DUBUQUE - The Cedar Rapids Jefferson football team doesn't have to answer questions about a long losing streak anymore.

The 24-game streak is dead.

It ended Friday night when the J-Hawks clippped Dubuque Hempstead, 12-7, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game that was played at the University of Dubuque.

“Let somebody else deal with the issue of losing strings,” said new Jefferson Coach Brian Webb, who lost his first two games this season before tearing the streak to pieces.

The J-Hawks had not won a game since defeating Dubuque Senior, 20-13, on Sept. 25, 2009. They lost the last four games of the 2009 campaign, lost all nine games in 2010, lost all nine games again in 2011 and began this year with two losses before Friday's big win.

Jefferson (1-2, 1-0) collected 139 yards rushing and 64 yards passing in the first half, but trailed at halftime 7-6. “It seemed like we should have had more points than we had, but in the end we had enough,” said Webb.

The J-Hawks rolled up 272 yards on the ground by game's end. Michael Moncivais led the way with 142 yards on 18 carries and had help from Nick O’Connell, who carried the ball 15 times for 75 yards
and a 5-yard touchdown in the first half.

“It was my first start,” said Moncivais. “It is a great feeling to win and to know that I could help. At halftime the coaches just told me to keep working and that they believed in me. We trusted in each other and got the win.”

Jefferson quarterback Layne Sullivan complemented his running back tandem with 53 yards on 15 carries. He scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter for a 12-7 lead and it turned out to be the game-winner. Sullivan also completed five of 10 passes for 104 yards.

“It feels so great to win,” said Sullivan. “It has been too long coming. The game was close but we never wavered. Our line really came off the ball and we just kept battling.”

The J-Hawk defense played a big role in the victory as well. They limited the Mustang offense to just 24 yards rushing in the first half. Hempstead’s lone score came on an 81-yard pass from Drew Wagner to Travis Boleyn with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

“Coach (Chris) Buesing prepared an excellent game plan for our defense tonight, and they executed pretty well on that side of the ball,” said Webb. “We just have to learn to stop that big play that seems to get us all too often.”

Anton Robertson came up with a big fumble recovery and Blake Bernauer came up with a critical interception in the second half when it looked as though the Mustangs were on a scoring drive.

Dubuque Hempstead (0-3, 0-1) was led offensively by Wagner, who completed 7 of 20 passes for 143 yards and rushed for 29 more.

Jefferson’s players, coaches and fans were elated. Now they have a one-game winning streak to build on. Jefferson hosts Iowa City High next Friday night at Kingston Stadium.

JEFFERSON 12, HEMPSTEAD 7

CRJ           DH
First Downs              16            10
Rushing                49-272      23-74
Passing yards         104          143
Fumbles/Lost           1/1          1/1

Jefferson         6   0   6   0 - 12
Hempstead      7   0   0   0 -  7

Scoring Plays

DH - Drew Wagner 81 yard pass to Travis Boleyn (Ryan Tranmer kick)
CRJ - Nick O’Connell 4 yard run (Reece Suckow kick failed)
CRJ - Layne Sullivan 2 yard run (Suckow kick failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing
Jefferson: Moncivais 18-142, O’Donnell 15-75, Sullivan 15-53, Kloubec 1-2.
Hempstead: Zenner 11-23, Wagner 9-29, Daack 3-22.

Passing
Jefferson: Sullivan 5-10, 104
Hempstead: Wagner 7-20, 143

Receiving
Jefferson: Watson 1-13, Bernaeur 1-21, Kloubec 1-7, Koering 1-23, Wiederin 1-40.
Hempstead: Zenner 3-13, Boleyn 2-94, Goedert 1-15, Flynn 1-8.