CEDAR FALLS — Bishop Garrigan knows what it feels like to fall short.
The Golden Bears were knocked out of last season’s Iowa high school football playoffs early, dropping the semifinal game by two points – one year after winning the title in 2023.
But this year, Bishop Garrigan came out on top, coming from behind in the 8-player state championship game against Woodbine to beat the Tigers, 44-42.
“Our kids are just something else,” said head coach Marty Wadle. “I can’t say enough about this group of seniors. They’ve put everything on their back. …They’ve grown a lot of whiskers in three years as starters and the state championship two years ago. I can’t say enough about them and this entire group of kids.”
The Golden Bears got things started with a quick touchdown on the opening drive of the game. CJ McGregor broke loose and outran his defenders for 33 yards and a touchdown, giving Bishop Garrigan a 6-0 lead after the 2-point conversion failed.
The Tigers, though, had their sights set on raising the championship trophy too.
Woodbine scored on each of its first three possessions: a 4-yard touchdown run by Micah Moores, a 2-yard touchdown pass from Brodyn Pryor to Ayden Coenen and a 2-yard touchdown run from Moores.
That was 20 unanswered points to give Woodbine a 20-6 lead. Bishop Garrigan snapped its scoring drought with eight points right before halftime, with Woodbine up 20-14 at the break.
The Tigers wasted little time adding to their point total in the third quarter, taking just four plays to score the first touchdown of the second half. Pryor found Landon Blum 38 yards downfield for a touchdown, and that duo extended Woodbine’s lead to 36-14 when Pryor connected with Blum on a 30-yard touchdown pass before the end of the third quarter.
But then Bishop Garrigan fought back.
The Golden Bears scored two touchdowns in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Ethan Marso ran 3 yards for the first score and picked up the two-point conversion with his legs, and Tate Foertsch took the ball 8 yards for the second score – but the two-point attempt failed.
Bishop Garrigan forced Woodbine to punt on the next possession, and then the Golden Bears went to work. The top-seeded team marched 76 yards on 11 plays, capped by a 9-yard touchdown run and successful two-point conversion, both from Foertsch, that tied the game at 36.
The Tigers locked in, once again, and headed toward the endzone. Pryor completed long passes to Blum, Brenner Sullivan and Brenden Wagner. Moores capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and – after the two-point attempt failed – Woodbine hung to a 42-36 lead with a little over a minute remaining in regulation.
Bishop Garrigan didn’t waste time ending Woodbine’s championship dreams, though.
On the third play of the possession, Foertsch completed a 36-yard pass to McGregor. The Tigers stopped the Golden Bears at the 1-yard line, but Marso picked up a touchdown on the next play and Foertsch secured the game-winning two-point conversion.
“I don’t think CJ McGregor has three catches on the year,” Wadle said of his receiver, who entered Thursday’s game with two catches for six total yards. “And he caught the biggest pass of the season.”
Foertsch rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 131 yards in the win. Marso added 103 yards and two touchdowns with his legs, and he came down with a fourth-quarter interception that led to one of Bishop Garrigan’s comeback touchdowns.
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: Bishop Garrigan beats Woodbine for Iowa high school football 8-player state championship
Reporting by Alyssa Hertel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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