It was a game of inexperience against experience.

And it was no contest as Linn-Mar lost its season opener, 49-14, at home to Iowa City West Friday night.

“Our young kids were so nervous I don’t think they started to breathe until the second quarter,” said Lions Coach Bob Forsyth.

By the time they exhaled the veteran and highly regarded Trojans had built a 28-0 halftime lead.

They scored again with eight minutes left in the third quarter, putting Linn-Mar in the unheard of and humiliating position of playing the rest of the game with a continuous clock due to the 35-point mercy rule.

“That might have happened in my first year, but I can’t remember,” said Forsyth, whose teams went 30-12 during his first five seasons.

Linn-Mar finished 10-1 last year, but the Lions have just three starters back from that squad.

“In three years, we’d never lost in August and September,” the coach pointed out. “So this is different for us. It’s a tough way for the kids to start the season.

“West did a really nice job. They just overwhelmed us in pretty much every category.”

The Trojans, who went 9-3 last year and lost in the state quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Bettendorf, came into the campaign ranked sixth in the Des Moines Register preseason poll.

They lost all-purpose quarterback Charles Rogers, now on scholarship at Iowa State, but returned 14 starters.

“You never know how the first week is going to go,” said Coach Brian Sauser. “But I thought we were tremendously crisp on both sides of the ball. We dominated them on offense and defense.”

Despite losing an all-stater in Rogers, who amassed 3,300 yards in total offense last year while running for 23 touchdowns and passing for 18, Sauser’s cupboard is hardly bare.

Junior replacement quarterback Nate Boland burned Linn-Mar with 237 passing yards and two touchdowns. In completing 14 of 22 passes, he connected with eight different receivers.

Twin tower wideouts Jeremy Morgan and Dondre Alexander both caught four passes.

“Those two draw so much attention,” Sauser said, “that it opens up other receivers. And it opens up the middle for our run game.”

Playing his first game at tailback, senior speedster Ezra Reiners rushed for 118 yards on 11 carries for Iowa City West.

“We’ve got quite a bit of talent, and good size up front,” Sauser said. “Our first unit defense pitched a shutout and played a real physical game.”

The Lions’ only whiff of the goal line against West’s starters came late in the second quarter when they reached the Trojan 20. A penalty pushed them back, however, and a 50-yard field goal try fell way short.

Meanwhile, West moved up and down the field with ease, both through the air and on the ground.

Although Linn-Mar actually led the game in time of possession by more than five minutes, West piled up 448 yards in total offense to the Lions’ 253.

Taking over at quarterback for departed all-stater Mark Atwater, Lion senior Rhys Davis completed six of 10 pass attempts and also picked up 86 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Junior running back Ross Lembeck gained 67 yards on nine rushes. Nick Trabucco was held to just 10 yards on nine carries.

“I saw some good things out there tonight,” Forsyth said. “It wasn’t all bad. I’ve learned over the years that things are never as bad as they might seem or as good as they seem.

“We’ll learn from this. And we’ll get better.”

IOWA CITY WEST 49, LINN-MAR 14

ICW       LM
First downs       21       13
Rushing           33-176   33-196
Passing yards     272      57
Passes            16-25    6-10
Punting           1-39.0   3-27.7
Fumbles/Lost      0/0      1/1
Penalties         9-85     4-44

Iowa City West    14   14   14   7 – 49
Linn-Mar           0    0    0  14 - 14

ICW – Jeremy Morgan 17 pass from Nate Boland (Morgan kick)
ICW – Colin Baker 4 run (Morgan kick)
ICW – Micah Kelsay 10 pass from Boland (Morgan kick)
ICW – Boland 5 run (Morgan kick)
ICW – Ezra Reiners 45 run (Morgan kick)
ICW – Kelsay 5 run (Morgan kick)
LM  – Ross Lembeck 9 run (Austin Wolter kick)
ICW – Anthony Batie 41 pass from Xavier May (Morgan kick)
LM  – Dakota Digmann 2 run (Wolter kick)

Individual Statistics

Linn-Mar
Passing – Rhys Davis 6-10, 57 yards.
Receiving – Matt Meier 2-13, Nick Trabucco 1-21, Ross Lembeck 1-4,  Jon Schlotterback 2-19.
Rushing – Davis 13-86, Trabucco 9-10, Lembeck 9-67, Meier 1-31,  Dakota Digmann 1-2.