Rams’ season ends in heartbreaker

Glenwood’s 2020 football season ended in heartbreaking fashion Friday night in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

Norwalk scored a touchdown with 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter and then completed a two-point conversion pass to pull out a dramatic 30-29 victory over the Rams before an estimated crowd of 1,200 at the Glenwood Activities Complex. The Rams finished their season with a 5-3 record while Norwalk improved to 2-5 and advanced to a second-round match-up with Council Bluffs Lewis Central.

The Rams were understandably disappointed after suffering the hard-fought loss to the same Warrior team that ended their season in the first round of the playoffs in 2019.

“Their record doesn’t show it, but Norwalk is really a talented, good team – as talented as we’ve played probably,” Glenwood coach Cory Faust said after the game. “It’s just a bummer. I feel bad that it didn’t turn out different, but it doesn’t take anything away from how proud I am to have coached these seniors and the memories they’ve given me and the rest of our community. The pride they brought, I’m really thankful for that. We’ll miss those guys for that.”

Norwalk’s potent offense tallied well over 500 total yards on the night, but the Rams had the momentum for much of the first half.

After turning away a Warrior scoring threat that ended with a missed field goal midway through the first quarter,, the Rams raced to a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdown bursts of 53 and 33 yards by quarterback Tate Mayberry. The sophomore signal caller raced to the end zone practically untouched on both runs.

The Warriors got on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on a scoring drive aided by a pass interference call against Glenwood. Quarterback Max Jurgens teamed up with Chase McKinney on a 1-yard TD toss to trim the Glenwood lead to 14-6.

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff nullified a 93-yard return by Ryan Blum, but the Rams still got possession of the ball on the Norwalk 47 yard line and proceeded to cash in on the good field position with their third scoring march of the night. The drive featured a critical 12-yard pass completion from Mayberry to Blum on third-and-11 and a nifty 25-yard run by Silas Bales to set up a 5-yard scoring blast by CJ Carter.

Another missed field goal by the Warriors late in the second quarter allowed the Rams to take a 21-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Norwalk controlled the football and the momentum in the third quarter, which turned out to be a critical turning point in the ballgame.

The Warriors got their second touchdown of the night with 6:42 to play in the third quarter on an 8-yard toss from Jurgens to Ethan Carlson. A 23-yard field goal by McKinney three minutes later trimmed the Glenwood lead to 21-16.

A Glenwood turnover later in the quarter set up Norwalk’s next score, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jurgens to McKinney. The Warriors failed on a two-point conversion try, but took a 22-21 lead into the fourth quarter.

Norwalk’s offense moved the ball into the Glenwood red zone twice early in the final quarter, but on both occasions the Rams’ came away with big interceptions in the end zone – one by Nolan Little and another by Brock Sell.

After the Sell interception and touchback, the Rams marched 80 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. Mayberry culminated the drive on fourth-and-1 with a 45-yard blast up the middle. Mayberry added a successful two-point conversion run to put the Rams up 29-22 with a little over 3 minutes to left in the game.

Jurgens engineered the game-winning scoring drive for the Warriors that culminated with a 15-yard scoring toss to Dillon Ranck in the final minute of play. Jurgens then hooked up with Braedon Carlson for the game-winning two-point conversion.
Faust said the Warriors’ offense was everything he expected it to be.

“We had heck of a time getting off the field on defense and we knew coming into the game that maybe they have the best offense in Class 3A,” he said. “They were scoring a lot of points on everybody. We had a couple turnovers in there and it just makes it really hard to get momentum back, but I thought our guys kept battling and we definitely had a chance to win there until late in the game.”

Glenwood finished the game with 162 yards passing and 226 rushing. Mayberry completed 16-of-26 pass attempts and was the Rams’ leading rusher with 152 yards on 10 carries. Blum had 75 yards receiving on six catches and Bales tallied 24 yards on six catches.

Bales and Blum were also the Rams’ leading tacklers on defense with 10.5 and 10 tackles respectively. Little recorded nine stops, while Sully Woods and Zander Hayes finished with 6.5 and 6 respectively.

Ram coaches and players remained on the field for several minutes after the game, offering encouragement and sharing emotional hugs with one another. Faust said he’s proud of his team and the manner in which they responded under the unique circumstances of a season played during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was wild – it was kind of the ultimate lesson,” Faust said. “We always talk about controlling the things you can control and living in the moment, never taking anything for granted. I think that was one thing the season taught us. I think our guys did a really nice job. They battled through a lot of adversity in the form of COVID and everything that a different football season brings. I’m proud of them and grateful for the experience."

Faust added that he’s confident a solid foundation has been built to ensure future success for the Glenwood football program.

“We’ll miss the senior class. I don’t want to think ahead too much, but I think the senior class has set an example as well as the classes before them that if you have rebuilding off-seasons, you don’t really have to have rebuilding seasons.,” he said. “If we go to work, get stronger and faster and we earn the right to be successful in the next nine months, I think we can continue to have really good football here in Glenwood.”

NORWALK        00  06  16   08 -  30
GLENWOOD     14  07  00   08  - 29

    GLN - Tate Mayberry, 53 run (Brock Sell kick).
    GLN -  Mayberry, 33 run (Sell kick).
    NOR - Chase McKinney, 1 pass from Max Jurgens (kick failed).
    GLN – CJ Carter, 5 run (Sell kick).
    NOR – Ethan Carlson, 8 pass from Jurgens (McKinney kick).
    NOR – McKinney, 23 field goal.
    NOR – McKinney, 13 pass from Jurgens (pass failed).
    GLN – Sell, 45 run (Sell run).
    NOR – Dillon Ranck, 15 pass from Jurgens (Braedon Carlson, pass from