WILLIAMSBURG – No. 2 Williamsburg made the most of its opportunities, downing No. 3 Mount Vernon, 38-35, on Friday, Nov. 3, in a Class 3A quarterfinal showdown at D.F. Miller Field at Bob Murphy Stadium.
“As far as I’m concerned, that could’ve been the state championship right here,” Mount Vernon Coach Lance Pedersen said.
Williamsburg (10-1) advances to face No. 4 Solon (10-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, in the UNI-Dome. The other 3A semifinal matches No. 6 Sioux City Heelan (10-1) and No. 1 Creston (11-0).
Mount Vernon (9-2) meanwhile, says goodbye to a special senior class.
“I love Mustang football. The culture here, the family here, is everything to me,” senior quarterback Joey Rhomberg said. “I’m just super grateful I got a chance to be around it.”
Rhomberg was slinging it Friday, throwing for 317 yards on 19 of 31 passing. He also ran nine times for 40 yards.
“He was throwing some dimes out there,” Pedersen said.
Senior receiver Evan Brase caught 10 passes for 177 yards. Senior running back Jackson Hird ran for 97 yards on 16 carries, and caught two passes for 23 yards.
“I love our team. I love every guy here,” Hird said. “They are all brothers to me. The hardest working people I know. They work their butts off. I’m really going to miss them.”
Mount Vernon put up big offensive numbers, but two big turnovers changed the complexion of the game.
The first came in the second quarter with Mount Vernon leading 21-17. The Mustangs had recovered a fumble, senior Ethan Plotz falling on it, to set up first-and-10 from the Raider 48 with 5:51 until halftime.
Mount Vernon used six plays to drive to the Raider 5 and set up a first and goal. But on that first-down conversion carry by Jase Jaspers, a Williamsburg player was seriously injured.
Play was stopped for about a half-hour as he was attended to, then put on a spine board, then a gurney and wheeled away to the hospital. (Coach Pedersen said Sunday the player fractured his T9 vertebrae.)
When action resumed, the first play was an interception by Williamsburg’s Cael Moore.
“My first thought was I hope he’s okay. You never want to see someone down like that,” Rhomberg said. “Unfortunately, it resulted in a bad play from me. I’ll take responsibility for that one.”
Williamsburg took over at their own 14, and got a 40-yard run by Iowa commit Derek Weisskopf on the first offensive play. Eight plays later, on fourth-and-7 from the Mustang 16, Weisskopf connected with John Eichhorn for a touchdown.
So, instead of possibly being ahead 28-17, Mount Vernon found itself trailing 24-21 right before halftime.
“That was a 14-point swing in about a minute-and-a-half,” Pedersen said. “That was big. We wish the kid all the best. It’s just a thing. They made a play.”
“Very big swing,” senior linebacker Jackson Jaspers said. “That’s the game right there. Pretty pivotal point. It sucks that it happened to us, but what can you do?”
Mount Vernon did take the lead again on the opening drive of the third quarter, going 87 yards in 12 plays. Hird capped it off with a 6-yard TD run to make it 28-24.
But the Raiders struck back quickly, using a 55-yard touchdown pass from Weisskopf to junior Rayce Heitman.
After that is when bad luck struck again.
Rhomberg, on the next offensive play for Mount Vernon, had the ball tipped up high into the air by defensive lineman Simeon Armbrecht, who then tracked the ball down for an interception.
Williamsburg had the ball back, leading 31-28, at the Mustang 19.
Heitman came in as a “Wildcat” quarterback, ran for 10 yards on third-and-11, converted on fourth down, and then scored from the one to make it 38-28 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.
Mount Vernon’s next offensive series ended in a missed field goal, and the Mustangs didn’t get the ball back again until there was just 5:36 left in the game. Rhomberg converted on a fourth-and-10 from his own 10 with a 13-yard strike to Brase. That kicked off an 18-play, 90-yard drive, capped by an 8-yard TD strike from Rhomberg to Brase to cut the lead to three, 38-35.
“Evan Brase, what a go-to player,” Pedersen said. “So much fun to watch.”
Williamsburg recovered the onside kick, and got a first down on another Wildcat run by Heitman. … So no miracle finish for the Mustangs.
“I was just praying for any opportunity to get back on the field,” Hird said. “I knew that we could score.
“It really just came down to a few plays. Some things happen that you can’t control.”
Weisskopf finished with 143 yards on 9-of-14 passing along with 102 rushing yards on 12 carries. Nile Sinn added 91 rushing yards on 14 carries, and the Swiss Army Knife Heitman had 42 rushing yards and 81 receiving yards.
“They have a tough offense and it’s hard to stop them,” Jaspers said. “You had to respect everything they did. You had to be aware of everything.”
Pedersen was emphatic that this senior class was very special.
“You always hate to see it end,” Pedersen said. “It is going to be hard to lose these seniors. What a great group of men and they’ve raised the bar really high.”
That includes record-setting QB Rhomberg, who hasn’t picked a college, yet.
“Wherever he goes to paly next year, they are getting an amazing quarterback,” Pedersen said. “Just an amazing young man and a great leader.”
Raiders 38, Mustangs 35
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs 25 18
Rushes-yds. 27-141 38-223
Cmp.-Att.-Int. 19-31-2 9-14-0
Pass yds. 317 143
Total yds. 458 366
Fum.-lost 0-0 1-1
Pen.-yds. 4-50 4-22
Punts-ave. 1-24.0 2-39.5
Mount Vernon 7 14 7 7 – 35
Williamsburg 10 14 14 0 – 38
MV – Evan Brase 10 pass from Joey Rhomberg (Bennett Harp kick) 6:26
W – Logan Rethwisch 25 FG 3:55
W – Rayce Heitman 19 pass from Derek Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) :28
MV – Brase 60 pass from Rhomberg (Harp kick) 11:49
W – Clayten Steckly 29 pass from Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) 9:52
MV – Rhomberg 1 run (Harp kick) 7:50
W – John Eichhorn 16 pass from Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) :20
MV – Jackson Hird 6 run (Harp kick) 5:55
W – Heitman 55 pass from Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) 4:16
W – Heitman 1 run (Rethwisch kick) 2:19
MV – Brase 8 pass from Rhomberg (Harp kick) 2:47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – MV: Jackson Hird 16-97, Joey Rhomberg 9-40, Jase Jaspers 1-4, Evan Brase 1-0. WB: Derek Weisskopf 12-102, Nile Sinn 14-91, Rayce Heitman 9-42, team 3-(-12).
Passing – MV: Joey Rhomberg 19-31-317-2. WB: Derek Weisskopf 9-14-143-0.
Receiving – MV: Evan Brase 10-177, Jase Jaspers 5-79, Jackson Hird 2-23, Watson Krob 1-37, Ethan Wood 1-1. WB: Rayce Heitman 3-81, Clayten Steckly 3-35, John Eichhorn 1-16, Anthony Fenton 1-8, Braylon Wetjen 1-3.
MVFB Agate Raiders 38, Mustangs 35 TEAM STATISTICS First downs 25 18 Rushes-yds. 27-141 38-223 Cmp.-Att.-Int. 19-31-2 9-14-0 Pass yds. 317 143 Total yds. 458 366 Fum.-lost 0-0 1-1 Pen.-yds. 4-50 4-22 Punts-ave. 1-24.0 2-39.5 Mount Vernon 7 14 7 7 – 35 Williamsburg 10 14 14 0 – 38 MV – Evan Brase 10 pass from Joey Rhomberg (Bennett Harp kick) 6:26 W – Logan Rethwisch 25 FG 3:55 W – Rayce Heitman 19 pass from Derek Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) :28 MV – Brase 60 pass from Rhomberg (Harp kick) 11:49 W – Clayten Steckly 29 pass from Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) 9:52 MV – Rhomberg 1 run (Harp kick) 7:50 W – John Eichhorn 16 pass from Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) :20 MV – Jackson Hird 6 run (Harp kick) 5:55 W – Heitman 55 pass from Weisskopf (Rethwisch kick) 4:16 W – Heitman 1 run (Rethwisch kick) 2:19 MV – Brase 8 pass from Rhomberg (Harp kick) 2:47 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing – MV: Jackson Hird 16-97, Joey Rhomberg 9-40, Jase Jaspers 1-4, Evan Brase 1-0. WB: Derek Weisskopf 12-102, Nile Sinn 14-91, Rayce Heitman 9-42, team 3-(-12). Passing – MV: Joey Rhomberg 19-31-317-2. WB: Derek Weisskopf 9-14-143-0. Receiving – MV: Evan Brase 10-177, Jase Jaspers 5-79, Jackson Hird 2-23, Watson Krob 1-37, Ethan Wood 1-1. WB: Rayce Heitman 3-81, Clayten Steckly 3-35, John Eichhorn 1-16, Anthony Fenton 1-8, Braylon Wetjen 1-3.

Gallery • 4 Photos

--Courtesy photo Gina Bechtold

Mount Vernon’s Watson Krob (No. 1) pulls in a pass in play against Williamsburg Friday, Nov. 3.