September 18, 2014 at 10:42 a.m.
Late Cuban rally sends them past I-G
Droessler, the quarterback for the Cubans, helped put 15 unanswered points on the board in the fourth quarter and paved the way for a 28-14 Cuba City win in week four of the season. It was the second week of the SWAL and it was a game both teams wanted but only one could have.
Iowa-Grant got going first as Luke Nowak cruised in from 76 yards out and Isaac Anderson passed to Trent Milliken for an 8-0 lead. The score came less than a minute into the game and on the second play the Panthers ran.
Cuba City answered the touchdown with one of their own on a 10 yard pass from Droessler to Dillon Averkamp. The conversion kick made it 8-7 at the 8:22 mark
Theo Denlinger, a monster end, caught a 17 yard scoring pass from Droessler for a 13-8 halftime lead. His catch came with 35 seconds left in the half.
Nowak struck again with a two yard run five minutes into the second half and gave the Panthers a 14-13 lead.
Droessler then got untracked, running in from the six just after the final quarter started then hitting Denlinger with a 24 yard pass with 10:51 left.
The Cubans finally got their offensive plan to work in the last quarter.
"They got their option game running," said Panther coach Gary Allen.
A fumble deep in Panther territory gave the Cubans a short field on the way to making it a two touchdown game.
"They scored on a long drive and then we fumbled the ball on our first play," Allen said. "That was the turning point."
"They were more physical than we were and they took care of the ball better," Allen added..
Milliken kept the passing game going with five catches for 51 yards.
"Trent is a very hard worker," Allen said. "He practices very hard every day and he plays as hard as he can."
The Panthers have a must win game Friday as they host the Golden Eagles from just down the road.
"Fennimore has some good athletes and quickness. We will need to play well," Allen said.