The #3 (1A) Grundy Center football team scored three unanswered touchdowns and defeated #1 (1A) Dike-New Hartford 21-7 at home Friday in one of the most highly-anticipated Week 1 games in Iowa.
The Wolverines struck first midway through the first quarter when Colin Meester found Devon Lotts for a 40-yard touchdown pass. But DNH struggled to maintain offensive rhythm in the final three quarters.
Early in the second quarter, Spartan quarterback Judd Jirovsky scored on a one-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 after the extra point. With 57 seconds until halftime, Jirovsky hit tight end Tiernan Vokes for an 11-yard touchdown pass, and it was 13-7 at halftime after a mishandled PAT snap.
In the third quarter, Jirovsky found Vokes for a 30-yard touchdown, and the Spartans extended the lead to 21-7 after a two-point conversion.
“It was a little bit of a kind of shaky start for us,” Grundy Center coach Travis Zajac says. “We were not very good offensively and they had a really impressive first drive. They got the big play to score, but then after that, our kids settled in. Really proud of their response to the situation, because we had a lot of kids starting at the varsity level for the first time. They just competed. We competed really hard and we made a couple of adjustments on the defensive side of the ball to what Dike was doing. Credit to them. They had made some adjustments and it was a great overall night for us. This is a really big win for us. We’re turning the page on a pretty remarkable two-year run and different kids had the baton passed to them, and I think it’s just going to do nothing but grow their confidence.”
Vokes had 122 receiving yards and Jirovsky passed for 189 yards and no interceptions. Pete Lebo led defensively with 5.5 tackles. The 1-0 Spartans will be at Aplington-Parkersburg in Week 2.
Dike-New Hartford coach Don Betts says offensive inconsistency was a key factor in the loss.
“We were one block away, we were one catch away, we were one penalty away from getting a consistent offensive performance,” Betts says. “We did some really good things offensively, I thought, at times, but we just couldn’t be consistent with it. And part of that comes with that first game of the season, trying to build that consistency. But there’s definitely some things we need to work on and get better at. The big thing is just consistently being able to put together drives by putting plays together one after another after another. I think we’ve got to do a better job of being able to do those types of things.”
Meester passed for 124 yards with no interceptions. Lotts had four catches for 66 yards. Carson Costello led the Wolverine defense with eight tackles. At 0-1, the Wolverines will host West Branch in Week 2.
Travis Zajac interview:
Don Betts interview:
