Iowa-Grant Football wins final game vs Riverdale, playoff bound

By John Dalton

The Iowa-Grant Panthers went into Riverdale Friday night for their final conference game and beat up the Chieftans 36-7 to earn a WIAA playoff spot next Friday night.  

The Panthers would take the opening kickoff and promptly march down the field and ninety seconds into the game Freshman Quarterback Hayden Aultman would run it in from 5 yards out and an early 6-0 lead after a failed two-point attempt.

On Riverdale’s first possession of the day and facing third down, Aiden Silvers picked the ball off and raced down the sideline deep into Riverdale territory. Two plays later, Panther Cole Schauff ran it in from 10 yards, and after a failed two-point conversion, Iowa-Grant held a 12-0 lead with 8:30 left in the first quarter.

Unfortunately for Riverdale, on its next possession, another turnover, a fumble recovered by the Panthers giving them good field possession at the Chieftan 38-yard line.  Two plays later, Aultman, filling in for injured starter Brock Hinderman, kept the ball on a fake handoff and he would scamper 25 yards for their third touchdown of the quarter.  After a successful two-point conversion pass from Aultman to Sam Lundell, Iowa-Grant had a 20-0 lead six minutes into the game.

Both teams played well after Riverdale’s early miscues allowed Iowa-Grant to take an early lead.  In the second quarter, the Chieftans put together a nice drive that ended with Brody Miess plowing in for a touchdown from one yard out and after the extra point cut the lead to 20-7.

The Panthers would start their next drive on their 20-yard line and on first down, Gavin Hinderman, who scored six touchdowns last week against Boscobel, busted through the line and ran 45 yards down to the Riverdale 35-yard line.  But self-inflicted penalties cost the Panthers as they moved backward and had to punt the ball back to Riverdale.  

After the punt, Riverdale was driving the ball when Head Coach Hayden Link called a timeout with 6:48 left in the second quarter.  His message, “The message we kept hammering this week was let's take care of business first before we start thinking about the playoffs.  I even wore a collar and tie Friday night to help stress that.  So the message we delivered to the whole team, not just the offense, in the 2nd quarter was a continuation of that we need to settle down and handle our business.  It's a mistake this staff learned from in the Fennimore game when we repeatedly shot ourselves in the foot during the first couple of drives.”

Iowa-Grant responded in a big way, stopping the Riverdale drive, getting the ball back, and putting a drive together of nice runs by Schauff and Aultman.  And with 49 seconds left before halftime, the left-handed quarterback Aultman launched a 26-yard pass into the end zone to Sam Lundell for a touchdown.  Aultman then found Landon Friesen for the two-point conversion and the Panthers held a 28-7 halftime lead.  

“We've done a good job all season of scoring off of turnovers.  Outside of the O-line, we are a young team.  We ride emotional highs until we hit obstacles. That's the next step in our program.  When things don't go right, how do we react?  We've talked about the Us vs. Us mentality and how BST (Belief in Self, Belief in Team) carries us through.  We are getting there.  We proved that when we started flat in the 3rd quarter,” said Coach Link.  

There was no scoring in the third quarter but Aultman ran for a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and after a successful two-point the Panthers won their fourth game in conference and are now playoff-bound in Division 7 and will travel to Bangor next Friday, October 25th for the first round WIAA Playoff game.  Bangor plays out of the Scenic Bluffs conference and is 7-2 on the year.

“This was a great TEAM win.  Guys stepped up that hadn't played much varsity ball and played huge. Aiden Silvers in particular; hadn't gotten much playing time on the JV squad let alone Varsity, but due to injuries he got to start and made the most of it.  Two interceptions don't just happen, plus he can tackle well. That guy earned his way onto the field and we don't foresee him losing his spot in the DB rotation any time soon,” Link said.  

In talking about his Freshman Quarterback, “Aultman played so well. He is a freshman doing freshman things sometimes, but I was pleased with how poised he was.  Even when we criticized him, he seemed to take it in stride, which is important in the development of a young QB.  I am very proud of that young man.”

Aultman was 10 of 21 through the air with one touchdown and one interception.  He also rushed the ball 11 times for 62 yards and three touchdowns.  Gavin Hinderman led the Panthers on 13 attempts for 84 yards.  Schauff had 16 attempts for 77 yards and a touchdown.  Lundell rushed twice for 33 yards.  

Receiving, Lundell led the Panthers with 7 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown.  Hinderman led the Panthers in solo tackles with five followed by Landon Friesen with four.  Kayden Klein assisted on nine tackles.  Aultman and Landon Wallace each assisted on five tackles each.  

“We are excited for our playoff game and look forward to the challenges Bangor will present.Todd Grant is a great coach that I look forward to meeting!  They are fast, physical, and disciplined.  We will have our hands full.”