Josh Mackey is almost all alone as the North Fayette Valley fullback speeds downfield for a TD in the TigerHawks 32-13 win over Beckman on Friday night. Mackey had more yards rushing than the entire Blazer offense, 165-163. (Jerry Wadian photo)

3rd quarter sparks TigerHawks, 32-13

North Fayette Valley dominated most of Friday’s home game against Dyersville Beckman, but needed a third-quarter spark from Ben Martin to win, 32-13.

“We played a good three-quarter game,” acknowledged head coach Bob Lape.

With temperatures dropping below 40 and the winds reaching 35-40 mph, it was a tough game for fans, coaches, and players. In fact, the Dyersville side was almost devoid of people.

However, the TigerHawks started impressively in the battle for playoff position, stopping the Blazers’ opening possession on a three-and-out; then using six running plays to travel 53 yards for a 6-0 lead with 7:54 left in the first quarter.

Beckman gave NFV great field possession after a muffed punt. The TigerHawks took advantage with another six-play drive, this one for 45 yards, and it was 12-0 with 2:06 left in the quarter.

However, Beckman dominated the next 13 minutes, driving for a TD on a 12-play march.

“Give Beckman some credit,” noted Lape, “They were able to rebound from the bad start and do some good things.”

NFV was snake-bitten in the quarter. Two punt attempts ended in disaster. On the first one, the snap was very high; Phil Kleve used his athleticism to knock the ball down but could never get a handle on it and Beckman recovered on the NFV 16.

The TigerHawk D held, but once again NFV had to punt, and another high snap resulted in a block giving the Blazers’ the ball on the 1. One play later and Beckman led 13-12.

Kuehner brought the crowd to life with a long run back of the kickoff, but a penalty pinned the TigerHawks back in their own territory.

A lost fumble gave the visitors one more chance to score in the quarter, but the TigerHawk D was up to the challenge, stopping the Blazers on the NFV 26.

However, for the first time this season, the TigerHawks trailed at the half, 13-12.

The second half started badly for NFV as a penalty on the first offensive play cost them 10 yards. With no first down, NFV punted successfully and Beckman had the ball and momentum.

That’s when Martin stepped up. The senior broke in front of a receiver for an interception and ran it back to the NFV 48.

Trevor Hurd went up the middle for 18 yards, plus a personal foul penalty, and the TigerHawks were really in business. Josh Mackey put NFV back in front, punching through the middle and running untouched for a 25-yard score.

Kuehner bulled his way through several defenders to add the PAT and the TigerHawks were up 20-13.

Beckman tried to start a drive, but once gain, Martin was Johnny-on-the-spot with his second pick of the quarter, setting NFV up on the Blazer 26. On the short drive, Mackey bulled over from the 1 and NFV led, 26-13, with 4:19 left in the third quarter.

And the TigerHawks were not done in the quarter as Mackey scored his third TD of the game with 46.6 seconds left; the run was 25-yard romp up the middle finishing all alone in the end zone.

With the score 32-13, the final 12 minutes became anticlimactic as NFV played more and more substitutes as the clock wound down.

With the high winds blowing across the field, no QB had much for stats. Hurd was 1-4 with a two-yard completion to Kuehner. Beckman threw 18 times with just four completions and three interceptions.

Mackey ran for 165 yards while Beckman totaled just 163 yards. For the second straight game Kuehner picked up 101 yards rushing; he also scored the first two NFV touchdowns. 

Once again the TigerHawk defense was superb. Not counting the one long scoring drive, Beckman was held to under 100 yards of offense. Martin had the two interceptions and Austin DeMuth made a diving catch for a pick in the final quarter.

Tyler Johansen and Nashua Lansing were the leading tacklers with 10 apiece. Jared Bouska, Mackey and Kuehner added seven tackles apiece.

After the game Lape stated, “We didn’t play that well in the second quarter, but the big thing is we were able to bounce back and have an explosive third quarter!”

“Overall, we played well and adapted to some things that Beckman hadn’t done before. Our goal is to get better every game and that is exactly what we did against this week,” Lape concluded

NFV            Beckman

15 First Downs 7

54-309 Rushing Yards 37-122

2 Passing Yards 41

311 Total Yards 163

1-6-0 Passing      4-18-3

5-27 Punts-Avg. 4-40

3-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-1

7-42 Penalties-Yds. 6-40

1 Turnovers 4

Scoring by Quarters

Bec. 0 13 0 0 13

NFV 12 0 21 0 32

Scoring Summary

1^st- NFV: Kuehner, 15-yd. run (pass failed).

1^st- NFV: Kuehner, 10-yd run (pass failed).

2^nd- B: 5-yd. run (kick failed).

2^nd- B: 1-yd. kick run (kick good).

3^rd- NFV: Mackey, 25-yd. run (Kuehner run).

3^rd- NFV: Mackey, 1-yd. run (kick failed).

3^rd NFV: Mackey, 25-yd. run (Poppen kick).  

Individual Hawk Stats

Rushing- Mackey, 24-165; Kuehner, 18-101; Hurd, 4-21; DeMuth, 2-19; Woods, 3- (-4); Lau, 1-2; D. Baumler, 1-1; Bemiss, 3-7. 

Passing- Hurd, 1-4-0-2; Bemiss, 0-2-0.

Receiving- Kuehner, 2-2.

Punts- Kleve, 6-135.

Kickoffs- Poppen, 6-330

Kickoff Returns- Kuehner, 2-33; Martin, 1-18.

Tackles (assists-solo-total)- Mackey, 2-5-7; Johansen, 4-6-10; Lansing, 4-6-10; Kuehner, 3-4-7; Kleve, 1-1-2; Bouska, 2-5-7; Lape, 0-1-1; Roys, 4-1-5; DeMuth, 1-2-3; Martin, 3-3-6; Woods, 2-1-3; D. Baumler, 2-0-2; Ney, 1-3-4;  Bemiss, 1-2-3; Jellings, 2-1-3 C. Baumler, 0-1-1; Callahan, 0-1-1; Rupprecht, 1-0-1; Nieland, 0-1-1.