Published: November 03, 2009 08:38 am      

Preston sweats out win, advances to 8-player quarterfinals

Preston survives late scare

By Shannon Heaton

For the Herald

PRESTON — Take a toe off a 10-win opponent’s throat on the football field and a dream season gets all too close to turning nightmarish.

Fortunately for the Preston Trojans, the dream remains unscathed after Monday night’s 33-20 eight-man first-round victory over Northeast Hamilton. But, the game got entirely too uncomfortable in its final 90 seconds. Northeast Hamilton, located in Blairsburg in north-central Iowa, recovered an onside kick after scoring with 1 minute, 24 seconds to play and cutting Preston’s lead to 13.

But, after Northeast Hamilton got as close as the Preston 15, quarterback Marcus Mechaelsen threw an interception in the end zone — his third on the night — by Preston junior defensive back David Jacobs, who took a knee for a touchback. That sealed Northeast Hamilton’s fate and ended its season at 10-2.

“It was just good to win. That (last interception) sealed the deal,” Jacobs said. “Our defense was just not wrapping up like we had been doing in the first half, but we came through at the end when it counted.”

The victory sends Preston (11-0) to Maynard on Friday for a 7 p.m. rematch with District 4 rival West Central. The Trojans won that game, played Oct. 2 in Preston, 23-22, and the possibility of a rematch with the Blue Devils — particularly on the road in Maynard, a town near Oelwein and about 45 miles from Cedar Falls — makes for a perfect route to the UNI-Dome, the destination for Friday night’s winning team.

“I told the kids we should be glad to be going to West Central,” Preston coach Kevin Behr said. “There’s too many people in the state that feel we were too lucky (the first time around). We want to show that we can be that caliber of football team. I guess all roads to the Dome go through Maynard.”

Preston played the first half like a Dome-capable side, shutting out a team that had averaged nearly 52 points a game. Halfback Seth McGowan, who entered with 33 touchdowns and more than 1,400 yards rushing, never gained more than 8 on any one carry and finished with just 30 yards and one excuse-me touchdown on his final carry of the night. Marcus Mechaelsen, who had rushed for 11 TDs and thrown for 18 more, was a stalwart (120 yards rushing, one passing TD), but most of those rushing yards were gained while evading a substantial Preston pass rush.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” Preston senior Kyle Feller said. “If we can contain a team, we can move the ball against anyone, so that was huge (to blank Northeast Hamilton for a half).”

While Northeast Hamilton amassed just 69 yards of first-half offense (and a hard-earned 229, 196 provided by quarterback Mechaelsen, for the game), Feller seemed driven to outgain the entire opposition. And, he did just that in rolling up 102 yards at the quarter, 181 at halftime and 231 for the game on 35 carries. His dynamic legs propelled Preston to a 397-yard night as a team.

At the same time, his dominant presence once he got the ball was matched by linemen Dakota Kieffer, Dallas Thola and Dylan Meyer, who simply pushed Northeast Hamilton 3 to 5 yards backward on almost every carry. That combination allowed sophomore quarterback Jason Feddersen to work his magic via the naked bootleg on the ground (three TDs) and via an effective passing game (97 yards, five completions, one TD and no interceptions).

“Their defensive ends were crashing real hard, and when we’re watching them crash like that, we’re going to catch them (with the bootleg),” Feddersen said. “Preston football is always kind of smash-mouth, hitting you where you’re weakest.”

But a pair of fumbles — early in both halves, the second of which resulted in Northeast Hamilton’s first score — allowed it to make a run. So, too, did what everyone in red-and-black called a letdown, though it maybe was simply a 10-1 offense asserting itself.

“We push to play all four quarters, and the boys started pulling up at the end and sneaking peeks at the scoreboard. They didn’t finish as strong as we wanted them to,” Behr said. “But that’s something we’ll work on this week. I think we’ve gotten better (since the last time the Trojans played West Central) and because of those two close games, we’re a better team now.”



PRESTON 33, NORTHEAST HAMILTON 20

NE Hamilton 0 0 6 14 — 20

Preston 7 19 7 0 — 33

First quarter

P — Jason Feddersen 7 run (Thomas Kirsten kick), 0:10.

Second quarter

P — Feddersen 1 run (Kirsten kick), 5:33.

P — Kyle Feller 3 run (kick failed), 0:55.

P — Feddersen 1 run (run failed), 0:04.

Third quarter

NEH — Austin Pigsley 1 run (pass failed), 8:47.

P — Luke Assenmacher 5 pass from Feddersen (Kirsten kick), 4:31.

Fourth quarter

NEH — Seth McGowan 1 run (run failed), 11:57.

NEH — Clay Harreld 10 pass from Marcus Mechaelsen (Harreld pass from Mechaelsen), 1:24.



NEH Preston

First downs 13 15

Rushes-yards 36-153 54-305

Passing yards 76 97

Comp-att.-int. 8-21-3 5-7-0

Punts-Avg. 4-35.3 2-35.0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-2

Penalties-yards 5-21 12-99



INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — NE Hamilton, Marcus Mechaelsen 24-120, Seth McGowan 10-30, Austin Pigsley 2-3. Preston, Kyle Feller 35-231, Jason Feddersen 8-29, Austin Hughes 4-24, Luke Assenmacher 7-21.

PASSING — NE Hamilton, Mechaelsen 8-21-3, 76 yards. Preston, Feddersen 5-7-0, 97 yards.

RECEIVING — NE Hamilton, Trey Seiser 6-50, Clay Harreld 2-26. Preston, Hughes 2-54, L. Assenmacher 2-20, Shawn Assenmacher 1-18.