Harlan's fourth quarter comeback over Mount Vernon secures second straight Class 3A state title

CEDAR FALLS — Harlan football has been a mainstay in the Iowa high school state tournament for Class 3A and came into Friday’s game against Mount Vernon as the reigning champions.

With a roster featuring an Iowa commit in Aidan Hall and one of the most prolific quarterbacks the state has ever seen in Teagon Kasperbauer, it was expected that the Cyclones would storm past the Mustangs for their 14th state title.

That was not the case. Not at all.

Harlan did win back-to-back state titles, but it took a fourth-quarter comeback to beat Mount Vernon, 30-23, and the Mustangs did not make it easy.

It started with a quarterback battle. There’s Kasperbauer on Harlan’s side, a player who finished his high school career with two state championships, the fifth most passing yards and the second most passing touchdowns in 11-player history. Kasperbauer finished the title game with 220 yards and three touchdowns.

With the win, he solidified his place in Iowa high school football history.

“I assume there’s probably some great people up there,” Kasperbauer said of his records. “That’s a pretty awesome feeling, but honestly, I’m just glad we came out on top. That’s all that matters.”

On Mount Vernon’s side, they were without starting quarterback Joey Rhomberg. Instead, it was running back Henry Ryan who took over behind center. He recorded 64 passing yards and one passing touchdown in addition to 29 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground.

“What a performance, huh?” Mustangs coach Lance Pedersen said postgame. “To have a kid that went from running back and, in five days, we made him a quarterback and he almost won a state title for us. I’m just very proud of Henry. He’s a competitor, he’s a fighter and I knew he’d give us his all and he did.”

It was a matchup between the highest-scoring offense in 3A (Harlan, 49.2 ppg) and the defense allowing the fewest points (Mount Vernon, 5.4 ppg). That matchup did not disappoint, with Harlan racking up the most points by a Mount Vernon opponent and the Mustangs scoring the third most points against the Cyclones all season.

Let’s talk about Mount Vernon’s defense for a moment.

Kasperbauer had thrown three interceptions all season coming into Friday’s game. The Mustangs picked him off twice in the championship, and Mount Vernon’s defense recovered two of Harlan’s three fumbles. In any other game, that’s a winning defensive performance.

“One of the things we ask is for a championship effort and we felt that was the case tonight,” Pedersen said. “We just didn’t get it done. When you’re going into a championship game, the other team’s obviously very good and they want to win as well. I was just so proud of our defense to keep us in the game as much as possible.”

There were some pregame jitters for both teams to work out. Mount Vernon got to its own 34-yard line on the first drive but was forced to punt. Harlan’s first drive ended in a fumble on the first play. The Mustangs got the ball back and, at first, the Harlan defense stepped up.

Mount Vernon lost four yards on the first play of the second drive and followed that with two incomplete passes. On fourth down, though, Jensen Meeker caught a 32-yard pass from Henry Ryan for the first points of the night. Harlan stopped the scoring there, though, when Matthew Sorfonden blocked the extra point.

On the next drive, the Cyclones marched 84 yards on six plays, capped by a touchdown from Aidan Hall.

But that was the only scoring play for Harlan in the first half. The Cyclones offense that has piled points on opponents all season struggled to score against Mount Vernon. Sure, Harlan led the way with 130 total yards of offense and seven first downs in the first half – compared to the Mustangs’ 70 yards and four first downs.

But time of possession told a different story. Mount Vernon kept the ball for 12:44 in the first two quarters; Harlan was close behind with 11:16 of possession. Shorter fields and longer possessions – plus a late second quarter field goal – helped the Mustangs, and Mount Vernon went to the locker room at halftime with a narrow 9-7 lead.

The Mustangs continued their success into the second half. Meeker intercepted a pass from Kasperbauer on the third play of the quarter and put Mount Vernon in scoring position on the 25-yard line. Harlan’s defense made another stop, and the kick was no good.

Mount Vernon wasn’t giving up that easy, scoring 16 unanswered points in the third quarter.Kasperbauer threw his first touchdown of the day to Jacob Birch with 16 seconds remaining in the third frame and Cade Sears pulled in the two-point conversion, but the Mustangs 8-point lead held strong heading into the fourth quarter.

The final 12 minutes featured that tough offense versus tough defense again. Mount Vernon would make a big play, and Harlan's offense would find a way to keep moving the ball forward. The Cyclones converted 3-of-3 fourth down attempts. The Mustangs converted 2-of-3.

"First half, we struggled a little bit," Hall said. "We made adjustments...and we started making plays. (Jacob) Birch and Cade Sears, they came up big for us."

And that otherwise shutdown defense from Mount Vernon? It allowed Harlan to tie the game at 23 apiece with 3:39 left on the clock. It was the Cyclones defense that made the next stop, forcing the Mustangs to punt and give the ball back to Harlan's offense with 2:04 remaining.

On the second play of the drive, Kasperbauer connected on a 48-yard pass to Sears, and the Cyclones took their first lead since the opening frame with under a minute and a half to go. Harlan stopped Mount Vernon again, took over on downs from the 15-yard line and took a knee to end the game.

For Hall, who is used to winning games by larger margins with Harlan, he relished in the excitement of a close matchup.

"Closer games are more fun to play," Hall said about the Cyclones comeback. "It's not fun just blowing out every team. I'm glad these guys gave us a run for our money."

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Harlan football beats Mount Vernon in Class 3A Iowa state championship