IOWA CITY - Inconsistent play has plagued Linn-Mar all season.

That inconsistency, along with an outstanding effort from Iowa City High receiver Jason Jones, put an end to the Lions' 2015 season Wednesday  night.

Jones hauled in seven passes for 133 yards, including a backbreaking 62-yard catch and run early in the fourth quarter, as the Little Hawks downed the Lions, 26-16, in a Class 4A opening-round playoff game on a raw, windy evening at Bates Field.

City High (7-3) advances to the second round against an opponent to be determined while the Lions finish the year at 4-6.

"City High did a real good job," said Linn-Mar Coach Bob Forsyth. "They played a real good football game, but we had some opportunities, like we've had all year."

Poor position hurt the Lions on their first two drives. Punts into the wind gave the Little Hawks great field position.

City High needed five plays to move 58 yards for its first score. Quarterback Jared Taylor connected with Jones on three of the five plays, the final one a brilliant 22-yard fade pass that took it to the Lion 1 where Bryce Frantz punched it in. The PAT kick was blocked, leaving the lead at 6-0.

Linn-Mar went three-and-out for a third straight drive and a good punt return allowed City High to start on the Lion 34. Again it took five plays. Erick Fletcher took it in from the 6 and City High led 13-0.

Things turned in Linn-Mar's favor the rest of the half. A 15-play drive culminated in a 25-yard Alexy Boehm field goal, cutting the gap to 13-3.

Then, just before the half, the Lions marched 49 yards for a score. Quarterback Reese Phillips had a couple of nifty runs on the drive and capped it off with a 2-yard run with 32 seconds left in the half.

"We felt good going in at the half," Forsyth said. "Again, we just came up short with some things that we needed to do a little better on."

City High took the second half kick and chewed up almost half the third quarter, marching 62 yards on 11 plays. Frantz capped it off with a 1-yard plunge, making it 20-10 with 6:32 left in the quarter.

The defenses took control until early in the fourth quarter when Taylor lofted one towards Jones, who was double covered. He leaped between the Lion defenders to make the catch, was able to maintain his balance and complete the 62-yard catch and run to make it 26-10.

"He's a heck of a player," Forsyth said of Jones. (City High) did a really good job of maximizing his abilities. We had the play covered pretty well, but he just went up and made a play."

Still, the Lions didn't quit. Twice they got the ball inside City's 10 in the final 11 minutes. The first time, they lost it on downs. Then, after a poor punt, Linn-Mar was on the march when Neme Siaway, after a tough run, lost the ball inside the 5.

Linn-Mar scored a consolation TD as Phillips ran it in from the 6 with 24 seconds remaining in the game.

Phillips completed 15-of-30 for 142 yards, including six to senior Mark Troutman, who had the best game of his career with 73 receiving yards. For City High, Taylor was 12-of-19 for 203 yards.

Linn-Mar held the Little Hawks to 81 yards on the ground.

"I'm really proud of our seniors," Forsyth said. "They played hard. You know, the playoffs are, when you lose, like getting your head cut off. It's over and it's done. This is a night where we celebrate all our seniors have accomplished."

The future looks bright for the Lions as juniors and sophomores held a variety of starting positions, including many of the skill positions.

"We had a lot of young kids get experience this year," Forsyth said. "We're hoping we can build on that next season."

IOWA CITY HIGH 26, LINN-MAR 16

LM            ICH

First downs            15             13
Rushes-yards        33-102          33-79
Passing yards         147            203
Comp-Att-Int        15-30-0        12-19-1
Fumbles-lost          1-1            0-0
Punts-avg.            6-32.5         6-26-1
Penalties-yards         8-40         4-39

Linn-Mar         0  10  0  6  - 16
Iowa City High  13   0  7  6  - 26

Scoring plays

C - Bryce Frantz 1 run (kick blocked)
C - Erick Fletcher 6 run (Sarrive Rukakiza kick)
LM - FG Alexy Boehm 25
LM - Reese Phillips 2 run (Boehm kick)
C - Frantz 1 run (Rukakiza kick)
C - Jason Jones 62 pass from Jared Taylor (kick blocked)
LM - Phillips 6 run (pass failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Linn-Mar - Brennan McGaffe 2-9, Neme Siaway 19-55, Reese Phillips 8-16, Josh Gassmann 2-20, Daniel Gorsich 2-2.
Iowa City High - Bryce Frantz 20-27, Jared Taylor 5-16, Jason Jones 2-18, Mick Moioffer 1-2, Erick Fletcher 4-18, Team 1-(minus-2).

Passing

Linn-Mar - Reese Phillips 15-30-0-147
Iowa City High - Jared Taylor 12-19-0-203

Receiving

Linn-Mar - Daniel Gorsich 3-17, Josh Gassmann 2-18, Kirby Kerr 1-14, Mark Troutman 6-73, Brennan McGaffe 2-17, Jacob McNeil 1-8
Iowa City High - Jason Jones 8-133, Griffin Fellows 2-28. Tom Pugh 1-17, Bryce Frantz 1-25.