By John Dalton
Carter Achenbach returned the opening kickoff 83 yards untouched for a touchdown, Brock Hinderman threw four first-half touchdown passes to three different receivers, and the Iowa-Grant Panthers routed Riverdale 64-26 Friday night at Coach Crull Field to advance to the second round of the WIAA football tournament. The 8-2 Panthers will host 10-1 Pepin/Alma on Friday night.
“The kickoff return certainly melted away any traces of nerves on the sideline. Carter Achenbach is an electric athlete, to be sure,” Iowa-Grant Head Coach Hayden Link said after the game.
Iowa-Grant beat Riverdale 43-7 on October 9, but Link approaches playoff opponents differently than regular-season foes. “Our team was already pretty confident at that point as a result of how we are treating every game. It’s not Riverdale; it’s not a team we beat in Week 8. It’s Team A. This coming Friday night, we host Team B. No one we play gets a name or a face to put with it. We just strive to take care of business and improve with every play. It’s Us vs. Us.”
After forcing Riverdale to punt on its opening possession, Iowa- Grant drove 89 yards for another score. Hinderman capped the drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Aultman, then added the two-point conversion for a 16-0 lead. With less than a minute left in the first quarter, Hinderman found Cole Schauff in the flat for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 24-0.
Midway through the second quarter, Iowa-Grant’s Landon Friesen intercepted a pass from Riverdale quarterback Bevyn Dennis at midfield and returned it to the Chieftains’ 33-yard line. A few plays later, Hinderman connected with Aultman for a 14-yard touchdown, and Schauff’s two-point conversion extended the lead to 32-0.
With less than a minute remaining before halftime, Dennis scored on an 11-yard run to cut Riverdale’s deficit to 32-6. Any momentum quickly disappeared, however. On Iowa-Grant’s next possession, Hinderman hit Ty Cutts on a long pass to the 18-yard line, and Schauff scored on a run with 17 seconds left on the next play.
The Panthers then recovered their squib kickoff. With five seconds remaining, Hinderman found Cutts for a 40-yard touchdown pass and added the two-point conversion, giving Iowa-Grant a 48-6 halftime lead.
“Brock Hinderman threw 4 interceptions last game against this team, and he threw none this time around. He deserved the game ball. In addition to him, Hayden Aultman and Ty Cutts both had fumbles in this game, and they both bounced back and scored. All three of these guys showed a lot of mental toughness,” said Link.
Hinderman’s final stats included completing 13 out of 16 passes for 303 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed three times for 67 yards and a touchdown. Cole Schauff caught rushed eight times for 77 yards and a score, he also caught a 24-yard touchdown pass. He also converted five two-point conversions. Ty Cutts led all receivers with four catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Aultman caught five balls for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Friesen had three receptions for 89 yards. Defensively, Cole and Grant Schauff each had nine tackles. Trapper Hoffman had seven.
The Panthers now host Pepin/Alma this Friday at Iowa- Grant and coach Link knows somewhat of what to expect from their squad. “We actually played them a few years ago, so we know them a bit. Not much has changed schematically. They are a highly disciplined, run-first team, not unlike what we see most weeks in the Six Rivers. The difference is their speedthey’ll hurry up and line up and run the next play. They want to run as many as possible. So that mental toughness bit will have to come into play. At some point, they’ll punch us in the mouth or we’ll mess up. What do we do then? How do we respond?
We’ll find out Friday night as kickoff is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.
