QB Rhys Davis, Linn-Mar, Looks to Rediscover Its Winning Ways

Rhys Davis had trained all summer to be Linn-Mar’s starting quarterback. He knew his role, he knew his team — he'd imagined stepping on the field in front of a full crowd.

But there’s one thing he didn’t account for when he walked on the field for his first varsity game, one thing he and Linn-Mar head coach Bob Forsyth said few on the Lions’ young team could have anticipated without experiencing.

"The lights," Davis said. "When it gets the dark and the lights shine on you, everyone is watching you, it’s isolating."

The Lions lost so many players from last year’s 10-1 team that it’s easier to count those returning: three. Forsyth said this amount of turnaround is unusual, which he said accounts for the teams first three consecutive losses of the season.

The players on the new, "younger" team, are feeling the loss as well. 

"Last year we were used to winning, this year, we’re not," said Linn-Mar’s offensive and defensive line Justin Green. "It sucks, but we’re digging ourselves out of it."

The losses can be frustrating, but Forsyth said it’s necessary for new players to make these mistakes in order to learn and ease their nerves.

"The only real way to do it is to play games," he said. "There’s no way to simulate [a varsity game] in practice."

That’s why Forsyth said he’s focusing on one simple strategy for coaching the relatively inexperienced team: making improvements week to week.

For the few returning players, like Green, the transition means they find themselves looked at for leadership.

"It’s different form last year," he said. "I remember looking up to those guys and everything they did was awesome."

Green said last year’s team was so exceptional, it made leadership look easy. He’s now struck by former Linn-Mar quarterback, linebacker and legend Mark Atwater’s ability to encourage the team at one game last year, when Atwater spoke to the team at half-time while the Lions were losing to Wahlert.

"Mark came into the locker room and everyone was looking to him like he was their guide," he said. "He came in there and rallied the troops — we beat them by a gazillion points."

It was 32 points, according to the state high school athletics association, IAHSAA, shy of a "gazillion."

Both players and Forsyth say they’ve seen the team improve. They point to their recent win against Washington — the team that started Linn-Mar’s losing streak last year — as evidence of that.

Forsyth said it’s too early to tell if that victory means the Lions are back on track. Regardless of whether the team beats Cedar Falls on Friday night, Davis said the team’s work and practice will materialize into something unique.

"I think people are going to see a different Linn-Mar team," he said.