Metro Sports Report

Linn-Mar's dream is nightmare for Cougars

Andy Henry had a dream.

In that dream, he grabbed the opening kickoff at new Linn-Mar Stadium and raced for a touchdown to help the Lions christen their $10 million park in style.

Dreams do come true.

Henry sprinted 95 yards with the opening kickoff Friday night and No.8 Linn-Mar squashed Kennedy, 42-14, in the first varsity football game ever played in the Lions' new den.

"Yeah, I definitely dreamed about it," he said. "But I didn't know I was going to return it like that. I don't think anybody got close to me."

Kennedy did not lay a finger on Henry, which is pretty much how it went all night for the struggling Cougars.

Linn-Mar (2-0) led 35-7 at halftime and ignited a continuous clock when it took a 42-7 lead with 5:53 left in the third quarter. This was a Mississippi Valley Conference blowout of major proportions before roughly 5,500 fans.

The Lions held Kennedy (0-2) to 123 yards of total offense and were three times better than the visitors. Linn-Mar finished with three times as many yards (369 to 123) and three times as many points (42 to 14).

"That's about as picture-perfect as you can put it," said Linn-Mar quarterback Mark Atwater. "We were clicking all the time. It was awesome, it was great."

No.10 Xavier blanks Prairie, 14-0

Both Xavier and Prairie displayed offensive fireworks in their respective games during the opening week in high school football a week ago.

When they got together for the second game of the season on Friday night, the first half looked as if they were going to go out with a sizzle.

The two teams went back and forth, holding each other scoreless for almost two complete quarters. Then Xavier tailback Carter Valentine took his torch and started the show.

With nearly three minutes remaining in the first half, Valentine scurried for a 44-yard touchdown run that helped the 10th-ranked Saints defeat Prairie, 14-0, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Saints Field.

It was Xavier's second straight shutout, following a 28-0 conquest of Kennedy in Week 1.

Although Valentine was a workhorse and displayed tenacious running, he praised his offensive line for some of the school-bus size holes they were giving him.

“The offensive line did a great job making a huge hole for me to run through and I just followed them up and it was really a credit to them,” he said.

That first touchdown seemingly opened the floodgates for the Saints. With less than a minute left in the half, Valentine ran for another long score, sprinting 56 yards to put Xavier up 14-0.

“I just looked for the holes my guys up front made me and that is really all there was to it,” he said.

Marion Indians stuff Benton, 28-14

On a stifling hot Friday night at Thomas Park field, the Marion defense absolutely stifled the Benton Bobcats in a 28-14 victory.

Except for a couple of missed opportunities early and a rash of banged up players, the Indians might have put the game away sooner as they steamrolled to a 28-0 lead midway through the third quarter.

Benton Community could muster merely 10 yards rushing and no pass completions until late in the game when Marion Coach Tony Perkins cleared the bench.

In the end, the Bobcats gained just 50 yards on the ground and had a single pass play of 32 yards with two minutes to go. They had three first downs for the night.

"Our defense kept them off balance all night and really ran to the ball," said Perkins after his team went to 2-0 for the year.

On offense, the Indians racked up 240 yards rushing but it took 11 different ballcarriers to do it. "Our offensive line was outstanding," the coach said.

Cedar Valley Christian falls at Dunkerton

DUNKERTON - Cedar Valley Christian quarterback Jeremy Strutz scored on a one-yard sneak and Nick Henderson swept the right side for a two-point conversion to make the score 8-8 with 4:15 left in the first quarter Friday night.

Then the roof caved in.

Dunkerton scored 51 unanswered points, took a 59-8 lead into the halftime break and defeated the Huskies, 66-28, in an eight-man football game in Dunkerton.