Linn-Mar Football

Henry shines as No.8 Lions top J-Hawks, 35-10

Linn-Mar quarterback Mark Atwater offered a good scouting report a few weeks ago on his new favorite receiver.

Watch out for Andy Henry, he said shortly after practice began in early August. The kid can play.

True enough.

Atwater connected with Henry for three touchdown passes Thursday night as the eighth-ranked Lions topped Jefferson, 35-10, in the Mississippi Valley Conference opener at Kingston Stadium.

Henry had touchdown grabs of 23, 42 and 18 yards to help Linn-Mar shake a determined effort by the J-Hawks.

"The kid is really good," Atwater said after the game. "Now he's not the best-kept secret here anymore.

"He's fast, he's got athleticism, he goes up and gets the ball. He is going to be a target for us the rest of the season. Henry can flat-out play."

Read more...

Forsyth excited about his fast Linn-Mar Lions

Put a fast team on a fast new field and you could have a dangerous football team.

Say hello to the speedy Linn-Mar Lions, who hope to christen their new field and new $10 million stadium this year with a successful campaign.

"We really have kids who can run and we're excited about getting them the ball and the things we think we can do on defense," Coach Bob Forsyth said. "I think this is by far the fastest team we've ever had since I've been here."

This is Forsyth's fourth year with the Lions. He inherited a winless team in 2007, but quickly revived the program and led them to the playoffs in 2009 and 2010.

He's looking for another trip to the playoffs and likes what he sees heading into Thursday night's opener against Cedar Rapids Jefferson at Kingston Stadium.

"Things are moving along good," he said. "We're into game-week mode now."

Linn-Mar lost star tailback Jer Garman to graduation, but quarterback Mark Atwater returns after accounting for 2,349 yards and 29 touchdowns last season. Mitch Wantock and Brandon Ophoff have been battling to replace Garman and could share the load.

Garman lugged the ball 192 times for 1,601 yards last season and Atwater carried 115 times for 744 yards, so there weren't too many snaps for anyone else. Ophoff ranked third with 18 carries for 50 yards and Wantoff had 10 rushes for 89 yards.

"We're going to plan on using both of them," Forsyth said. "Who goes out there first has yet to be determined."

Read more...

Atwater leads Linn-Mar seniors into special year

Bob Forsyth has 34 good reasons to think Linn-Mar High School will have another strong football team this year.

That's how many seniors he has on the roster.

"This class of seniors is a special class for all of us as coaches," Forsyth said after practice Tuesday morning. "They were the ninth graders when we came in.

"I remember coming down here and seeing those kids and wondering what life would be like here in a couple of years, because I was new and they were, too."

Life has been good for this senior class, especially compared to a few years ago.

Linn-Mar finished 0-9 in 2007 under Bob Read in his final year as head coach, back when these 2011 seniors were eighth graders. Forsyth took over in 2008 and led the Lions to a 3-6 campaign, then went 9-2 in 2009 and 8-3 in 2010 with a pair of playoff teams.

The freshmen Forsyth met in 2008 are seniors now, hoping to put an exclamation point on their prep careers.

Read more...

Jer Garman grabs MVP honors in Shrine Bowl

AMES - Jer Garman showed Saturday night that he's big enough to play with the big boys on a big stage.

The Linn-Mar High School tailback was named the Offensive MVP for the North team and led all rushers in the 39th Annual Shrine Bowl at Jack Trice Stadium.

The South won an exciting game, 17-14, before approximately 5,000 fans.

Garman is a strong football player who prides himself on staying in great shape, but he's only 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds. He rushed for 1,601 yards and 26 touchdowns for Linn-Mar last fall, but his size scared all of the big schools away.

He'll report for football practice at the University of North Dakota on Aug. 1, but he proved Saturday night that he can play football with all of the elite players in Iowa.

"Yeah, I definitely did," he said after rushing for a game-high 60 yards on 15 carries. "I know that some stuff didn't happen my way, but it all happens for a reason. I'm happy to be a North Dakota Fighting Sioux and I'm going to make the most of it."

The South team rolled up 453 yards of total offense and collected 27 first downs, compared to just 157 yards and seven first downs for the North on a hot night in Ames, but the North stayed in the game with clutch plays on defense and special teams.

Dusty Albaugh of Marion High School made a leaping interception in the end zone for the North squad to prevent a touchdown with the North holding a 14-10 lead in the third quarter. It was one of four interceptions for the North in the all-star game.

"When it's in the air, it's my ball," Albaugh said. "Just grab it and don't let anybody else take it from you."

Albaugh, a defensive back, made several strong tackles and returned two punts for 18 yards on a busy night.

"We weren't even supposed to hang with them, with all their D-I players and all their D-I athletes that they have," Albaugh remarked. "They were supposed to crush us. It was kind of nice that we gave them a heck of a scare."

Chase Kleopfer of Xavier High School made several good plays for the North squad at defensive end. Ross Ellsworth from Kennedy High School started for the North at center.

The South took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Connor Bravard of Dowling Catholic to Adam Cave of Harlan. Marshall Koehn of Solon kicked the PAT.

The North tied the game, 7-7, on a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown by Reid Nuss of North Fayette and the PAT by Kyle Wiest of Dubuque Hempstead.

Koehn booted a 25-yard field goal to give the South a 10-7 lead with 1:59 left in the first half, but that three-point lead lasted a total of just 16 seconds.

Koehn's kickoff was rolling along the turf, and when it turned toward the sideline one of the North assistant coaches yelled at Darreus Caston to let it roll out of bounds. Caston either didn't hear him or didn't care to listen, which was a big break for the North.

Caston grabbed the ball, cut to his left, cut back to his right, found an opening and scooted 82 yards for a touchdown. Wiest kicked the PAT and the North had a 14-10 edge at halftime.

Neither team scored in the third period, but the South kept moving the ball and kept threatening. The South finally scored on a 5-yard run by Nathan DePenning of Johnston to take a 16-14 lead with 7:17 left in the game. Koehn kicked the PAT to make it 17-14.

The North never got into South territory or came close to scoring again, getting all its points on an interception return, a kickoff return and two PATs.

Garman had runs of 8, 8, 11, 12 and 9 yards during the ballgame and accounted for three first downs. He said he enjoyed the week in Ames with many of the top graduated high school football players in the state.

"It's a great experience," he said. "I made more strong relationships than I would have ever imagined in just one week. We would have liked to have won, though."

Garman said he doesn't know if he'll be redshirted as a freshman at North Dakota this season or not. He said he's been working hard and is prepared to play.

"I'll go up there and get some kick-return time and some punt returns and maybe get some running back reps and hopefully I will play," he said. "This week is kind of a prep for going to college. It was a good time."