Iowa high school football kicked off Friday, with Lone Tree taking center stage. A long road trip across state lines couldn’t deter the Lions, as they came away with a convincing 54-16 win over Parkview Christian Academy in Joliet.

A defense which allowed nearly 40 points per game one year ago looked to rewrite the script early, as Lone Tree forced a turnover on downs in the opening possession. Gifted with good field position, the Lion offense needed just two plays to get on the board, as an eight yard touchdown run from Maddox Jondle got the scoring underway.

After getting the ball back, the Falcons looked poised to march down the field and tie it up, thanks in part to a pair of lengthy Lion penalties. Once again, the Lone Tree defense rose to the occasion. On fourth down, in their own red zone, it was Jondle making a play yet again as he picked off Falcon quarterback Christian Mulder to give the offense another short field. They would make no mistake, as Ethan Bockelman capped off the 10-play, 60-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

Bockelman’s night was far from over though. Following a three-and-out by the Falcons, the senior quarterback took the fourth play of the drive 37 yards for Lone Tree’s third touchdown in as many possessions. Determined to take the 20-point lead into the locker room, the Lion defense stood tall again in the red zone with less than one minute left in the half as Emmett Burke shot through the line to snatch the ball away from Mulder.

It was business as usual for the Lions when they came out in the second half, finding the endzone on three consecutive drives. This included two more from Bockelman on the ground, and a screen pass to Burke who took it 51 yards to the house. While Parkview Christian got on the board with a 19-yard touchdown catch from Tyrease Adams, Lone Tree’s defense answered on the next possession with another takeaway. The Lion pass rush did not let Mulder get comfortable all night, this time forcing an interception to Domonic Garcia.

Lone Tree had control of the game from the start, and the only momentum shift in favor of the Falcons came when a blocked punt deflected off a Lion player for their sole turnover of the night. Another Adams touchdown gave Parkview Christian a chance to claw their way back. A strong second half from Mulder, and some spectacular catches from Noel Green saw the Falcon offense finish with 205 passing yards. Hope for a comeback was dashed however, with Bockelman’s longest rush of the night, a 59-yard touchdown, later followed by a Jader Sanchez score to make it 54-16.

Bockelman finished the evening with 293 yards on 25 carries, accounting for 6 touchdowns overall. He spoke to KCII about the team’s offensive line, who allowed the Lions to march down the field at will against the Falcon defense. “Tonight they put it all together, opened up tons of holes, there was plenty of room to run. So yeah, It was really nice to see that.” The Lion rushing attack accounted for nearly 80 percent of their offensive production, while the defense forced four turnovers.

Following a dominant performance to start the season, 1-0, there was a lot to be impressed with for head coach Joe Donovan. “I was pleased with our kids. Ethan [Bockelman] having a good night, but I thought a lot of kid’s got their hands on the ball and everybody got in the game. Dom Graap led us in tackles, but I thought Emmett Burke, him and Maddox [Jondle] at linebacker played a great game too on defense, our ends Brody [Magruder] and Harry Brenneman too. It was a good effort by them.”

The game could be heard on the new KCII3 stream as part of the KCII Area Game of the Week, which features the Sigourney-Keota Cobras this Friday, as they travel to Prairie City Monroe. Lone Tree meanwhile is preparing for Iowa Valley, who narrowly defeated the Lions in their season finale last year. The Lions will be featured next in the Area Game of the Week on September 15 when they travel to Springville.