Wolverines hold off late push by Blackhawks, advance to 1A championship

CEDAR FALLS - For the first time since Lew Textor was a little kid waving a rally towel in the stands of the UNI Dome in 2018, Dike-New Hartford football will play for a championship. 

“It means the world to us,” Textor said. “We worked a whole year to get to the Dome. It’s been one day at a time, getting better to reach here. And we don’t want to stop.”

1A second-ranked Wolverine football shrugged off a late 12-0 rally by third-ranked Hinton to secure a 24-18 win over the Blackhawks in Friday’s semifinals inside the UNI Dome. 

“The average fan doesn't see all of the time and effort that these kids put in the early mornings in the weight room, the late night workouts when they're working out, throwing passes with their buddies,” DNH coach Don Bettts said. “I’m so happy for our kids to get this. Personally, I’m most excited about having one more week with these seniors. There’s that little thing with the state title on the line.”

DNH got on the board first with a one yard rush by senior Colin Meester to cap off an eight-minute drive by the Wolverines, A 31 yard reception by senior Devon Lotts helped set up their next scoring drive in the second quarter, finished off by a six yard reception and dive into the end zone by senior Jack Hoehns. 

An interception by senior Tyler Bakken with 48 seconds left in the first half seemed to secure a 14-0 lead going into halftime. Meester threw an interception and the Blackhawks were able to return for 21 yards, setting up on the DNH 44 yard line. Hinton completed three passes to score with seconds left in the half, their PAT attempt no good. 

“I felt our offense played great,” Betts said. “We like to pound the ball, take time off the clock. Our offensive line played a heck of a game. We also got to remember that Hinton is a heck of a football team too, packing the box with some very good players. I was very impressed with them.” 

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the Wolverines strung together another long drive starting the third and capped off with a 23 yard field goal by senior Keegan Bolhuis. Senior Tyson Bennett broke through for a 49 yard touchdown run moments later to give the Wolverines a 24-6 lead. 

“Tyson works his tail off, blocks and does everything he can for this team,” Textor said. “That’s a great play for him.”

But what would a state semifinal be without some drama. Hinton responded with a swift 65 yard drive to score, their two-point conversion failing. The Blackhawks then recovered their onside kick and were back on offense, putting together a 42 second drive to score once more and the kick blocked by senior Tate DeBuhr. The Wolverines successfully recovered the next kick and were able to run out the clock. 

“We struggled to cover the pass in those final minutes,” Betts said. “We shut down their running game, which is exactly what we wanted to do. We hung in there enough to get this win.”

Meester threw for 97 yards on seven of nine completion, throwing for one touchdown to Hoehns and rushed in for his own score. Borcherding rushed for 119 yards on 36 carries, Bennett 60 yards on four carries. Lotts had two catches for 38 yards. Bakken led the defense with five tackles and an interception. 

“Betts talks about playing with grit, and bend, don’t break,” Textor said. “We made those plays when we needed to and we’re moving on. We’re not the biggest offensive line, we’re going to give anyone our best shot.  

The Wolverines (11-1) advance to the Class 1A championship game, their first since 2018, where a familiar opponent in Grundy Center awaits. The neighboring communities and NICL rivals faced off in Week 1, delivering DNH their lone loss of the season. Their rematch will be on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. back in the UNI Dome, and you better believe half the county will be there. 

“We've gotten a lot better and I'm proud of the improvements we've made in practice,” Meester said. ‘[Grundy Center] is a really good football team. We have to be ready to go out and showcase just how better we’ve gotten on Thursday.”