Photo by Troy Banning, Daily-Freeman Journal: Fort Dodge’s Bradley Vodraska catches a touchdown pass from Connor Carver to end the first half against Webster City on Friday night.

WEBSTER CITY — Football is a game of emotion, but above all, it’s a sport of discipline.

Fourth-ranked (Class 4A) Fort Dodge escaped on the road a week ago at Marshalltown despite struggling to execute both physically and mentally at critical junctures.

The Dodgers weren’t so fortunate here on Friday night.

Webster City was the more focused team, and thus, the better team on a perfect evening at Lynx Field. Fort Dodge struck the first blow, but Webster City steadily took control and wore the Dodgers down and out in a 41-14 District 1 statement win.

The Lynx (3-2 overall) were methodical and precise in their single-wing attack, perfectly content to churn out small doses of yardage here and there — a trademark style under legendary head coach Bob Howard — to keep the chains moving and the ball out of Fort Dodge’s hands. Webster City ran 54 times for 243 yards, with only four carries going for over 10 yards.

More importantly, the Lynx went 8-for-14 on third downs — converting five consecutive times in the fourth quarter on the ground. Webster City also had two successful fourth-down advancements in three tries.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers (4-1) came up short on all six third-down attempts and all five fourth-down efforts. In a contest where the overall yardage was virtually even, those plays told the tale.

Add 14 more penalties spanning 128 yards, and Fort Dodge couldn’t get out of its own way enough to even have a puncher’s chance.

“We’ve got to get all of this cleaned up. That’s the bottom line,” FDSH head coach Nik Moser said. “I think the important thing to do at this point is to take a step back and evaluate things again without panicking or finger pointing. Whether it’s not converting on third or fourth down, or bad play-calling on my part, or the penalties that have become a problem again the last two weeks for whatever reason…we have to make the adjustments necessary to play winning football.

“We weren’t good in any phase, really. Plenty of mistakes to go around, from me on down the line. Webster City was the better team (on Friday). They earned that win.”

The first play from scrimmage had the Dodgers and their legion of fans who made the 25-mile trip east feeling confident. Junior quarterback Connor Carver hit classmate Javion Jondle on a crossing route and Jondle did the rest, sprinting 67 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 Fort Dodge lead.

In what became a variation of a theme, the Dodgers were stopped a yard short of a first down near the red zone on fourth down of their second drive. The Lynx then turned around and pieced together a 13-play, 70-yard scoring march to knot the score.

Webster City took over in FDSH territory moments later when the Dodgers failed to convert on 4th-and-2. A touchdown run by junior Connor Hanson gave the Lynx the upper hand at 14-7 with 4:06 left until halftime.

The last 30 seconds before intermission got frantic. Webster City again started a drive on the Fort Dodge side of the field, then ran a double reverse pass to catch the Dodgers napping, with Devon Stoakes finding Evan Estlund wide open on a 49-yard toss up the right side of the field.

Fort Dodge immediately answered. Jondle returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to near midfield, and after an 18-yard Carver completion to Bradley Vodraska and a pass interference call, the Dodgers were suddenly in business.

Carver rolled near the sidelines on the last snap of the half, heaving a pass off his back foot and finding Vodraska in the back of the end zone to pull Fort Dodge back within 21-14.

The Dodgers forced a rare three-and-out to start the third quarter and marched immediately to the Webster City 25-yard line, but again failed to convert on fourth down. The Lynx punted again and Fort Dodge reached the 50-yard line; a fake punt play went awry, though, and Webster City marched in to go up 27-14 on the first play of what became a disastrous final period for the visitors.

The Dodgers were outscored 21-7 in the second quarter and 20-0 in the fourth.

Junior quarterback Ty McKinney hit Stoakes for a 5-yard TD strike. McKinney then capped a back-breaking 14-play, 68-yard drive with a 5-yard scoring scamper at the 2:53 mark in regulation. Sophomore Keegan Hisler then put the cherry on top with a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown 20 seconds later.

“That was the highlight of the game for me,” Howard said of the final offensive score. “I don’t know what it was, eight or nine minutes. It was a big deal for the line to play the way they played.”

Fort Dodge was backed into a 1st-and-45 situation at one point in the second quarter after a hold, two false starts and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The Dodgers were also flagged for a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct infractions on their final drive with time winding down.

“We can’t get ourselves into those situations. One way or another, we have to get that figured out and flush it,” Moser said. “We’ve been sloppy these last two games. Now’s not the time to make excuses. It’s time to get back to work.”

Carver threw for 222 yards, with Vodraska catching eight passes for 110 yards. Jondle had four receptions for 94 yards.

“It takes us a series or two for our defense to adjust to the speed of their kids because we don’t practice against kids like that,” Howard said. “We don’t practice against Jondle.”

Jon Presswood rushed 13 times for 77 yards to lead FDSH on the ground.

CJ Hisler (73 yards rushing), sophomore Jaxon Cherry (69), Hanson (56) and McKinney (51) took turns grinding out yardage behind the surge of all-stater Truman Klein and the rest of the stout Webster City line.

This was the first contest between the programs since 1965, though it will be an annual meeting now in the District 1 race.

Fort Dodge faces Spencer for Homecoming this Friday. The Tigers (4-1) blanked Denison-Schleswig 43-0 for their fourth consecutive victory last night.

FD WC

First Downs 10 22

Rushes-Yards 18-80 54-243

Passing Yards 222 66

Comp-Att-Int 14-23-1 4-6-0

Total Offense 302 309

Punts 2-34.5 2-27.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 14-128 4-45

Fort Dodge 7 7 0 0 — 14

Webster City 0 21 0 20 — 41

Scoring Summary

Fort Dodge — Javion Jondle (67-yard pass from Connor Carver), 11:48 left first quarter. Gavin Schillerstrom kick.

Webster City — Jaxon Cherry (1yard run), 9:20 left second. Levi Mussman kick.

Webster City — Connor Hanson (15-yard run), 4:06 left second. Mussman kick.

Webster City — Evan Estlund (49-yard pass from Devon Stoakes), 0:22 left second. Mussman kick.

Fort Dodge — Bradley Vodraska (20-yard pass from Carver), 0:00 left second. Schillerstrom kick.

Webster City — Stoakes (5-yard pass from Ty McKinney), 11:55 left fourth. Kick failed.

Webster City — McKinney (5-yard run), 2:53 left fourth. Mussman kick.

Webster City — Keegan Hisler (22-yard interception return), 2:33 left fourth. Mussman kick.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Fort Dodge: Jon Presswood 13-77, Connor Carver 5-3. Webster City: CJ Hisler 12-73, Jaxon Cherry 17-69, Connor Hanson 16-56, Ty McKinney 8-51, Team 1-(minus-6).

PASSING — Fort Dodge: Connor Carver 14-23-1-222. Webster City: Devon Stoakes 1-1-0-49, Ty McKinney 3-5-0-17.

RECEIVING — Fort Dodge: Bradley Vodraska 8-110, Javion Jondle 4-94, Grant Williams 1-14, Jon Presswood 1-4. Webster City: Evan Estlund 1-49, Devon Stoakes 2-11, CJ Hisler 1-6.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Fort Dodge: Jon Presswood 13-77, Connor Carver 5-3. Webster City: CJ Hisler 12-73, Jaxon Cherry 17-69, Connor Hanson 16-56, Ty McKinney 8-51, Team 1-(minus-6).

PASSING — Fort Dodge: Connor Carver 14-23-1-222. Webster City: Devon Stoakes 1-1-0-49, Ty McKinney 3-5-0-17.

RECEIVING — Fort Dodge: Bradley Vodraska 8-110, Javion Jondle 4-94, Grant Williams 1-14, Jon Presswood 1-4. Webster City: Evan Estlund 1-49, Devon Stoakes 2-11, CJ Hisler 1-6.