Winning eight of their nine regular season games wasn’t enough for the Lone Tree Lions football team (8-1) to earn a spot in the playoffs. The Lions outlasted the No. 7 Midland Eagles Friday in Lone Tree, 70-62, forcing a three-way tie for the district championship. The Lions, Eagles, and the Iowa Valley Tigers (7-2) all finished the season with 5-1 district records and their only loss came against one another. Lone Tree lost to Iowa Valley last week, 62-38, while Midland defeated Iowa Valley, 44-38, on September 23.

Under the new 8-man playoff format, there are no wildcard spots and only the district’s top two teams qualify for the postseason. Since no one earned the head-to-head tiebreaker, the district’s postseason qualifiers came down to each team’s margin of victory. Seventeen is the maximum number of points you can earn for a win. Midland captured the district title with plus 66 points, winning four of their contests by 17 or more. Iowa Valley’s margin of victory was plus 61, two points better than Lone Tree.

Lone Tree accounted for 501 yards of total offense and nine touchdowns versus Midland. Running back Drake Hotz led the way with 185 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Trey Pierson tallied 175 yards of total offense (113 rushing) and three scores. Jovonte Squiers added 236 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including a 54-yard kickoff return for a score. Bryce Houser ran for two touchdowns as well.

Lone Tree concludes their season with wins over two playoff teams. The Lions blasted the HLV Warriors, 55-8, in week three of the season. HLV secured a spot in the postseason with a second-place finish in district five. The Lions finish the season 8-1 overall and lose Jovonte Squiers, Trey Pierson, Michael Schmidt, Drake Hotz, Logan Carter, Sam Fuhrmeister, Garrett Boxwell, and Dawson Swails to graduation.