The Linn-Mar Lions have been getting the love in the Associated Press football poll with a No. 3 ranking, but they've been hearing the whispers about the quality of their schedule.

The Lions were undefeated but had played only one team with a winning record heading into Friday night's game against Washington, which was fresh off an upset of then-No. 2 Iowa City High a week earlier.

"We can't control the things we can't control and the schedule is one thing we can't control," Linn-Mar senior Mark Atwater said of the 8-29 mark sported by Linn-Mar's previous foes. "They give us people and we just go play them."

Make that maul them.

Linn-Mar's Andy Henry returned a punt for a touchdown and caught three scoring passes from Atwater and the Lions routed the Warriors, 56-7, in a Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division game at Kingston Stadium.

"This game meant a lot to us, just because there had been some things said about us and whether we had played good teams or not," Linn-Mar Coach Bob Forsyth said.

The win was Linn-Mar's 24th in its last 29 games and ran the Lions' record to 5-0 in the division and 7-0 overall. The Lions, who have outscored their opponents by a combined 312 to 74, clinched at least a tie for the Mississippi Division title. They can claim it outright with a win next Friday night against No. 5 Iowa City High (4-1, 6-1).

Washington (2-3, 4-3) used a ball control offense in its win over City High that kept the ball away from the Little Hawks.

That plan did not work against Linn-Mar, which held the Warriors to 116 total yards.

"They sent different blitzes and it was confusing at times," admitted Washington senior quarterback Braedon Tovey, who completed 3-of-16 passes for 8 yards. "I had time to pass. They just kind of got in my head."

"Our defense played one heck of a game," said Atwater, who plays both quarterback and linebacker for the Lions. He played more defense against the Warriors than he has in any previous game this season. "We knew we needed to make a statement on defense, so I was out there quite a bit more than I have been, about every series.

"I love it. That's where I love to play."

Atwater said he is being recruited as a defensive player by Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Illinois State. He also said there is the possibility he could go play quarterback at to Coe, where his father, Larry, is an assistant coach.

"We'll have to see with that," he said.

Linn-Mar held a 14-7 lead late in the first half when a key series of plays pushed the Lions' lead to three touchdowns.

Washington's Flynn Heald muffed a Linn-Mar punt at the Warrior 11 and finally fell on it at the 1. The Warriors could not move it from there and were forced to punt. The Lions set up a return and Henry grabbed the kick at the 41. He swept across the field and raced down the right sideline for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

"We had our right return set up and the guys did a great job of blocking," said Henry, who earlier in the season returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Kennedy. "I didn't get touched at all."

The Lions' defense put the touch on the Warriors on their ensuing possession. Washington's Mitch Bredeson coughed up the ball on the first play from scrimmage and two plays later Atwater threw an 18-yard scoring strike to Henry for a 28-7 lead with 1:15 left in the half.

"Not that we planned it out exactly like that, but that was what we were looking for, the chance to push ourselves a couple of scores ahead," Forsyth said. "We were concerned about their running game being able to squeeze the clock out on us. So it was big for us to get a couple touchdown cushion, and those were a couple of big plays right there."

Washington Coach Tony Lombardi agreed with Forsyth.

"They killed us, so you can't even speculate (that was the turning point of the game)," Lombardi said. "But it was a 14-7 ballgame at that point and we had just put together a pretty nice drive."

Washington went three plays and out to start the second half and Linn-Mar roared back 58 yards in seven plays for a touchdown. Mitch Wantock, who led the Lions with 105 yards, scored from the 5, his second touchdown of the game.

And the rout was on.

Another 18-yard scoring strike from Atwater to Henry pushed the Lions' lead to 42-7 with 6:15 left in the game and there was a continuous clock for the rest of the contest.

Lombardi said Washington got into injury trouble and had difficulty in single coverage with the fleet-footed Henry, who also caught a 44-yard touchdown pass.

"I'm really happy with what Andy's doing," said Atwater, who has thrown 19 touchdown passes, including 13 to Henry. "We have a connection going and we're doing some good things. The kid is fast, the kid can fly. They can keep single covering him for all I care."

Henry has scored 15 touchdowns this season. Forsyth said Henry set a single-season school record for touchdowns.

Linn-Mar had 371 total yards. Henry caught four passes for 129 yards.

Washington plays at No. 9 Iowa City West (6-1) next Friday night.

LINN-MAR 56, WASHINGTON 7

Linn-Mar            14     14     21    7   -      56
Washington        0       7      0     0   -        7

LM - Mitch Wantock 26 run (Quinn Treiber kick)
LM - Mark Atwater 19 run (Treiber kick)
CRW - Will Griffin 1 run (Michael Daughtery kick)
LM - Andy Henry 41 punt return (Treiber kick)
LM - Henry 18 pass from Atwater (Treiber kick)
LM - Wantock 5 run (Treiber kick)
LM - Henry 18 pass from Atwater (Treiber kick)
LM - Henry 44 pass from Atwater (Treiber kick)
LM - Brandon Ophoff 33 run (Treiber kick)

Team Stats

First downs -- LM 19, CRW 10

Rushes yards -- LM 35-198, CRW 38-108

Receiving yards -- LM 173, CRW 8

Comp-Att-Int -- LM 6-9-0, CRW 3-16-1

Punts-avg. -- LM 3-41.7, CRW 8-41

Fumbles-lost -- LM 1-0, CRW 1-1

Penalties-yards -- LM 6-45, CRW 4-58

Individual Stats

Rushing -- LM: Mitch Wantock 14-105, Mark Atwater 12-45, Brandon Ophoff 5-30, Michael Redmond 1-14, John Conner 1-8, Nick Trabucco 1-1, Travis Kvach 1-(minus-5).

CRW: Mitch Bredeson 11-45, Will Griffin 16-28, David Tann 7-17, Braedon Tovey 2-15, Flynn Heald 2-3.

Passing -- LM: Atwater 6-9-0-173. CRW: Tovey 3-16-1-8.

Receiving -- LM: Andy Henry 4-129, Jacob Hutchins 2-44. CRW: Mitch Blades 1-8, Ryan Cain 1-3, Tann 1 (minus-3).

Sophomore score - Linn-Mar 28, Washington 21