Cedar Rapids Washington tailback Will Griffin calls Coach Tony Lombardi a mad genius.

Maybe he is.

Lombardi pushed all the right buttons when it counted Monday and the Warriors stunned No. 2 Linn-Mar, 28-26, on a touchdown pass from Braedon Tovey to Flynn Heald with nine seconds left in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The Lions crushed the Warriors, 56-7, during the regular season just a few weeks ago, but Washington scored two touchdowns in the final 4:46 Monday to rally from a 26-14 deficit at Linn-Mar Stadium.

Washington (8-3) will host No. 6 Cedar Falls (10-1) in the quarterfinals Friday night at Kingston Stadium.

"We don't give up as a team," said Tovey, who was in tears when it ended. "We believed in each other - all game, all year. And it's coming together, finally."

The Warriors faced 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line with the clock ticking in the final seconds when Tovey called a "351 flag" pass to Heald, his favorite target. Heald eluded Linn-Mar cornerback Travis Kvach in the corner of the end zone and Tovey threw him a perfect pass for six points to make it 27-26.

Heald campaigned for that play during a timeout with 29 seconds to go. It happened two plays later.

"I said, 'Coach, I can make a play on my guy. If I have to make it, I'll make it,' " said Heald, true to his word.

"It feels great. It really does," Heald said. "Our team has worked hard all season. This is what we deserved. We really did. As a team, as a group of individuals, this is what we deserved, right here."

Linn-Mar (10-1) grabbed a 26-14 lead with 5:55 left in the game on a 1-yard run by quarterback Mark Atwater, capping a 71-yard drive that appeared to clinch the victory. Washington committed four penalties on two consecutive plans on that drive, including two calls for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"We kind of started to come unraveled," Lombardi said. "The kids could have whined and disintegrated, and they didn't."

The Lions failed on a two-point conversion after that touchdown, but it didn't appear to be a big deal at the time. As it turned out, it was.

Heald sparked the Warriors with a 33-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, giving Washington a short field at its own 47. Tovey went to the hurry-up offense and got his team in the end zone in about a minute, hitting Mitch Blades with a 20-yard touchdown strike with 4:46 remaining to make it 26-21 with the PAT.

Linn-Mar collected one first down on its next possession, but the Warriors stiffened and forced a punt. Heald raced forward and made a fair catch at his own 42, giving Washington a relatively short field again with 2:08 left to play.

The Warriors needed to drive 58 yards in the final two minutes to hand Linn-Mar its only loss of the season at its brand-new stadium in Marion. They did exactly that.

Tovey connected with Ryan Cain for six yards. He found Heald for 24 yards to the Linn-Mar 28, then found Heald again for nine yards to the Linn-Mar 19 with 90 seconds to go.

Tovey picked up a crucial first down on 3rd-and-1, putting the ball at the 18 with 1:21 left, then Tovey scooted 11 yards on a quarterback draw to the 7 with about a minute left.

David Tann ran four yards to the 3-yard line and Lombardi called his final timeout with 29 seconds left. That's when Heald told Lombardi he could make a play for the winning touchdown, and two plays later he did.

The Warriors originally planned to go for a two-point conversion and a potential three-point lead with nine seconds remaining, just in case Linn-Mar could somehow get in field-goal position. Washington committed a couple of penalties, however, and settled for a PAT by Michael Daughtery and a 28-26 lead.

Kvach fielded the Washington kickoff at his own 14-yard line and immediately took a knee, stopping the clock with 7.8 seconds left. Atwater tried to launch a long pass, but Sean Bredl sacked Atwater as time expired.

The Warriors raced to their side of the field to celebrate the big upset with their fans.

"I love it," Bredl said. "We had a great mindset. The coaches told us to come and play and they believed in us, our families believed in us, our fans believed in us and we believed in ourselves."

The Linn-Mar players stood there, stunned. Thousands of Linn-Mar fans were speechless. The second-ranked Lions hadn't lost all year and had drilled the Warriors by 49 points just a few weeks ago. Suddenly, their dream of a state title ended with a nightmare on Halloween.

"It's tough," said Atwater, wiping away the tears at the end of a brilliant career. "This isn't how we dreamed about it ending. Not like that. Not tonight."

Family members tried to console him with hugs and kind words, which he seemed to appreciate.

"These three years have been the greatest years of my life," he said. "This last season has been indescribable for me. I love those guys. They played their hearts out. It wasn't meant to be."

Atwater rushed 32 times for 140 yards, carrying the load in place of injured tailback Mitch Wantock. He also passed for 113 yards, but threw two interceptions after having only four passes picked off all year. He ran for two touchdowns and passed for another.

Tovey tossed three TD passes for the Warriors, none bigger than the 3-yard strike to Heald that won the game, but this wasn't the first time he's thrown a touchdown pass in the final seconds to beat the No. 2 team on the road. He also did it when the Warriors upset then-No. 2 Iowa City High, 27-24, hitting Cain with a 5-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left.

Washington began the year 2-2, but has won six of its last seven games to reach the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

"They've been pretty resilient all year," Lombardi said. "Weird stuff has happened and they keep fighting back."

Lombardi has compiled a 48-18 record in six years at Washington. He called Monday's victory the best of his career.

"I think it's right on the top," he said. "I could just see it in my kids' eyes. This was wonderful for this group of young men. That's the thrill in it for coaching. It's kind of humbling."

Linn-Mar had a 12-point lead with 5 minutes remaining against a team it recently beat by 49 points, looking for its 11th straight win and a trip to the quarterfinals.

"Football is a crazy game," Linn-Mar Coach Bob Forsyth said. "You can't take anything for granted. We just didn't make plays at the end on defense. They were able to make some plays. It's just a tough way to lose.

"Give them credit," he said. "They did a nice job."

Forsyth searched for the right words in the somber Linn-Mar locker room, trying to console Atwater and the rest of the club.

"You can't say enough about him and the other seniors we have," Forsyth remarked. "They've just given great effort for a long time, since ninth grade.

"This is hard on them, but I told them, hopefully in the next couple of days they'll realize what a great season we had and be proud. I hope they'll see that, because we feel that way as coaches."

Washington gets to play another game this Friday night against No. 6 Cedar Falls, which beat Iowa City High Monday. Friday's winner will reach the semifinals of the Class 4A playoffs at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls on Nov. 11.

"We're just playing amazing," Cain said. "We call it the road to the Dome."

WASHINGTON 28, LINN-MAR 26

CRW       LM

First Downs         13         20
Rushing             24-118     51-232
Passing             9-20-1     7-15-2
Passing Yards       117        113
Fumbles/Lost        0/0        4/1
Punts               5-37.6     2-27.5
Penalties           8-73       8-55

Washington     0   14   0   14 - 28
Linn-Mar       7   10   3    6 - 26

SCORING PLAYS

LM - Mark Atwater 27 run (Quinn Treiber PAT)
CRW - Will Griffin 2 run (Michael Daughtery PAT)
LM - Treiber 37 FG
CRW - David Tann 22 pass from Braedon Tovey (Daughtery PAT)
LM - Michael Redmond 17 pass from Atwater (Treiber PAT)
LM - Treiber 24 FG
LM - Atwater 1 run (run failed)
CRW - Mitch Blades 20 pass from Tovey (Daughtery PAT)
CRW - Flynn Heald 3 pass from Tovey (Daughtery PAT)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Washington

Rushing: Mitch Bredeson 14-44, Will Griffin 12-38, Braedon Tovey 6-30,
David Tann 2-6, Flynn Heald 1-0

Passing: Braedon Tovey 9-20-1, 117
Receiving: Flynn Heald 4-44, Ryan Cain 3-31, David Tann 1-22,
Mitch Blades 1-20

Linn-Mar

Rushing: Mark Atwater 32-140, Nick Trabucco 5-42, Ross Lembeck 7-24,
Brandon Ophoff 6-23, Andy Henry 1-3
Passing: Mark Atwater 7-15-2, 113
Receiving: Andy Henry 5-53, Zach Martins 1-43, Michael Redmond 1-17