TR Photo by Jake Ryder – Grundy Center senior Riker Thoren, 50, holds the Class 1A state football championship trophy after the Spartans defeated Dike New Hartford 28-7 Thursday at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. . It is the third consecutive state championship for the Spartans.
CEDAR FALLS — Grundy Center football’s legendary run added a new chapter Thursday night.
The Spartans defeated county rival Dike-New Hartford 28-7 in the Class 1A championship, winning their third consecutive state title and extending the program’s winning streak to 39 straight wins, winning the championship trophy at the UNI Dome. I raised it.
Grundy Center is the ninth team in Iowa high school football history to win at least three consecutive state titles. This is the sixth title in the school’s history and currently ranks sixth among all schools in Iowa history. The Spartans’ 39-game winning streak is the 11th longest in Iowa history, trailing Crestrand (1967-1972).
But history isn’t just in the Grundy Center’s record books.
History also teaches the culture that head coach Travis Zajac has built it brick by brick with his passionate assistant coaches. This culture permeates the community and permeates the roots of the family tree intertwined in the network of one Spartan Nation. In recent years, many families celebrated multiple sons under the UNI Dome, with the entire family rooting for the mighty Grundy Center Spartans in full force.
TR PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Grundy Center senior Clayton Freed, 52, and his teammates after a 28-7 victory over Dike-New Hartford for the Class 1A state football championship on Thursday. , expressed gratitude to the fans.
“Expectations are very high and standards are very high,” Zajac said. “This is a very heavy thing for everyone, especially teenagers, and you can’t help but get emotional thinking about it. … It can be difficult. But our seniors… Year after year, he sets the tone for his juniors, and the others kind of understand that.”
Grundy Center junior quarterback Judd Zilovsky is aware of those expectations, and he again exceeded them at Thursday’s championship.
D-NH had suffocating pass coverage to neutralize star receiver Tiernan Vokes. And because of the size of the Wolverines’ front line, Zilovski had to improvise often, including a 33-yard scramble that beat a D-NH tackler into the end zone for the game’s first score. In less than three minutes.
“They have some idea of what we’re going to do because we’ve played against them so many times,” Jilovsky said. “They’ve done a good job of taking it out, but Coach (Josh) Lakers and Zajac instill in me that if something isn’t there, don’t be afraid to use your legs. And it worked during the match.” “
Zilovsky ran 19 times for 121 yards and three touchdowns. That included a 1-yard dive to end the Spartans’ second scoring drive in the first quarter. This drive was completed by Zilovsky’s own long return after intercepting a Colin Meester pass.
TR PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Grundy Center quarterback Judd Zilovsky throws the football across the goal line in the first quarter of Thursday’s Class 1A state championship game against Dike-New Hartford at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. and completed a 1-yard touchdown run.
“They weren’t going to lose to Tiernan,” Zajac said. “And I don’t blame them. But when you don’t have an answer for an athlete like Judd Zilovsky, it’s difficult, especially when you have a lot of man-to-man coverage, and if you turn your back on Judd, he’s hard to contain. Breaking through, he’s a handful to take to the ground.”
The 14-0 advantage was good enough going into halftime, as they consumed seven and a half minutes of offensive drives that, while not reaching the Grundy center point, kept D-NH’s offense off the field. Zilovsky scored a 10-yard touchdown run on the Spartans’ first drive of the second half, making it 21-0 with 5:27 left in the third.
When it came time to take on D-NH’s offense, the Spartan defenders were able to contain D-NH’s top rusher, Noah Borcherding. Borcherding gained 32 yards on 12 carries Thursday, well below the championship-bound senior’s average of 143 yards per game.
“He’s a really good running back. I think we did a pretty good job with him,” Thoren said. “Shutting down their run game was critical to our success there.”
Putting that much effort into run defense left Grundy exposed to Meester and the Wolverines’ passing attack. That included a 17-play, 94-yard drive and seven completions by Meester, including a 1-yard Borcherding run for his first score. He scored in a total of 12 quarters at Grundy Center dating back to the 2021 Class A title game, which West Hancock won.
TR Photo by Jake Ryder – Grundy Center junior Ryder Slifer, 64, sticks his finger after the Spartans defeated Dike-New Hartford 28-7 in Thursday’s Class 1A state football championship game. He held three in the air. The Spartans won their third straight state title with the win.
The touchdown made it 21-7 Grundy Center.
“Our defensive coaches and players really want a shutout,” Zajac said. “But we’re not saying we can give it up, to limit the run game and keep our opponents out of the end zone until the fourth quarter when we were already leading by three points, but we’re going to give it up. We were able to finish it.” That fourth quarter. ”
Jacob Hoy was the top receiver Thursday, making two big catches for a total of 63 yards, moving the sticks and keeping Grundy’s offense on the field.
“He’s not only a great football player, but a great kid,” Jilovsky said of Hoy. “He performed well, set the standard in the weight room, and did a great job throughout the game.”
Hoy is active in many extracurricular activities, including as a member of FTC Robotics Team Lactose Intolerant.
“This is a sport that doesn’t get a lot of love, but I’m proud to represent them,” Hoy said.
Brody Zinkula scored a 20-yard touchdown run to make it 28-7 with 2:11 left.
“We joked in the huddle that we haven’t been in a winning formation yet this season. We were just trying to get another first down and be able to take the knee. ” said Jilovsky. “But we’re definitely going to score. My job is pretty easy with the players around me, a great offensive line, running backs Brodie and Pete, all the weapons at receiver.” Inside is wonderful.”
An eternally grateful Zajac praised his family Thursday, including his son Ty. His son, Ty, was with him on the sideline as a volunteer manager when he was younger, and this year he was able to pose for a photo in full uniform as a freshman. his father.
“Being a coach’s kid is not an easy deal,” Zajac said. “But I was always honest with him and told him that I wasn’t going to treat him any differently, that I was going to coach him hard, and then once he got in the car home, that might be it. He talked about football. I wanted to continue…Now, as a father, I’m very happy to be able to share that with him in uniform.”
This year’s senior group of Dayton Myers, Brayden Wallis, Elias Kaylais, Jacob Hoy, Tiernan Vokes, Brody Zinkula, Riker Thoren, Clayton Freed, and Remington Tuck are like Ty Zajac once. He was a freshman at UNI Dome.
They learned and grew, and many now have the honor of serving as multi-year starters for the undefeated Giants of the Grundy Center football program.
“They are giants in high school sports in our area,” Zajac said. “Winning the title three years in a row is historic at the state level. These are special boys and come from really, really good families, some of whom are my colleagues at the school. I heart them. I respect them, I will miss them and I love them very much.”
state football playoffs
at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls.
championship finals
Thursday, November 21st
8 players
Remsen Street Mary’s 51, Gladbrook Rhinebeck 12
Class A
Tri-Center 14, West Hancock 10
Class 1A
Grundy Center 28, Dyke New Hartford 7
class 4A
North Polk 24, Pella 14
Friday, November 22nd
class 2A
Spirit Lake (11-1) vs. West Lyon (12-0), 10 a.m.
class 3A
Dubuque Vallert (12-0) vs. Humboldt (11-1), 1 p.m.
Class 5A
West Des Moines Valley (10-2) vs. Southeast Polk (8-4), 7 p.m.
Grundy Center 28, Dyke New Hartford 7
D-NH 0 0 0 7 — 7
Grandy CTR. 14 0 7 7 — 28
1st quarter
GC — Judd Zilovsky 33 runs (Aiden Betts kick), 9:27.
GC — Zilovskiy 1 run (Betts kick), 1:28.
3rd quarter
GC — Zilovsky 10 runs (Betts kick), 5:27.
4th quarter
DNH — Noah Borcherding 1 run (Keegan Bolhaus kick), 5:19.
GC — Brody Zinkula 20 runs (Betts kick), 2:11.
team statistics
DNHGC
First down 14 15
Rush Yards 24-35 39-183
Passing Yards 222 92
Comp-at-Into 15-30-1 8-14-0
Total attack 54-257 53-275
Lost fumble 4-0 0-0
Penalty Yards 8-78 5-52
The era of pos. 21:27 26:33
personal statistics
Rushing — DNH: Borcherding 12-32, Colin Meester 12-3; GC: Zilovskiy 19-121, Zinkula 13-61, Pete Lebo 3-7, Team 4-(minus-6).
Passed — DNH: Meester 15-30-222-1; GC: Jilovsky 8-14-92-0.
Receiving — DNH: Devon Lotz 6-107, Jayden Soppe 2-41, Borcherding 2-30, Tyson Bennett 1-14, Carson Costello 1-13, Jack Horns 2-9, Jake Lykes 1 -8. GC: Jacob Hoy 2-63, Zinkula 3-15, Devin Hinders 1-5, Tiernan Vokes 1-5, Eli Wegman 1-4.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has limited practice this week.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Bennett Staats had 21 points and Daniel Abreu had 18 points and 10 rebounds in a win for Drake.
Three players each scored 16 points to lead the Marshalltown Community College women’s basketball team to the championship.
SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team defeated the University of Kansas 71-58 on Wednesday night.
