As the Bobcats walked off the field Friday night in the UNI-Dome you could see and feel the disappointment in the players, but as they have time to reflect I am sure they will realize what they gave us all this fall.

 

Iowa City High had all the answers and even a few tricks that the Bobcats just couldn’t overcome as they held off the Bobcats 42-14 to win the Class 4-A State Championship.

 

City High came out strong, scoring on the opening possession grabbing a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game on a Ellis Jordan 40-yard run. Marshalltown responded in typical Bobcat fashion going 74 yards in 5 plays as Ty Steffensen grabbed a 24-yard pass from Chanse Creekmur to tie the game at 7.

 

Ellis Jordan put the Little Hawks back in front on a 68-yard run with 2:32 to play in the quarter. Jarred Carlson answered back for the ‘Cats on a 15-yard reception from Creekmur to again tie the game at 14 with 11:14 to play in the half.

 

From here the Little Hawks could do little wrong and seemed to have an answer for everything the Bobcats had to offer. Two more scoring drives in the first half gave City High a 28-14 lead at the break. After a scoreless third quarter, City High put a pair of scores on the board in a twenty second span and a 42-14 final and a State Championship.

 

Jon Vance led the Bobcats defensively with 11 tackles, while Chris Allen added 8.5.

 

The Bobcats ended their fantastic run with a 13-1 record and many memories and accomplishments never before witnessed in this city. While the Iowa High School Athletic Association has yet to release attendance numbers it is quite likely that new records will be set and they have the Bobcat faithful to thank for this accomplishment. Some 8-10,000 fans made the trip from Marshalltown and the surrounding communities to cheer on these amazing Bobcats.

 

“What a great season this team had,” MHS coach Dave Holdiman said. “One game doesn’t change that. This was such a special season and the way the community responded was just amazing. These kids understand what they accomplished and they appreciated everything that happened to them.”

 

As far as the championship game goes, Holdiman had this to say. “City High was outstanding tonight and they played flawlessly. We just couldn’t afford to make mistakes and we did with the four turnovers. You can’t give a team like them extra possessions and to their benefit they capitalized on them.”

 

City High coach Dan Sabers said, “We were really worried how we could cover their offense. Our plan was to make them work hard and really pressure Creekmur and hopefully wear him out. I though we did a tremendous job of that after the first couple of possessions. That was a great team and a really hard one to prepare for.”

 

Chanse Creekmur ended the season with the most passing yardage, completions, and touchdown passes in a single season in 4A History. Fellow senior Jarred Carlson also had a record setting season ending up with the single season receptions, touchdown receptions and receiving yardage in Class 4A History.

 

The Bobcat Community I am sure thanks the players and coaches for a fantastic run that showed what Bobcat pride is all about.

 

Scoring

Iowa City High           14   14   0   14   42

Marshalltown                7     7   0     0   14

 

ICH     Jordan 40-yard run (Riley kick)

MHS   Steffensen 24 pass from Creekmur (Illum kick)

ICH     Jordan 68-yard run (Riley kick)

MHS   Carlson 15 pass from Creekmur (Illum kick)

ICH     Derby 9-yard run (Riley kick)

ICH     Koehnke 28 pass from Derby (Riley kick)

ICH     Washington 23 pass from Derby (Riley kick)

ICH     Jordan 12-yard run (Riley kick)

 

 

Passing

Creekmur        20-30-2int       274 yards 2 touchdowns

 

Rushing          

Creekmur 19-12, Ruddick 3-7, Zeigler 5-33

 

Receiving

Carlson 3-35, Thimesch 4-72, Steffensen 4-58, Duncan 6-88, Ruddick 3-21