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Creston/O-M 23, Greene County 7
JEFFERSON — Creston/Orient-Macksburg wrapped up the non-district portion of its schedule with a 23-7 victory over Greene County Friday, after a 7-7 deadlock through one quarter.
The Rams fell to 1-3 overall. Creston/O-M moves to 3-1 overall with a 1-0 district mark going into next week's game at Glenwood, which lost 12-8 to Winterset when the Huskies had a goal-line stand at the 1-yard line to hold off the Rams.
Greene County held the first lead at 7-0 on an 11-yard pass from Daric Whipple to Jake CArey just four minutes into the game.
The Panthers answered with a 44-yard pass from Alex Nielsen to Seth Maitlen to set up Chase Shiltz for an 11-yard touchdown run and a 7-7 tie at the 5:44 mark of the first period.
Greene County was stopped on fourth-and-one at the Panther 21-yard line, but two straight Panther offensive drives were thwarted by interceptions in the second quarter.
Finally, the Panthers drove from their own 15-yard line to the Ram 35, where kicker Conner Pals boomed a high 52-yard field goal attempt pushed by a southerly wind gusting to 23 mph. The kick easily cleared the uprights to give the Panthers a 10-7 halftime lead.
The field goal ranks among the best in Creston history. The school record is 56-yarder by Kevin Downey in 1975, which set a state record, after John Blazek hit 47-yarder in 1972 that was also a state record at the time.
Greene County's offense picked up on its first possession of the second half with gains of 35 and 15 yards by running back Dylan Hamilton. But Whipple lost a fumble that was recovered by Panther defensive end Tayler Pettit.
Nielsen boomed a 56-yard punt with the wind three plays later to keep Creston/O-M in a field position advantage. The next time the Panthers had the ball they drove 66 yards, capped by a 32-yard touchdown strike from Nielsen to Bryce Briley over the middle for a 17-7 lead with 4:41 left in the third period.
Linebacker Alex Tamerius stopped Whipple a yard short of a first down on a fourth-and-seven situation with 6:42 left in the game. The Panthers had to punt, but on the next play McClain Haines intercepted a Whipple pass and nearly returned it for a touchdown. After a penalty the Panthers were awarded the ball on the Ram 26.
Nielsen passed to Pals for a 25-yard pickup, and two successive runs by Shiltz and Nielsen got the ball into the end zone for the final 23-7 margin.
Nielsen finished with 66 rushing yards on 16 carries and was 9-of-22 passing for 196 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Christian Groumoutis had two catches for 64 yards, Maitlen finished with 50 yards on two catches and Briley had three receptions for 51 yards.
Maitlen had 16 total tackles, including one for loss. Shiltz had 12 total tackles, including two for loss, and a pass breakup. Defensive end Tayler Pettit recovered a fumble.
Creston/O-M won the freshman game 25-0 to improve to 3-1 for the season.
Mount Ayr 62, Martensdale-St. Marys 12
MOUNT AYR — From the opening kickoff, it was all Mount Ayr for the second week in a row, as the Raiders rolled to a 62-12 win over Martensdale-St. Marys.
The win improves Mount Ayr to 3-1 for the season and 2-0 in Class A District 8.
Kyle Dolecheck took the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, putting the Blue Devils in an early hole.
After Martensdale-St. Marys failed a fourth-down conversion on its first drive, Jacob Taylor found Grant Staats on the first play of the ensuing drive for 27 yards and a score. Less than 2 minutes into the game, the Raiders led 14-0.
Logan Stark and Riley Weehler punched in rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, and Mount Ayr added a safety after two straight bad snaps by Martensdale-St. Marys.
Taylor hit Lincoln Martin streaking down the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown pass to give Mount Ayr a 37-0 lead with 1:04 to go in the first quarter.
The Raiders built a 56-6 lead at halftime.
Week 4 scores
A-H-S-T-W, Avoca 37, OA-BCIG 36
ADM, Adel 17, Atlantic 7
Bedford 27, Earlham 0
Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City 35, Spencer 13
CAM, Anita 82, Essex 26
Centerville 35, Clarke 14
Central Decatur 33, Interstate 35 0
Clarinda 24, East Sac County 3
Coon Rapids-Bayard 64, Adair-Casey 20
Creston-Orient-Macksburg 23, Greene County 7
Dallas Center-Grimes 34, Harlan 0
Fremont Mills, Tabor 59, Nishnabotna 14
Griswold 34, Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto 8
Guthrie Center 33, Murray 32
Lamoni 54, Moravia 12
Lewis Central 49, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 15
Logan-Magnolia 42, Audubon 12
Mormon Trail, Garden Grove 38, Wayne, Corydon 27
Pella 38, Norwalk 14
Pleasantville 13, Nodaway Valley 0
Sidney 27, Lenox 14
Underwood 41, Southwest Valley 0
Van Meter 42, Des Moines Christian 18
West Central Valley, Stuart 26, Red Oak 6
Winterset 12, Glenwood 6