OTTUMWA —
This one felt good.
After three tough losses, The Ottumwa football team returned home and defeated Class 4A, Division 3 rival Mason City 21-3 in its homecoming game in front of a packed crowd at Schafer Stadium.
“Everyone worked hard for it,” quarterback Alex Goodvin said.
After having a rough couple of weeks, Goodvin came up big for the Bulldogs, rushing for a key first down in the first half and throwing a pair of touchdowns to Seth Griffiths. Goodvin, however, refused to take full credit for his success.
“That was all on the line,” he said.
Griffiths got banged up early in the contest, prompting Alec Maas to take the breadth of the carries for the rest of the night. Maas thrived in his new role, rushing for 172 yards on 32 carries.
Griffiths, however, made a smooth transition from being the team’s main running option to being a receiving threat. His first touchdown reception came in the second quarter with Ottumwa trailing 3-0.
After catching a short pass from Goodvin, Griffiths beat a Mohawk defender to the left sideline, turned the corner and dashed 25-yards for the score with 3:04 left in the half. After Justin Vonderhaar’s extra point, Ottumwa led 7-3.
Ottumwa’s, and Griffiths’, second touchdown drive was shaped by a combination of solid Bulldog defense and Mason City mistakes. Connor Mier sacked the Mohawk’s quarterback with a little over a minute left in the half, forcing Mason City to punt. Mason City got whistled for a personal foul on the ensuing punt, allowing Ottumwa to start its drive on its own 35. Moments later, Goodvin hooked up with Griffiths for a 34-yard touchdown. A Vonderhaar extra point later and Ottumwa led 14-3.
The Bulldog defense responded well a week removed from a rough outing at Marshalltown with a laudable performance against the Mohawks.
“I think they took it as a challenge,” coach Zach Pfantz said.
While Mason City’s passing game enjoyed some success, there running game was non-existent. Time after time Ottumwa’s defense stuffed the Mohawks’ runners for losses or minuscule games.
“Our defense has a lot of pride,” Pfantz said.
In the fourth quarter, Mason City’s receiver dropped a backward pass, allowing Titus Weller to scoop the ball up and run about 14 yards for a touchdown.
Ottumwa (3-4, 1-1) plays at eighth-ranked West Des Moines Dowling Catholic (4A) Friday.
“We need to keep the intensity up for next week,” defensive end Logan McCarty said.
Ottumwa 21, Mason City 3
Maso 0 3 0 0 — 3
Ottu 0 14 0 7 — 21
Scoring By Quarters
First Quarter
Second Quarter
MC — Miguel Recinos 34-yard field goal.
Ott — Seth Griffiths 25-yard pass from Alex Goodvin (Justin Vonderhaar kick) 3:04.
Ott — Griffiths 34-yard pass from Griffiths (Vonderhaar kick) 43.2.
Third Quarter
Fourth Quarter
Ott — Titus Weller recovers backward pass and goes 17-yards for touchdown (Vonderhaar kick).
TEAM STATISTICS
Ott Mas
First downs 14 6
Rushes-yards 45-177 24-32
Passing yards 83 118
Total Yards 56-260 47-150
Comp-Att-Int 11-4-0 23-14-2
Return Yards 5-98 6-79
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-Yds 7-55 5-36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Mason City
RUSHING — Austin Voves 3-21 yards, Billy O’Neill 3-12 yards, Stone Sturges 4-8, Will Slaven 3-3.
PASSING — Dan Shaw 11-16, Jared Lichman 3-7 yards.
RECEIVING — Matt Danielson 4-33 yards, Colin Halfpap 4-19 yards, Lichman 2-31 yards, Alec Watson 2-23.
Ottumwa
RUSHING — Alec Maas 32-172 yards, Seth Griffiths 6-25, Avery Palen 1-4 yards, Alex Goodvin 6- (-) 24.
PASSING — Goodvin 4-11, 83 yards.
RECEIVING — Griffiths 3-62 yards, Clayton Cudworth 1-21 yards.
INTERCEPTIONS — Zach Bowling, Tyler Johns.
TACKLES — Johns 8, Cole Eklund 7.
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