state record -- 3,109 yards by Williamsburg's Dustyn Baethke in 2002.
"It's a pretty unbelievable feeling the way these kids have responded to every possible challenge,'' said Jansen, who returned nearly everyone (starters in 18 of 22 positions) from a state runner-up team. "I've been doing this quite awhile and I'd say this is definitely one of the better second-half teams I've been around.''
The first half saw Heelan get a couple of breaks from Harlan.
First, an encroachment penalty with Heelan in punt formation gave the Crusaders a first down at their own 45 -- a penalty they put to good use by driving another 55 yards to collect the game's first touchdown.
Two plays after the kickoff, Nate Berger stepped on front of a flat pass and scored on a 22-yard pass interception return that gave the Crusaders a 14-0 head start.
Harlan answered just over two minutes later, starting their only first-half scoring march with a 43-yard gallop by sophomore running back Dylan Barrett, accounting for more than half his total of 81 yards on the night.
According to Bladt, Heelan became the first team ever to defeat Harlan twice in the same season. The Crusaders avenged an early season setback with their playoff win at Harlan last year -- still the Cyclones' only home loss since 2000. And, with three wins over Bladt's team the last two seasons, Heelan is responsible for all but one of Harlan's setbacks in the last six seasons, a stretch that has seen the Cyclones go 69-4.
This was actually Harlan's third loss in a row in the playoff quarterfinals after winning three consecutive state titles from 2003 through 2005. The Cyclones lost a 2006 quarterfinal to Le Mars.
Harlan 0 7 0 14 -- 21
Heelan 0 14 17 7 -- 38
Second Quarter
Heelan: Brandon Wegher 2 run (Zach Maxey kick) 5:53
Heelan: Nate Berger 22 interception (Maxey kick) 5:39
Harlan: Dylan Barrett 1 run (Trent Wendt) 3:33
Third Quarter
Heelan: Wegher 21 run (Maxey kick) 10:26
Heelan: FG Maxey 31, 5:12
Heelan: Wegher 4 run (Maxey kick) 3:04
Fourth Quarter
Heelan: Wegher 7 run (Maxey kick) 9:40
Harlan: Brian Kloewer 24 pass from Jeff Hastert (Wendt kick) 5:36
Harlan: Willie Baughman 25 pass from Hastert (Wendt kick) 2:44
TEAM STATISTICS
Harlan Heelan
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yards 28-109 53-291
Passing yards 117 31
Passes 8-21-2 1-3-0
Total plays-yards 49-226 56-322
Punts-average 5-31.8 4-35.3
Fumbles-lost 4-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 3-15 6-59
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Harlan -- Dylan Barrett 17-81, James Cairney 1-12, Jeff Hastert 3-11, Matt Long 3-7, Brian Kloewer 1-5, Michael Kaufmann 1-(-12). Heelan -- Brandon Wegher 39-178, Zach McCabe 5-52, Sean Keane 2-27, Preston Ives 2-27, Kyle Kinney 4-9, Team 1-(-2).
PASSING: Harlan -- Hastert 8-20-2--117, Kaufmann 0-1-0--0. Heelan -- McCabe 1-3-0--31.
RECEIVING: Harlan -- Adam Cave 3-40, Willie Baughman 2-31, Brian Kloewer 1-24, James Cairney 1-11, Dylan Barrett 1-11. Heelan -- Jordan Lester 1-31.
And, that was enough for the third winningest coach in the history of Iowa high school football to put the Bishop Heelan running back in some very special company.
"I don't think we've ever seen anybody step on the field as good as he is in (Class) 3A,'' allowed Bladt after his fifth-ranked Harlan squad lost a state quarterfinal playoff game to Heelan for a second year in a row, bowing 38-21 on a cold and wintry Friday night at Olsen Stadium.
Leading just 14-7 at halftime, Heelan scored the first 24 points of the second half to blow the game open, gaining a 38-7 advantage as Wegher scored his last of four touchdowns on the night with 9:40 left in the fourth quarter.
Two Harlan scores in the final 5:36 took some of the edge off a blowout that sends No. 1-ranked Heelan into the state semifinals on Monday, Nov. 17 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
Improving to 12-0, the Crusaders will have all of 10 days to prepare for that matchup against No. 2-ranked Clear Lake, also 12-0. And, the other two 3A semifinalists, No. 4 Decorah and No. 7 Pella, are also both undefeated at 12-0.
Heelan, which defeated the Cyclones 28-13 on the second Friday of the regular season, turned two costly Harlan miscues into an early 14-0 lead.
Nonetheless, Bladt's team quickly got one touchdown back to make it a 14-7 battle at the intermission.
With blowing snow starting up during the recess, Heelan Coach Roger Jansen felt the first series of the second half would be crucial. And, Jansen was correct.
"We saw that snow and thought an early score (early in the third quarter) would be golden,'' said Jansen, who got what he wanted just four plays after his team received the second-half kickoff.
First, it was junior quarterback Zach McCabe, spotting a gaping hole over the middle and electing to take a second-down snap straight down the field. The 6-foot 6-inch McCabe rambled for all of 47 yards before Harlan's Luke Lansman finally ran him out-of-bounds.
Two plays later, Wegher zoomed around the right side of his line and scored from 21 yards out.
"We kind of got after the offensive linemen (at halftime),'' said Jansen. "There's five guys who all either started two or three years and they just weren't getting it done. There wasn't a lot of yelling and screaming. We just challenged them to do better.''
"Our linemen came out (in the second half) and smashed them in the mouth,'' said Wegher, who has 46 touchdowns on the season, 106 for his career and now boasts the fifth best single-season rushing total in Iowa prep history with 2,743 yards. "We changed a couple of things in our blocking and things really came around.''
Heelan wound up scoring on its first four possessions of the second half, a performance that included a 31-yard field goal by sophomore Zach Maxey to make it 24-7 with 5:12 left in the third quarter.
On the first play after the kickoff, Harlan quarterback Jeff Hastert coughed up a fumble and Heelan recovered at the Cyclones 14. Four plays later, Wegher scored on a four-yard run, opening up a 31-7 advantage.
A quarterback sack by Jake Skibinski helped Heelan gain enviable field position on its last scoring drive, which started from the Harlan 45. Preston Ives contributed a 17-yard flanker reverse before three more carries by Wegher chewed up the last 17 yards to paydirt.
Wegher needs just four more yards to overtake Terrance Freeney (2,746 yards for Cedar Falls in 2000) as the fourth highest single-season rusher in the state and he's actually within range of the state record -- 3,109 yards by Williamsburg's Dustyn Baethke in 2002.
"It's a pretty unbelievable feeling the way these kids have responded to every possible challenge,'' said Jansen, who returned nearly everyone (starters in 18 of 22 positions) from a state runner-up team. "I've been doing this quite awhile and I'd say this is definitely one of the better second-half teams I've been around.''
The first half saw Heelan get a couple of breaks from Harlan.
First, an encroachment penalty with Heelan in punt formation gave the Crusaders a first down at their own 45 -- a penalty they put to good use by driving another 55 yards to collect the game's first touchdown.
Two plays after the kickoff, Nate Berger stepped on front of a flat pass and scored on a 22-yard pass interception return that gave the Crusaders a 14-0 head start.
Harlan answered just over two minutes later, starting their only first-half scoring march with a 43-yard gallop by sophomore running back Dylan Barrett, accounting for more than half his total of 81 yards on the night.
According to Bladt, Heelan became the first team ever to defeat Harlan twice in the same season. The Crusaders avenged an early season setback with their playoff win at Harlan last year -- still the Cyclones' only home loss since 2000. And, with three wins over Bladt's team the last two seasons, Heelan is responsible for all but one of Harlan's setbacks in the last six seasons, a stretch that has seen the Cyclones go 69-4.
This was actually Harlan's third loss in a row in the playoff quarterfinals after winning three consecutive state titles from 2003 through 2005. The Cyclones lost a 2006 quarterfinal to Le Mars.
Harlan 0 7 0 14 -- 21
Heelan 0 14 17 7 -- 38
Second Quarter
Heelan: Brandon Wegher 2 run (Zach Maxey kick) 5:53
Heelan: Nate Berger 22 interception (Maxey kick) 5:39
Harlan: Dylan Barrett 1 run (Trent Wendt) 3:33
Third Quarter
Heelan: Wegher 21 run (Maxey kick) 10:26
Heelan: FG Maxey 31, 5:12
Heelan: Wegher 4 run (Maxey kick) 3:04
Fourth Quarter
Heelan: Wegher 7 run (Maxey kick) 9:40
Harlan: Brian Kloewer 24 pass from Jeff Hastert (Wendt kick) 5:36
Harlan: Willie Baughman 25 pass from Hastert (Wendt kick) 2:44
TEAM STATISTICS
Harlan Heelan
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yards 28-109 53-291
Passing yards 117 31
Passes 8-21-2 1-3-0
Total plays-yards 49-226 56-322
Punts-average 5-31.8 4-35.3
Fumbles-lost 4-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 3-15 6-59
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Harlan -- Dylan Barrett 17-81, James Cairney 1-12, Jeff Hastert 3-11, Matt Long 3-7, Brian Kloewer 1-5, Michael Kaufmann 1-(-12). Heelan -- Brandon Wegher 39-178, Zach McCabe 5-52, Sean Keane 2-27, Preston Ives 2-27, Kyle Kinney 4-9, Team 1-(-2).
PASSING: Harlan -- Hastert 8-20-2--117, Kaufmann 0-1-0--0. Heelan -- McCabe 1-3-0--31.
RECEIVING: Harlan -- Adam Cave 3-40, Willie Baughman 2-31, Brian Kloewer 1-24, James Cairney 1-11, Dylan Barrett 1-11. Heelan -- Jordan Lester 1-31.
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