MAQUOKETA, Iowa — In the first quarter of Maquoketa's 42-14 win over Grinnell, it became apparent that the Tigers had learned from the Cardinals' previous wins over Williamsburg and Western Dubuque.
In those games, Maquoketa elected to hand the ball to running back Craig Johnson and let him take over the game. Grinnell saw that the plan resulted in a comfortable victory for the Cardinals each time, and the Tigers responded by stacking the box in the teams' 3A second round meeting, determined not to let Johnson beat them.
All that meant was that quarterback Chase Coakley beat them instead.
Given space to find his receivers, Coakley was superb, dissecting Grinnell's defense for 256 yards and three touchdowns and setting up two other drives that Johnson finished off inside the Tigers' 2-yard line. It added up to Maquoketa's 10th straight win and a trip to the 3A quarterfinals as the Cardinals eliminated the Tigers on Monday night at Goodenow Field.
“They're a good run defense, but they couldn't stop the pass very well, so we took advantage of that,” Coakley said. “Teams see on film that (Craig) is a heck of a running back, so they'll bring guys up in the box to try to stop the run. We'll let them do that and just pass over top of them.”
The Tigers (7-4) added to their woes with several mistakes in the second quarter. In a 12-minute stretch, Maquoketa (10-1) recovered two Grinnell fumbles, one of which came with the Tigers inside the red zone. On another series, the Cardinals forced a Grinnell punt and Jonathan Bopes got one block and found a lane to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown that knocked the Tigers out of the game early.
“I think that turned the game around,” Bopes said. “From then on, our offense and defense picked it up. I actually fumbled the ball on that punt, but I saw Quennel Fowler throw a block and I saw another one in front of me and just ran.”
The Cardinals finished with three takeaways, a number Maquoketa coach Kevin Bowman was thrilled to see.
“Opportunity was knocking, and we did a good job with it,” Bowman said. “That was key for us.”
The other key was Coakley, who continued the Cardinals' theme of having someone different step up for them each week. When the Tigers tried to get back in the game in the second half with a quick touchdown to start the third quarter, Coakley answered the call with two touchdown passes to Perry Hawks, ensuring that the Cardinals would have back-to-back playoff wins for the first time ever and setting up a rematch with Union in the quarterfinals next Monday.
“Chase is one of the better quarterbacks I've seen,” Bopes said. “He's just a versatile athlete who can put the ball in spectacular spots. If we run the right routes, Chase will put the ball where it needs to be. All we have to do then is catch and run.”
