North Scott Football Wins First Ever State Title
It was a Cinderella season for the North Scott Lancers. For the first time in school history, they captured the state title in class 3A over the Harlan Cyclones.
It was a magical night in the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. The 8-1 North Scott Lancers set to face the 11-0 Harlan Cyclones. The game kicked off in Cedar Falls at 7 p.m. on Thursday night and by the end of the game, the North Scott Lancers walked away champions.
The Lancers were in control for most of the game. After the first quarter the Lancers led Harlan by 6-0 after a touchdown from Carter Markham.
The Cyclones wouldn't go away easy. Harlan scored a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half due to a 58 yard pass from Teagon Kasperbauer to Aiden Hall. Those would be the only 6 points Harlan would score for the rest of the game.
The second half was all Lancer football. Oliver Hughes of the Lancers intercepted Kasperbauer and returned it to the house for a 61 yard interception with 7:59 left to go in the third quarter putting the Lancers up 13-6. Harlan's drive would be very short after that as the Lancers defense forced a 4 and out.
Oliver Hughes wasn't ready to be out of the end zone yet. After an impressive drive that started at Harlan's 45 yard line, the drive finished with a touchdown pass by Markham to Hughes to put up 6 more. Hughes went on to put up the PAT.
Harlan's final drive in the third quarter would also come to a screeching halt after a Connor Corson interception. This would be his second interception of the night but not his last. Quarter number three came to a close with the Lancers up 20-6.
The Lancers started quarter number 4 with the ball and Oliver Hughes hit a field goal to kick things off putting the Lancers up 23-6. After the kickoff, Connor Corson was determined to get the call back for the Lancers. Corson got his third interception of the night which put the Lancers in great field position at Harlan's 37 to set up another score for the Lancers.
It took 47 seconds for the Lancers to take it to the house after Kasperbauer threw a 37 yard touchdown pass to Jakob Nelson, putting the Lancers up by 30-7 with just over 10 minutes left to go in the game.
Remember Connor Corson? He would show up one more time to take the ball away from Harlan. Corson's fourth interception came just less than a minute later to give the Lancers the ball back.
After a good drive, the Lancers punted the ball back to Harlan, but the Cyclones' quarterback Teagon Kasperbauer would make one final mistake to seal the deal for the Lancers. Kasperbauer threw his 7th interception to Oliver Hughes with just under 7 minutes left to go.
The North Scott Lancers took home their first ever football state championship trophy in class 3A with a final score of 30-6.
To celebrate the Lancers first ever state championship, GT Sports in Eldridge is selling North Scott Lancer State Champions apparel. Click here to get yours today.
For the full game summary, click here.