The road to THEee^DOME runs through Coon Rapids
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 12:00am
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COONee^RAPIDS — Backup punter Grant Focht stood waiting to kick the ball away with Stanton facing a 4th-and-20 from midfield halfway through the third quarter.
“I had to keep (the punt) low because the wind was in my face,” Focht said.
A Coon Rapids-Bayard player burst through the line and blocked the low punt — right back to Focht.
“I just did what I had to do to get a first down,” Focht said.
What he had to do was dodge several defenders, leap over two and dive for the first down, ball stretched out in front of him.
“That was a huge play at that particular time,” Stanton coach Don Hicks said.
The next play was an Alex Whigham 20-yard touchdown run to give Stanton a 22-0 lead after Focht ran for the two-point conversion.
The Vikings went on to win the 8-man football quarterfinal 42-17 on Nov. 7.
A 55-yard touchdown run by Whigham gave Stanton a 30-0 lead with 9:45 remaining in the game.
Coon Rapids was not going to let Stanton cruise to victory on that snowy night, however.
Johnny Schwaller, the quarterback for Coon Rapids, threw two touchdown passes in 31 seconds to cut the lead to 30-14 with 8:47 left.
Whigham would answer with a 38-yard run to move the ball to Coon Rapids’ 12-yard line.
Whigham ran the ball three times to find the end zone again.
He carried the ball 29 times for 269 yards and 4 touchdowns on the day.
Whigham also started the game with a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
“Whigham has stepped up for us so many times.
For him to just get out with that great kickoff return, really set the tone for the game,” Hicks said. “I thought that was really key.”
Not only did Whigham play a great game that night, but he built on his incredible career numbers.
He became the all-time leader in receiving yards in Iowa 8-man history.
Whigham also tied Jared Bruce, who played for Aurelia from 2005-07, for the lead with 82 touchdowns.
He remains one receiving touchdown away from first, and 25 points behind Bruce to become the all-time leading scorer.
“I haven’t really been following them and it’s kind of surprising to hear you tell me that,” Whigham said after being informed about the records.
“It’s nice to know and it’s something to keep working for.”
As good as Whigham and the offense were, the Stanton defense might have been the story of the game.
The Vikings held Coon Rapids’ quarterback Johnny Schwaller to 8-of-44 passing for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Schwaller is the career leader in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns in Iowa 8-man history.
Coming into the game, he was averaging 17.5 completions, 243.7 yards and 4.2 touchdowns per game on the season.
The Vikings intercepted Schwaller and sacked him four times.
At one point, Stanton forced 23 straight incomplete passes.
The Vikings take on Armstrong-Ringsted on Nov. 14 at the UNI-Dome at 1:30 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s state championship game. Stanton won last season’s championship game 32-24.
Lenox faces CWL, Corwith in the other semifinal game.