Linn-Mar Football

No. 3 Lions whip No. 5 Little Hawks for title

The 34 seniors on the Linn-Mar High School football team have stressed one word all year.

Finish.

Finish each game strong, finish the season strong, finish the year in the UNI-Dome with a shot at the state title.

They took a big step Friday night.

The third-ranked Lions whipped No. 5 Iowa City High, 17-12, at Linn-Mar Stadium to clinch the Mississippi Division title in the MVC and defeat the Little Hawks for the first time since 1994.

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Atwater, Lions bracing for Iowa City High

The Linn-Mar Lions have reached this point before.

They've been undefeated late in the season before, they've been ranked fairly high in the polls, they've dreamed about making a deep run in the playoffs.

It didn't happen in 2009, when they started 6-0 and lost to Cedar Falls. It didn't happen in 2010, when they began 7-0 before losing to Iowa City High.

Both of those clubs lost in the second round of the playoffs, far short of their goal.

Now here they are again. The Lions are 7-0, ranked No. 3 in the state and bracing for Friday night's big home game with the fifth-ranked Iowa City Little Hawks (6-1).

The Lions have been burned once. They've been burned twice. A third time would be unacceptable.

"It's not OK to be at this point anymore, it's not OK to lose in the second round of the playoffs," senior Mark Atwater said Tuesday after practice. "It's not OK to be 8-and-3, 9-and-2. We are capable of the Dome, and everybody knows that."

Linn-Mar wants to play for the state title in the UNI-Dome on Friday, Nov. 18. That's still seven games away, and the biggest game so far will be played this Friday at new Linn-Mar Stadium.

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Lions stay at No. 3 in Class 4A grid poll

Linn-Mar remained at No. 3, but there was a shakeup atop the Associated Press Class 4A football poll that was released Monday.

Cedar Falls (7-0), which had been ranked No. 1 all season long, dropped to No. 2 behind West Des Moines Valley (7-0). The Tigers moved down a spot despite beating Waterloo West 49-7 last Friday night and despite garnering three more first-place votes than Valley.

Linn-Mar (7-0) is third, followed by Southeast Polk (6-1) and Iowa City High (6-1).

Linn-Mar hosts Iowa City High on Friday. The Lions have clinched a tie for the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division title and can win it outright with a victory over the Little Hawks.

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David Parry enjoys life at No.5 Stanford

Iowa or Stanford.

David Parry had two choices for college football when he was a senior at Linn-Mar High School two years ago.

He could stay close to home and play for the Hawkeyes, or he could move closer to his second home in California and play for Stanford.

Both schools invited him to join their programs as preferred walk-ons, but neither one offered a scholarship.

He picked Stanford.

"I have a bunch of relatives throughout the Bay Area in California. Both of my parents are from out here in Daly City, which is pretty close," Parry said.

"I came out here a lot growing up. In a sense it was almost like coming back home."

Parry, a 6-foot-2, 295-pound defensive tackle, has not regretted his decision for a second.

Stanford (5-0) is ranked No. 5 in the country, he's getting to play as a redshirt freshman and Coach David Shaw gave him a scholarship before the 2011 season began.

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