April 19, 2024

Panthers’ final non-district test Friday at Greene County

By LARRY PETERSON

Creston/O-M captains for 2014 shown taking the field before Friday's 42-34 victory over Winterset are, from left, Alex Tamerius, Conner Pals, Tayler Pettit and Alex Nielsen. The Panthers travel to Jefferson Friday for a non-district game against Greene County. (Contributed photo)

This is the last chance to get all of the bugs worked out.

Creston/O-M (2-1 overall, 1-0 District 8) plays its final non-district game Friday at Jefferson against Greene County, which improved to 1-2 last week with a 21-6 district victory over Algona.

The Rams are in Class 3A District 2, which includes a 3-0 Carroll team that defeated Harlan this season, 42-7. Humboldt from that district is also currently 3-0.

“This is it,” Creston/O-M coach Brian Morrison said. “Our last dress rehearsal before the five-game stretch where we see if we make the playoffs or not. We need to continue to see improvement.”

Last week

Certainly, a better start would be in order than the opening minutes last week, when Winterset quickly stormed to a 13-0 lead and seemed to be headed to a three-score advantage before a third touchdown was nullified by penalty. The Panthers had snap issues and an intercepted pass returned to the 2-yard line to set Winterset up for the initial advantage.

But, Creston/O-M scored 35 unanswered points to take a 35-13 lead in the second half, before Winterset ended the game by outscoring the Panthers 13-7 down the stretch. The Panthers had two defensive stands on four downs on Winterset’s final possessions when the Huskies could have tied it with a touchdown and two-point conversion.

“A lot of teams, after a start like that, would have dropped their heads and not recovered,” Morrison said. “We had good leadership in that situation. We recovered and fought back. We had to recover again and fight back. That first district game, every team comes out playing hard. It’s their first one, and everyone still has hope. We knew to expect that kind of effort from Winterset.”

Power running

As for Greene County, a team Creston/O-M hasn’t played for several years, Morrison said it’s almost like looking at a mirror image of his squad.

“This is a good football team that made the 2A playoffs last year with a lot of sophomores playing, and they’re part of a great junior class this year,” Morrison said. “They line up in a pistol formation most of the time, but they like to run downhill with a lot of isos, counters and traps, similar to what we do. Number 44 (Dylan Hamilton) is a strong, physical runner and they are good up front. They compare very favorably to Clarinda in their line.”

The Rams opened the season with a 12-6 loss to South Central Calhoun and a 16-14 defeat against Carroll Kuemper Catholic.

Last week, junior quarterback Daric Whipple showed his dual-threat status with several effective runs. He has run for 79 yards while Hamilton has 317 yards and three TDs in three games. Whipple has thrown less than Creston/O-M’s Alex Nielsen, completing 22 of 45 passes for 236 yards this season.

Nielsen passed for 252 yards in last week’s game alone, and has 581 yards passing for the season with seven touchdowns and three interceptions.

“Their quarterback is very athletic,” Morrison said. “He reminds me of the Perry kid (Will Whiton). Same size, good speed and a good arm. They were successful running him on power flows last week against Algona.”

Defensively, end Riah Nelson (No. 16) is a force, Morrison said, along with Hamilton at linebacker.

“They run a 4-3, cover four with seven guys in the box at all times,” Morrison said. “It’s a tough defense to run the ball against. They blitz up the middle a lot with their inside backers.”

Returnees

Bryce Briley returns to the Panthers this week as a receiver, after sitting out last week with concussion syndrome. He will still be withheld from defense and kick return duties this week, Morrison said.

Also, it will be the debut of senior defensive lineman Cory Rathe, recovered from a lower leg injury at the summer camp in Maryville, Mo. He figures to spell Jordan Thompson at defensive tackle during the game, allowing Thompson to join Tayler Pettit and Kadon Hulett in a three-man rotation at defensive end.

Eventually, Rathe could also see time in the offensive line.

Next week, the team will see the eligibility return of the likes of lineman Ryan Brown and outside linebacker Spencer Wray. Brown figures in the defensive line plans.

“We’re adding to our depth this week, and we’ll get more depth next week,” Morrison said. “Our ultimate goal is to be able to platoon up front before our big games. I know Dallas Center-Grimes platoons and it’s important to stay fresh and finish games.”

The freshman game is scheduled at 4:45 p.m.