The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page C5

Des Moines Sunday Register Page 5C Grand View Football When Mike Woodley i nterviewed to become he football coach at rand View, he vowed to ne day take the program a national champions hip game. even years later, the ay has finally come. econd-ranked Grand iew advanced to the NAI A title game with a 35-0 in over No. 5 Mornings ide in a semifinal match- before an estimated rowd of 3,500 at Williams tadium on Saturday. That was our No.

1 oal to be a national- hampionship quality Woodley said. And what we are ight he Vikings improved 13-0 and advanced to he NAIA championship ame on Dec. 21in Rome, where meet 1 3-0 Cumberlands It omes in just the sixth eason of existence for he program that had no layers, no coaches, and ertainly no history. oodley, from Day ne, was intent on chang- i ng that. The longtime col- ege football coach disc ussed his lofty goal with rand View president ent Henning and direct or of athletics Troy Plumm er during an interview i August of 2006.

Wood ley promised to take the rogram, which ven played a snap, to the hampionship game. I said, going to et to a national champi- nship Woodley ecalled. know hen but going to et to one. Here we lummer remembers eing almost shocked at he idea at the time. I remember the presi- ent and I kind of looked a each other like, hat a great Plumm er said.

he Vikings piled up 4 69 yards of total offense, uilt a quick lead and nev- looked back. rand View quarter- ack Derek Fulton and ide receiver Brady Rol and helped spearhead the ffensive attack. Fulton assed for 312 yards and wo touchdowns, both to oland, who finished with even catches for 146 ards. Derek threw good alls and our other receive rs ran routes to occupy ther guys and we just on the battle Rol and said. he Vikings defense as just as impressive, ecuring its first shutout the season and blanking a Morningside offense hat been been held coreless in its previous 8 8 contests.

Morningside 11-2), last NAIA unner-up, entered the ame with a vaunted off ense that was averaging 4 9.3 points and 576.7 ards per game. They just walked over Woodley aid. I know one hing, our defense, retty darn good and I hink they showed it ton he offense as without starting quart erback Ryan Kasdorf, ho had passed for 3,335 ards and 42 touchdowns his season. Kasdorf was i njured during last uarterfinal game and as replaced by Derrick ison, who passed for 80 ards. Caleb Kluender, replacement, assed for 24.

It took a big shot to our Mornings ide running back Brand on Wegher said of not laying alongside Kas- ord. rand View fans cele- rated the first erth to the pinnacle of he NAIA by storming the ield. Woodley stuck a round after many had eft to exchange hands hakes with fans. I a celebration, a day, hat Woodley saw coming ong ago. I said if we do things he right way, going the national champions Woodley said.

iously things have gone ur tats, Roundup NAIA Semifinal: Grand View 35, Morningside 0 Vikings coach fulfills goal set on Day 1 Woodley directs ixth-year program national summit. By Tommy Birch Grand View running back Charles Badgett carries the ball and a pair of Morningside defenders into the end zone Saturday for a touchdown. BRYON REGISTER VIDEO INTERVIEWS Watch a video interview with rand View football coach Mike Woodley and see fans celebrating on the Williams tadium field after the game. Also, find a video interview with former Iowa and current orningside running back Brandon Wegher. Log to on watch them both online at esMoinesRegister.com parking lot looked like a onvention of duck hunt- rs.

There were camo ants, Carhartt jackets, i nsulated facemasks, leeping bags and a ange of survival tools hat would make Bear rylls beam with pride. A the final seconds icked off the our-tongue-on-it clock, ne thing became clear matter the wind chill. inning warms a lmost like nothing else. lynn remembers tanding on the field at ack Trice Stadium in A mes on a frigid Novem- er day in 2006 as Iowa tate beat Missouri 21-16, he final game for coach an McCarney. It was really he aid.

stood on the field or probably an hour a fter the game, because I want to get off. It as my last game. When ou win, it feels a little armer for some rea- here was something ure and invigorating a bout the first time two I owa teams met this deep i the NAIA postseason. his one of those athedrals of college ootball, with 80,000 fans oaring from $100 seats ith national television ameras flying on invisi- le wires overhead like eter Pan. On a day made or hand warmers more han hamstrings, almost a ll of those hearty nough to slither into a et of shoulder pads had aid their own way.

hese guys play foot- all because they love it not because of short- ived celebrity or dreams football pay stubs. he 3,500 fans tucked i nto the rock-hard leachers on a day so old that cell phones shut own after just a few inutes of outside expos ure saw football players, othing more, nothing ess. he lure brought back randon Wegher, the ormer Hawkeye fresh- an who ripped Georgia ech for 113 yards and a ack-breaking touch- own in a 2010 Orange owl win. Wegher, now at orningside, said the ame offers something ore than headlines and 6 news highlights. two comp letely different things.

ou compare Wegher said of ife in the Big Ten lime- ight and now. just a oy to be out there play- i ng oy must be a pretty ompelling thing. Be- ause on Saturday, it rumped common sense. hat Des oines Register exp lained that natural gas a nd propane prices are xpected to spike 1 1.5percent. matter.

Mike Pet ersen, his son, Jerod, a nd grandson, Jaden, rove to central Iowa rom Schleswig to follow orningside and Tanner etersen. The Petersens a nchored a tailgating roup that arrived at 1 when the temp erature had just hit a rosty0. not at a style Mike Petersen oked. dress warm. care what we ook erod remembers laying quarterback for chleswig in a state foot- all game in the 1980s.

It was he said. Balls were like rocks a nd it felt like you were etting tackled in a park- i ng aul Dahl, a candidate or Iowa governor, stood a the ticket-buying line a nd shook hands. ahl, who grew up in he Waterloo and LaPorte ity area and now lives in ebster City, was asked i standing out in the lements indicated sound ecision-making skills. It shows I have cour- a he said with a augh. got to go here people are gather- i rian Moore, head of he officiating crew, said he heaters in his socks, our shirts and ur tails made him ore comfortable than ost others.

I fact, called a older game. About six or seven ears ago in South Dako- said Moore, of Kans as City. was too cold blow my ric Jones, an offen- ive line coach and aca- emic dean at Central ollege, recalled playing i a DivisionIII game in 1 985 when the Dutch outed Occidental (Calif.) ollege 71-0 as everyone hivered as the snowflake fell in Pella. The girl I was dating a the time knew some- ne from aid Jones, an offensive ineman for the 1985 eam. told him I was orry he came up for this.

said, sorry? get to go home. stuck hat can be football in I owa in December. inning warms, hough. Grand View ath- etic director Troy Plumm er found a thought to haw those on the Vikings ide of the field. Everything is a first or he said.

ically, this would also be he warmest semifinal ame in Grand View Bryce Miller can be reached at 5 15-284-8288 or Follow him Twitter: MILLER Continued from Page 1C Grand View defensive back Nick Bush pulls down an interception against Morningside on Saturday at Williams Stadium. Grand View led 28-0 at halftime and added a fourth-quarter touchdown to win 35-0. BRYON PHOTOS Members of the Grand View cheerleading team warmed heir hands after the Vikings defense ran an interception ack for a touchdown against Morningside on Saturday. Morningside running back Brandon Wegher, a former Iowa Hawkeye, runs off the field at halftime against Grand View. He rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries in the loss.

WEGHER: FROM RANGE BOWL MORNINGSIDE TO STAY TUNED As another football season ends, Brandon Wegher is onsidering his football uture again. Wegher, the former run- ing back who ran for 113 ards and a touchdown in 2010 Orange Bowl win a gainst Georgia Tech, said take some time away from the field to consider a eturn to the field. Hopefully, be back next he said after NAIA semifinal oss to Grand View. Any chance you I know. got to sit down and look at my said Wegher, who ill turn 23 on Monday.

yeah, probably be he journey from Iowa to orningside included a brief stop at Oklahoma and hree seasons away from the ame. Wegher is a sophomore, espite how long ago his ime for the Hawkeyes might feel. If my career ended today, I be happy playing with these Wegher said. a great bunch of uys. But it would be nice to come back next Bryce Miller.