BY LES KNUTSON
The Globe
LAKE PARK, Iowa -- Harris-Lake Park’s undersized and sophomore-loaded high school football team thrilled the local crowd with several highlight plays in the final game of the 2018 season Friday night, but the Wolves could not contain the high-powered rushing attack of Kingsley-Pierson and ended up on the short end of a 58-28 final score.
H-LP sophomore quarterback Brody Sohn completed numerous passes to an assortment of receivers, including junior end Isaac Ihnen (two touchdowns), sophomore tailback Dylan Meyer (one TD) junior end Edgar Tapia and sophomore running back Lucas Gunderson.
After the visiting Panthers scored two quick touchdowns, the Wolves moved the ball well through the air and -- following a 28-yard catch and run by Meyer -- scored their first touchdown on a six-yard run by Sohn with 9:54 to play in the second quarter.
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A 27-yard pass completion to Tapia highlighted a later drive and HL-P scored its second TD on a 47-yard strike from Sohn to Meyer.
The Wolves connected on both two-point conversions in that second quarter with Sohn passing to Meyer after the first TD and to Ihnen following the second, which sliced K-P’s lead to 34-16.
In the third quarter, Sohn tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Ihnen. The first one was a 20-yard completion and was set up by a 30-yard catch and run from Tapia. H-LP’s final six-pointer came on a well-designed play -- following a time-out with 4:41 left in the period -- which covered 15 yards.
Gunderson played a tremendous game on defense for the Wolves, finishing with 18 tackles from his middle linebacker position. Meyer recovered a fumble for H-LP after a tackle and strip by Julian Burdorf -- one of many stellar defensive plays made by the junior linebacker and offensive guard.
Two-way lineman Jeffrey Bunkers was the only senior on H-LP’s 21-player roster. The Wolves finished the season with a 3-6 record.
Damon Schmid, a 135-pound freshman, scored on three long touchdown runs for the Panthers, who finished the season with a 5-4 record and 235-pound senior fullback / linebacker Jessen Reinking was a force to be reckoned with throughout the game.
K-P 12 22 16 8 -- 58H-LP 0 16 12 0 -- 28
