Area football
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| Just in time: Lenox quarterback Mason Peterson (9) releases a 2-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Lange just in time Friday evening against the Corning Red Raiders. Lange finished with two receiving touchdowns on the evening as Lenox defeated Corning and clinched a spot in the 8-man state playoffs. (CNA photo by KYLE WILSON) |
Murray 87, Colo-Nesco 44
COLO — Second-ranked Murray broke away from a slow first quarter (14-8) to nearly put 90 points on the board with 683 total yards.
Quarterback Austin Halls had a huge game for the 7-0 Mustangs, with 229 yards rushing and six touchdowns. He also completed four passes for 117 yards and two TDs. His 48 points scored set a school record for one game, surpassing Caleb Byers’ 47 points vs. Mormon Trail in 2008.
Andrew Rider carried 18 times for 161 yards and a touchdown. Seth Nerness averaged 14 yards a carry with 86 yards on six attempts. As a team, Murray ran for 566 yards and nine touchdowns.
“Our offensive line did a great job and all of our backs ran hard,” coach Keith Shields said.
Eddie Otto led an active Mustang defense, finishing with nine solo tackles and 12 assists. Cody Scroggie had 13 tackles and returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown.
Brandyn Niemeyer ran for 240 yards and two TDs, and threw two touchdown passes for Colo-Nesco (5-3).
It took awhile for Murray to pull away. Colo-Nesco scored with 2:18 left in the first half to cut the score to 28-24. Murray scored two touchdowns in the next 49 seconds to take a 42-24 lead into halftime.
After a quick score on the opening drive of the second half gave Murray a 24-point lead, the teams traded scores the rest of the way.
“Although we did not stop Colo-Nesco on defense like we would have liked, it was good to get a 43-point road win,” Shields said.
Murray, 4-0 on the road, closes the regular season at home against rivals East Union and Lamoni.
Murray 87, Colo-Nesco 44
Murray 14 28 22 15 - 87
Colo-Nesco 8 16 14 6 - 44
1st quarter
C — Brandyn Niemeyer 11 run (Niemeyer run), 9:12
M — Austin Halls 9 run (pass failed), 7:02
M — Corey McCracken 32 pass from Halls (Halls run), :36
2nd quarter
C — Casy Angell 14 pass from Niemeyer (Niemeyer run), 6:49
M — Halls 42 run (pass failed), 5:56
M — Seth Nerness 43 run (Halls run), 2:36
C — Adam Lytle 11 run (Lytle run), 2:18
M — Halls 49 run (Halls run), 1:46
M — Scroggie 40 interception return (pass failed), 1:29
3rd quarter
M — Halls 35 run (run failed), 10:56
C — Taylor Hills 33 pass from Niemeyer (run failed), 8:42
M — Halls 48 run (Scroggie pass from Halls), 7:46
C — Lytle 11 run (Hill pass from Niemeyer), 5:26
M — Scroggie 58 pass from Halls (Halls run), 4:33
4th quarter
M — Halls 22 run (Halls run), 11:37
M — McCracken 33 run (Halls run), 9:58
M — Andrew Rider 3 run (Brandon Short kick), 4:04
C — Niemeyer 26 run (no attempt), 0:00
Individual leaders
Rushing: M - Austin Halls 15-229, Andrew Rider 18-161, Seth Nerness 6-86, Corey McCracken 3-51, Cody Scroggie 2-39. C - Brandyn Niemeyer 42-240, Adam Lytle 17-73.
Passing: M - Halls 4-14-0 for 117 yards. C - Niemeyer 7-16-2 for 85 yards.
Receiving: M - Scroggie 2-61, McCracken 1-32, Rider 1-24. C - Tyler Erickson 2-26, Casy Angell 2-23.
Tackles (solo-assists): M - Eddie Otto 9-12, Scroggie 7-6, Rockhold 8-6, Halls 6-4, Nerness 3-6, RayDean Burdess 4-3.
Sacks : M - Burdess 1.5, Rockhold 1, Scroggie 1, Otto 1.
Interceptions: M - Scroggie 1, Halls 1.
Fumble recoveries: M - Halls 1, Rockhold 1.
Lenox 34, Corning 20
LENOX — A fourth-quarter interception return by a Lenox defensive lineman helped seal a 34-20 Lenox victory over Corning here Friday evening.
With 2:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, Lenox was leading 28-20. Corning had the ball at its own 25-yard line and was poised to drive the length of the field to send the game to overtime.
That was until Corning quarterback Jordan Stuart dropped back to pass and Lenox's Grant Christensen broke free and applied heavy pressure up the middle on Stuart. Christensen's rush forced Stuart make an errant pass, which was intercepted by Lenox defensive end Todd Stoaks, who returned the ball 25 yards untouched for a Tiger touchdown. The play expanded the Lenox lead to 34-20 and sealed the victory, along with an Eight-Man District 8 playoff berth. It's Lenox's eighth straight playoff season.
Lenox is two games ahead of fifth-place Corning, and each has just one district game remaining. Sidney, Fremont-Mill and CAM are the other District 8 teams assured of playoff berths, but the order is still in question.
"That was one of the hardest battles we've had in a while," said Corning coach Kent Bass. "Two pretty evenly matched teams that came down to big plays. Our ability to drive the field pleased me, but we've got to be able to put the ball in the end zone."
Lenox coach Allen Dukes concurred about the hard-fought nature of the game.
"Our defense still needs to tackle better, but our pass defense was much better. We were able to get pressure on the quarterback, with 10 sacks," Dukes said. "Offensively, we will missed blocking assignments, but we still had two backs over 100 yards rushing, and Peterson over 100 yards passing."
Lenox moves to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in District 8. Corning falls to 3-4 overall and 3-4 in the district.
Lenox 34, Corning 20
Corning8660-20
Lenox141406-34
1st quarter
L — Caleb Lange 24 pass from Mason Peterson (Lange pass from Peterson), 8:26
L — Dustyn Rauch 74 run (run failed), 4:03
C — Blaine Williams 14 run (Tyler Bissell run), 1:28
2nd quarter
L — Peterson 65 run (Peterson run), 10:55
C — Jordan Stuart 1 run (pass failed), 8:48
L — Lange 2 pass from Peterson (run failed), 5:18
3rd quarter
C — Stuart 10 run (pass failed), 3:30
4th quarter
L — Todd Stoaks 25 interception return (run failed), 2:17
Individual leaders
Rushing: C - Blaine Williams 11-125, Zach Barton 14-114, Tyler Bissell 14-71, Jordan Stuart 12-46. L - Dustyn Rauch 17-126, Mason Peterson 17-111, Dustin Gordon 5-34, Hugo Montiel 1-3.
Passing: C - Jordan Stuart 6-15-1 for 38 yards. L - Mason Peterson 6-12-1 for 114 yards.
Receiving: C - Blaine Williams 3-11, Zach Barton 2-17, Nick Spring 1-10. L - Caleb Lange 3-70, Grant Christensen 1-23, Dustyn Rauch 1-13, Dustin Gordon 1-8.
Tackles (solo-assists): C: Barton 10-2, Keegan Longabaugh 6-2, Williams 7-1, Kal Schmelzer 6-5, Justin Marn 7-0. L: Grant Christensen 10-9, Rauch 8-11, Peterson 3-10, Montiel 5-7, Stoaks 3-9, Aaron Chapa 1-5.
Sacks: L - Christensen 3, Stoaks 3, Chapa 2.
Interceptions: C: Barton 1. L - Stoaks 1.
East Union 50, Mormon Trail 12
AFTON — A strong defensive effort helped lift East Union to a 50-12 victory over Mormon Trail here Friday night, improving the Eagles to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in district play.
With the win, East Union remains in contention for a playoff spot out of District 6, but needs to knock off both Murray and Grandview Park Baptist in order to achieve that goal.
But that goal wouldn't be attainable without Friday's win over Mormon Trail.
"Defensively, we started coming together," head coach Steve Kinyon said. "Offensively, we had a couple of hiccups, but we started playing better as the night went on."
The only two touchdowns the Eagles gave up came on a kickoff return and off a short field, when Mormon Trail took control of the ball at the East Union 5-yard line.
The defensive effort was led by seniors Caleb Case and Bryson Kinyon. Case finished with 19 total tackles, including three for loss and one sack. Kinyon totaled 18 tackles, including five for loss and one sack, to go with two fumble recoveries.
"Our kids played pretty well, and defensively, I thought this was probably our best defensive game all year," Kinyon said.
Junior Garrett Oliver and sophomore Brandon Wittstock each finished with eight tackles.
Offensively, junior quarterback Trevor Barnett contributed to five touchdowns — three through the air and two on the ground.
East Union travels to Murray on Friday.
Madrid 60, Corning 19
Individual leaders
Rushing: EU - Trevor Barnett 19-113, Bryson Kinyon 12-70, Johnathan Weis 8-13, Garrett Oliver 1-(-8).
Passing: EU - Barnett 10-27-2 for 142 yards.
Receiving: EU - Kinyon 5-63, Sean Schmitz 2-46, Caleb Case 2-22, Jeremiah Crago 1-11.
Tackles: EU - Case 19, Kinyon 18, Brandon Wittstock 8, Garrett Oliver 8, Cole Cambell 6, Jeremiah Crago 5, Dylan Cunningham 5, Levi Moffitt 3, Kyle Seales 3, Mike Ward 3, Dylan Hudson 3, Brogan Kinyon 2.
Mount Ayr 41, Central Decatur 24
MOUNT AYR — In a game filled with explosive scoring plays, Mount Ayr had more firepower in its tank, defeating Central Decatur 41-24 here Friday to remain unbeaten.
The Raiders improved to 7-0 for the season and 4-0 in Class 1A District 7.
"It was one of those games where both teams are pretty explosive and we got loose on them several times, and they got loose on us, especially on the punt return," Mount Ayr co-head coach Delwyn Showalter said. "I thought both teams made some big plays. The second half, we were definitely in control of the game."
Mount Ayr was able to hold Central Decatur's balanced rushing attack to just 140 yards on the ground.
"We didn't let them string very many positive plays together," Showalter said. "I thought that was a key. They'd have a good play and then we'd be able to come back and get them stopped."
Two of Central Decatur's touchdowns came on punt returns — 65 yards by Bryson Durrow and 67 yards by Dalton Gilbert.
Central Decatur held Mount Ayr receiver Braydee Poore to just one catch for 2 yards in the game, but that allowed other Raider receivers to step up.
Shane Swank finished with two catches for 69 yards, Erik Freed caught four passes for 31 yards and Cody Stackhouse added four catches for 28 yards. Zach Vanderflught caught one pass for 13 yards.
"They were going to take (Poore) away. We knew that coming in," Showalter said. "We felt like that was going to open up some other receivers, and we've got a lot of guys that can catch the ball. I thought Jacob (Sobotka) was real patient in the pocket and did a nice job of looking to other receivers."
Sobotka threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 144 yards on the ground with two scores.
Mount Ayr travels to Ogden (4-3, 3-1) on Friday before finishing the season at home against Pella Christian.
Mount Ayr 41, Central Decatur 24
CD01266-24
MA713147-41
1st quarter
MA — Jacob Sobotka 67 run (Casey Paxson kick), 6:09
2nd quarter
CD — Bryson Durrow 65 punt return (kick missed), 11:35
MA — Erik Freed 14 pass from Sobotka (Paxson kick), 9:42
CD — Dalton Gilbert 13 run (2-pt. failed), 6:31
MA — Shane Swank 59 pass from Sobotka (kick blocked), 5:53
3rd quarter
MA — Cody Stackhouse 2 run (Paxson kick), 11:16
CD — Wyman Reed 16 pass from Gilbert (2-pt. failed), 5:35
MA — Sobotka 7 run (Paxson kick), :57
4th quarter
CD — Gilbert 67 punt return (2-pt. failed)
MA — Lincoln Martin 21 run (Paxson kick), 5:29
Individual leaders
Rushing: CD - Dalton Gilbert 22-111, Bryson Durrow 8-19, Wyman Reed 1-16, Tyler Williams 9-7, Peyton Pedersen 2-(-13). MA - Jacob Sobotka 17-144, Cody Stackhouse 9-66, Erik Freed 8-37, Lincoln Martin 2-19, Caleb Schnoor 1-16, Riley Weehler 2-10, Zane Sickels 3-1, Dylan Doman 1-0, Jacob Taylor 2-(-3), Hagan Willis 1-(-4).
Passing: CD - Pedersen 2-9-3 for 38 yards, Gilbert 1-1-0 for 16 yards. MA - Sobotka 12-19-1 for 143 yards.
Receiving: CD - Trenton Wells 2-38, Reed 1-16. MA - Shane Swank 2-69, Freed 4-31, Stackhouse 4-28, Zach Vanderflught 1-13, Braydee Poore 1-2.
Tackles: MA - Mason Mercer 10, Weehler 9, Levi Martin 8, Joe Ricker 8, Swank 7, Johnathan Triggs 7, Stackhouse 6, Sobotka 4, Lincoln Martin 4, Sickels 4, Poore 3.
