Wolverines fall short in record-setting 1A title game (PHOTOS)

CEDAR FALLS – As the final seconds ticked away on Dike-New Hartford football's season, the Wolverines could hold their heads high, even in defeat.
 
There were certainly tears and stoic faces on Dike-New Hartford's sideline after the Wolverines' quest for a Class 1A title came up short in a 52-38 loss to West Sioux in the championship game.
 
But D-NH went toe-to-toe with last year's champion in Class A on Friday, and records fell as the two teams battled in a high-scoring slugfest.
 
"I hope they remember the ride we were on when it's all said and done," D-NH head coach Don Betts said. "This is gonna hurt, it's gonna hurt for a long time, but the time they spent together as a team, that's what I hope they take away from this."
 
The Wolverines and Falcons combined for the most points in a championship game in Class 1A history (90), while West Sioux standouts Hunter Dekkers and Kade Lynott rewrote individual records with Dekkers throwing for 391 yards and five touchdowns and Lynott grabbing 10 catches for 203 yards, with all four of those numbers new championship-game records.
 
D-NH's Drew Sonnenberg wasn't too far off pace, throwing for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Parker Kiewiet grabbed five of Sonnenberg's passes for 140 yards, scoring three times. Cade Fuller grabbed four catches for 107 yards and a touchdown and Cade Bennett rushed 22 times for 83 yards and a score.
 
The Wolverines led 23-17 at halftime but were shut out in the third quarter as West Sioux scored 14 unanswered points and held D-NH to 14 total yards of offense in the quarter.
 
D-NH tied it with nine minutes left on a Kiewiet touchdown from Sonnenberg and the D-NH junior quarterback found Tristan Cleveland for a 2-point conversion to tie the game.
 
Noah Epley recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to Bennett's rushing touchdown and a 38-31 D-NH lead with 8:55 left.
 
Lynott scored on a 55-yard touchdown pass just over two minutes later and the Falcons picked off Sonnenberg on back-to-back drives, with D-NH holding on the first interception but Lynott scoring another receiving touchdown from Dekkers on the second pick.
 
"We knew from the get go we'd have to keep battling, we knew they'd fight back," Kiewiet said. "That quarterback's a gunslinger and we just got beat over the top."
 
Trailing by 7, the kickoff to D-NH was fumbled at D-NH's 20-yard line, with the Falcons recovering and Dekkers adding an insurance touchdown with 1:30 left in the game.
 
"I thought I'd be sad, but I'm just proud of our guys," Fuller said. "Proud of what we did this season, there's nothing to hang our heads about. I hope the guys next season have a season just as good as this one."
 
West Sioux head coach Ryan Schwiesow likened the matchup to something ripped from the script of "Rocky."
 
"Just throwing haymakers at each other, and who was gonna flinch first?" Schwiesow said. "We just made one more play than they did, and they're a good football team. What a fantastic job they did. ... I feel for them, that can't be easy as a team."
 
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