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MARTENSDALE — Southwest Valley junior quarterback Chance Cobb is proving to teams in Class A District 7 how much of a diverse threat he is.
Martensdale-St. Marys witnessed what Cobb can do with both his arms and his legs.
Cobb rushed for 144 yards and threw for another 81 as the Timberwolves routed the Blue Devils 55-12 in a Class A District 7 matchup.
Cobb accounted for three touchdowns, one passing and two more rushing.
In all, six Timberwolves crossed the goal line.
Southwest Valley coach Anthony Donahoo credited the play by the five up front.
“It all starts with the guys up front,” Donahoo said. “Those guys did a great job.”
The Timberwolves were more than just the Cobb show. Aiden Gaule had 96 yards rushing and two twouchdowns. Jace Petersen had four carries for 48 yards and one score. Jerad Shires had seven rushes for 36 yards and one score. Hayden Bayles also had one touchdown.
The passing game clicked when Cobb found Addison Bull on a 71-yard touchdown strike.
Cobb’s connection with Bull showed the experience the TImberwolves have playing together.
“These guys have played together for three years,” Donahoo said. “They know what’s happening. Cobb hit Bull on a big-time pass. That’s fun to watch. You can’t teach that kind of stuff.”
Southwest Valley’s defense bent a bit early, giving up 12 points in the first half.
However, it was a stone wall after that, allowing the offense to score 40 unanswered points to end the game.
“I’m so proud of our defense,” Donahoo said. “They stiffened up, especially our defensive front.”
Donahoo touted the work senior Colby Cooper did in the secondary.
“They were testing him quite a bit,” Donahoo said. “He had an interception and a few pass breakups.”
Junior Brett Schafroth led the defense with six solo tackles and eight assists. Grant Maurer had two solos and four assists. Hunter Poston had one solo and seven assists. Petersen had three solos and two assists.
The Timberwolf defense forced for Blue Devils turnovers. Cooper had the interception, while senior Joey Kernen, Maurer and Petersen each recovered a fumble.
The Timberwolves left the game with a winning record at 3-2, one of the later times in recent season’s they’ve had a winning record.
“We’ve got a winning record for the first time in a long time at Southwest Valley,” Donahoo said.
UP NEXT — Southwest Valley (3-2, 2-1) travels to Nodaway Valley (1-4, 1-2). The Wolverines fell to Griswold 44-28.
“We know we’ve got a big test,” Donahoo said. “They’re going to be coming in pretty confidence. We are too. We’ve got a lot of weapons.”
Highly touted Eagles showcase talents in win over Raiders
MOUNT AYR — Pella Christian came into Friday’s Class 1A District 5 football game with quite the reputation.
The second-ranked Eagles entered averaged a whopping 56-plus points per game coming in. At the same time, their defense had allowed only an average of five points a contest, and had pitched three straight shutouts.
Pella Christian demonstrated to the Mount Ayr faithful and team just how good they are.
The Eagles steamrolled to a 34-0 lead after one quarter and cruised to a 62-14 victory.
“They’re every bit as good as advertised,” said Mount Ayr co-coach Delwyn Showalter. “They’re a nice team.”
Pella Christian took advantage of its many offensive weapons in scoring at will in the first half, with senior quarterback Levi Jungling leading the way. Jungling rushed for 111 yards and two touchdown on eight carries. In the passing game, he was a perfect 4-for-4 for 115 yards and three touchdowns.
“They have tremendous speed and quickness,” Showalter said. “They’re shifty. They’re very, very tough to tackle.”
Pella Christian’s first score came a mere 35 seconds into the contest. The Eagles’ early score deflated the Raiders.
“We were shell-shocked,” Showalter said. “They had their way with us. They scored whenever they wanted in the first half.”
Mistakes compounded the issue for the Raiders.
“We started to do just silly things,” Showalter said. “We didn’t cover the ball on a kickoff, things like that. It was tough to get people to stay focused.”
The Eagles mauled the Raiders up front on both sides of the ball.
“We’ve played Pella Christian a number of times and this is the most physical Pella Christian team we’ve seen,” Showalter said. “They’ve got good size. They’re so quick, not just their skill players. Their line destroyed us up front. They got a push on us. We were just getting out of our stance and they were driving us down the field.”
The Eagles were elusive offensively.
“There were a number of times we’d be going in to make a nice tackle on them. Then the kid would stop, let us go by him and he’d take off again,” Showalter said. “We were grabbing for air. They were turning a 10-yard run into a 30-yard run.”
Miles Wichhart rushed for 81 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Trevan Caldwell and Sam Fredrickson each had a touchdown run.
The Raiders did regroup at halftime, and scored two touchdowns in the second half.
“Our kids came out and wanted to do whatever they could to redeem themselves,” Showalter said. “That’s tough on their pride. They don’t want to go out there and play like that. They showed what they were capable of. I’m proud of the way they hung in there.”
MA stats
The loss served as a wakeup call for the Raiders.
“Now we understand what we have to do to compete at that level,” Showalter said. “We’re at the point where we need to get an understanding of where the bar is and how we’re going to get over that bar.”
UP NEXT — Mount Ayr (3-2, 1-2) faces another stiff test Friday traveling to Pleasantville. The Trojans (5-0, 3-0) defeated Woodward Academy Friday.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Showalter said. “We’ll regroup and get after it in practice this week. We’ll go to Pleasantville and see if we can play with them for four quarters.”
Stanton defense frustrates Murray offense in Mustangs loss
STANTON — The spark that has been missing for Murray the past two weeks remained elusive once more.
Stanton capitalized early and took Murray out of the contest, leading to a 36-0 Vikings win in Eight-player District 6 action.
The Vikings jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the first half.
“We came out and just didn’t quite have the energy we hoped to,” said Murray coach Taylor Fulton. “We didn’t play up to the standard where we should be.”
The Mustangs have struggled to finish games the past two weeks. A poor fourth quarter cost them in a loss to East Union, while a substandard first quarter hurt them in a loss to Lenox.
Those struggles carried over against the Vikings.
Murray’s offense sputtered again.
“The offense has been struggling to stay on track, finding the endzone,” Fulton said. “We need to get that consistency back, get that drive back to get into the endzone, build our confidence back.”
Murray matched Stanton’s intensity.
“They were a physical team and we gave it right back to them,” Fulton said. “It was a good matchup.”
While the score appeared to show the game greatly in Stanton’s favor, Fulton noted it wasn’t that way.
“I wish the score could’ve been a little better indicator of how the game went,” he said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t execute on offense.
Stanton’s defense picked off four passes and recovered four fumbles.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t execute on offense,” Fulton said. “They sat back in a 3-2-3 zone coverage. We struggled to move the ball. Their linebackers flowed well. They made it tough on us.”
Drake Johnson had two interceptions, while Connor Hutlman and Brandon Peterson each had one.
Murray’s defense hung in well, but Stanton found ways to punch the ball into the endzone.
“The defense has played well,” Fulton said.
Stanton quarterback Hultman completed 16-of-27 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Johnson had seven receptions for 112 yards and one score. Reece Anderson caught six passes for 75 yards and one score, while Chris Jones caught the other touchdown. Jones led the Mustangs with 76 yards rushing one one score.
UP NEXT — Murray (2-3, 0-3) faces a stiff test when seventh-ranked Bedford comes to Murray. The Bulldogs (5-0, 3-0) defeated Wayne 46-6 Friday.
“We’ll be happy to be back on our home field,” Fulton said. “Hopefully we can get our momentum back, get on a roll and come out with a big one on Friday.”