DES MOINES, IA - Dominic Witt's 43-yard field goal as time expired lifted Grand View to a 36-34 win over William Penn on Senior Day at Duke Williams Stadium, keeping the Rock and Ladder Trophy in Des Moines. Witt was a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals on a rainy, 56-degree Saturday afternoon, and Carter Durflinger returned an interception for a touchdown, as the Vikings held off a furious second-half comeback to improve to 8-1 on the year and 5-0 in Heart of America North Conference play.
The win was Grand View's ninth straight in the Rock and Ladder series, and the Statesmen have not taken the trophy back to Oskaloosa since 2017. Grand View retained it last season with a 41-9 win in Oskaloosa, but this year's edition came down to the final snap.
Rain and a chilly wind made points hard to come by early. Both defenses controlled the first quarter, with Simeon Reichenbach sacking the William Penn quarterback on the Statesmen's first possession, and Grand View's second drive got going on a 25-yard run from Bryant Williams and a 9-yard completion from Jack Jepson to Lance Clayburg. The drive stalled at the William Penn 20, but Witt connected from 38 yards to make it 3-0 with 7:43 left in the first quarter.
The score stayed there until an interception gave William Penn the ball at the Grand View 8-yard line in the second quarter. The Grand View defense stiffened, with Eli Moses breaking up a third-down pass, and held the Statesmen to a 16-yard field goal to tie it at 3-3. Isaac Kracl answered by returning the ensuing kickoff 55 yards, and although the drive stalled, Witt drilled a 50-yarder with 3:11 left to retake the lead. Kellen Moore then intercepted a pass on William Penn's next possession and returned it 20 yards to the William Penn 40, and Bryant Williams broke a 25-yard run to set up a 2-yard touchdown run from Dalten Van Pelt with 1:12 left, sending Grand View to the locker room with a 13-3 lead.
Grand View struck again just 18 seconds into the second half. On William Penn's first offensive snap, Durflinger intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-3. William Penn answered right back with a 45-yard touchdown pass, but Witt hit field goals of 46 and 48 yards, the second following a Porter Doggett interception, to push the lead to 26-10. The Statesmen closed the quarter with a 75-yard scoring drive that ended in a 2-yard touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion, cutting the margin to 26-18 heading into the fourth.
William Penn tied the game early in the fourth quarter. After a Bradyn Cory punt pinned the Statesmen at their own 1-yard line, they needed just three plays to go 99 yards, a 52-yard completion followed by a 46-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion, and it was 26-26 with 11:53 to play. Grand View answered with a methodical drive that took 6:52 off the clock, leaning on Van Pelt and Williams on the ground and capping it with an 8-yard touchdown run from Van Pelt to make it 33-26 with 4:52 left. William Penn would not go away, driving 65 yards in eight plays and scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run before converting another two-point try to take a 34-33 lead with 1:51 left, its first lead of the game.
That left plenty of time for Jepson. Starting at the Grand View 35, he hit Van Pelt for 6 yards, Ja'Quez Hall for 5, and Van Pelt for 2 on the first three snaps, and a William Penn personal foul tacked on 15 yards to put the ball at the William Penn 33. Van Pelt added a 10-yard run, and after both teams burned timeouts with three seconds left, Witt trotted out and drilled the 43-yarder through the rain as time expired, capping a nine-play, 39-yard drive and sealing the win.
The victory came on Senior Day, with Grand View honoring 33 seniors, and the class made its mark. Durflinger's pick-six started the second-half surge, Moore had an interception that set up a first-half touchdown, Kracl totaled 133 yards on three kickoff returns, Bryant Williams ran for 81 yards, and Reichenbach finished with 1.5 tackles for loss, including a sack. Many of the seniors were part of the Vikings' back-to-back national championship teams in 2024 and 2025.
SENIORS HONORED Louis Brooks, Jake Calvert, Adam Caudle, Titus Christiansen, Lance Clayburg, Carter Durflinger, Brody Fuller, Kenson Fuller, Joel Greiner, Ja'Quez Hall, Sam Joyce, Connor Knudtson, Isaac Kracl, Kellen Moore, Eli Moses, Jamil Musignac, Andrew Nickell, Julian Perez-Hall, Nikolas Peters, Simeon Reichenbach, Peyton Rottinghaus, Ethan Schultz, Joseph Sifuentes, Nolan Simpson, Michael Steinfeldt, Koah Thompson, Jake Trenary, Blake Tubbs, Bryant Williams, Wyatt Williams, Gabe Winterrowd, Cory Wood, Rex Woodley
GAME NOTES
- Dominic Witt was 5 of 5 on field goals (38, 50, 46, 48, and 43 yards), the last as time expired, and accounted for 15 of Grand View's 36 points; he also had 6 touchbacks on 8 kickoffs
- Grand View won the Rock and Ladder Trophy for the ninth straight year in the series
- Grand View intercepted three passes, with Carter Durflinger returning one 30 yards for a touchdown and Kellen Moore and Porter Doggett adding the others, and won the turnover battle 3-1 even though William Penn out-gained the Vikings 379-261
- Dalten Van Pelt ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, and Bryant Williams added 81 yards on 13 carries
- Jack Jepson was 12 of 24 for 68 yards and directed the game-winning drive, with Peyton Goode (2 catches, 33 yards) and Ja'Quez Hall (4 catches, 19 yards) leading the receivers
- Isaac Kracl had 133 kickoff return yards on three returns, including a 55-yarder
- Drew Gerdes led the defense with 9 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack, while Harry Leinen added 8 tackles and Kellen Moore had 6
- Bradyn Cory punted five times for a 44.8-yard average, with a long of 52 and two punts inside the 20
UP NEXT Grand View hits the road to face Saint Ambrose University (Iowa) in Davenport, IA, on Saturday, November 7th at 1:00 PM, before closing the regular season at Mount Mercy University on November 14th.
