Panther pack swarms Rams

Creston/O-M closed out the 2018 season in dramatic fashion Friday night at Panther Field, topping Glenwood 20-12 in overtime.

It took only one play for the Panther offense to score in overtime on a spectacular pass play from quarterback Eli Loudon to a leaping Kylan Smallwood in the back of the end zone. Loudon then scrambled to his right and found an open Luke Latham in the end zone for the two-point conversion, guaranteeing at worst another overtime possession in front of a boisterous senior night crowd.

Then the defense came through with its fifth fourth-down stop of the night to ignite a celebration of players and coaches on the field.

“That’s a big-time win,” said Creston/O-M head coach Brian Morrison said. “Our kids fought for four quarters the entire season. It’s the game of football, but you could be looking at a 6-3 football team here. But, we’re not. Tonight, though, we beat a good football team. They believed, and they performed.”

The victory leaves Creston/O-M with a final record of 3-6 and tied with Winterset for third place at 2-3 in Class 3A District 9. Glenwood, which owned victories over playoff qualifiers Carroll and Carroll Kuemper Catholic, slipped to a final mark of 4-5 and in a fifth-place tie with ADM in the district at 1-4.

Midway through the fourth quarter with the score tied 12-12, Glenwood was stopped on a fourth-and-3 at the Panther 16 when 215-pound running back Noah Carter was stuffed for no gain.

The Panthers were forced to punt after marching to the Ram 39, but taken backwards by a 5-yard penalty to a fourth-and-10 situation at the 40. Glenwood got no farther than its own 48 before punting in the final minute, and the Panthers ran out the clock with possession deep in their own territory in the final seconds.

On the overtime two-point play, Latham became the second receiver of the night to sustain a concussion after a collision on that play, but he held onto the ball. X-rays for a possible hairline fracture of a neck vertebrae were negative, according to the family.

During Glenwood’s overtime possession, two running plays took the ball from the 10-yard line to the 5. On third-and-goal, Carter got the handoff again. Defensive end Eli Hartman was one of the first Panthers to grab Carter and slow his progress, and linebacker Beau Barncastle came in for the 1-yard gain to the 4. A fourth-down pass by quarterback Zach Carr was incomplete, igniting a huge Panther celebration on senior night.

“It was an amazing way to finish here and get our second win at home,” said Barncastle, who rebounded from having a punt blocked late in the third quarter that led to Carter’s 1-yard touchdown run to tie it at 12-12. “All I saw on that (third-down run) was everyone just swarming to him and I was just trying to keep him out of the end zone. I just tried to give him that final blow. It was definitely a Panther pack mentality tonight.”

While Creston/O-M was outgained through the air in the game, 206-99, it was Loudon and Smallwood connecting for the big play in overtime. With three receivers on the right side, Smallwood was set up alone on the left side for a fade route and beat 6-foot, 170-pound defensive back Ryan Leath to the ball tossed high into the rear of the end zone by Loudon.

“Eli threw a perfect ball,” Smallwood said. “We just tried to go one-on-one and the best man wins. I was just praying in my head that I stayed inbounds.”

Loudon said the overtime touchdown and two-point conversion both worked well.

“We had Z motion to the right coming across, so we could get Kylan open on a fade to the corner,” Loudon said. “I checked the line for a half-second and I saw Kylan. I put enough lob on it to let him go up and get it, because he’s a better athlete than almost anyone on the field. On the extra point, Brance Baker went to cut back to the middle and fell, so I had to scramble outside and I hit Luke in the end zone. So, it worked out.”

Loudon and offensive line coach Casey Tanner gave credit to the revamped line in the season finale after starting senior co-captain James McDonald was unable to play with a concussion suffered against Harlan the previous week.

“With McDonald out, we moved Kendall Crawford to tackle and brought in a freshman, Chris Wilson, at guard,” Tanner said. “He did a good job. They all worked together and gave Eli time.”

Starting offensive linemen in addition to Wilson and Crawford were Tackle Sam Chapman, guard Hank Looney and center Logan Shady. Tristan Travis was often a lead-blocker in the backfield as an H back.

The defensive front seven showed its mettle several times against the Rams’ potent veer running scheme, posting four fourth-down stops in addition to the overtime shutout.

“Watching tape of the Harlan game, I think our kids were sick to their stomachs, because they weren’t playing with pad level and doing what we do,” Morrison said. “The kids made the corrections over the week and I thought they played extremely well defensively tonight. I give credit to (linebacker) Garon Wurster, who was responsible for a lot of checks to adjust to their unbalanced formations. The kids just played hard.”

Starting sophomore receiver and placekicker Cael Kralik, who put the Panthers on the scoreboard first with a 21-yard diving touchdown reception in the first quarter, exited with a likely concussion in the first half.

Loudon scored the other regulation touchdown on a 15-yard run after Glenwood fumbled the second-half kick return, one of three Ram turnovers to none for the Panthers.

Friday’s game was the final one for seniors Barncastle, Crawford, Sheldon Jones, Trevor Kinyon, Hank Looney, McDonald, Austin Nguyen-Schnormeier, Walker Patterson, Payton Pryor, Smallwood, Travis and Mark Waigand, all introduced with their parents prior to the game along with senior cheerleaders Devon Buls, Cecily Lumbard, Katherine Reed of the color guard and cross country runner Brielle Baker. Senior band members were introduced at halftime.

Creston/O-M 20, Glenwood 12

Points by quarter

Glen 0 6 6 0 0 — 12

C/O-M 6 0 6 0 8 — 20

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Cr — Cael Kralik 21 pass from Eli Loudon (pass failed), 3:46

Second Quarter

Glen — Dominic Robertson Jr. 3 run (kick failed), :55

Third Quarter

Cr — Loudon 15 run (kick failed), 11:42

Glen — Noah Carter 1 run (kick failed), :41

Overtime

Cr — Kylan Smallwood 10 pass from Loudon (Luke Latham pass from Loudon)

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TEAM STATISTICS

Glen C/O-M

First downs 11 12

Rushes-yards 33-95 31-106

Passing yards 206 99

Total yards 301 205

Punts-avg. 4-35.8 7-32.6

Return yards 50 48

Fumbles-lost 3-3 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-45 6-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — C/O-M: Eli Loudon 17-60, Rylan Luther 10-29, Andy Mills 3-15, Cael Kralik 1-2. Glen: Colton Schutte 8-38, Zach Carr 10-27, Noah Carter 8-15, Cooper Silvius 6-13, Dominic Robertson Jr. 6-4.

PASSING — C/O-M: Loudon 11-26-0 for 99 yards. Glen: Carr 9-19-0 for 147 yards; John Palmer 1-1-0 for 59 yards.

RECEIVING — C/O-M: Kralik 5-49, Smallwood 5-36, Brayton Chesnut 1-14. Glen: John Palmer 5-103, Schutte 3-79, Robertson 1-13, Ryan Blum 1-11.

PUNTS-AVG. — C/O-M: Beau Barncastle 7-32.6. Glen: Alex Nusser 4-35.8.

TACKLE LEADERS (solo-assists) — C/O-M: Barncastle 3-11, Luther 1-9, Eli Hartman 0-9, Kolby Hulett 3-5, Sam Chapman 1-7, Garon Wurster 2-3, Chesnut 0-4, Tristan Travis 0-4, Andy Weis 0-4, Brance Baker 2-2, Smallwood 0-2, Brodie Wallace 0-2. Glen: Eli Bales 3-8, Brett Mower 4-6, Cole Mayberry 3-6, Parker Sell 6-1, Silivius 2-5.

PASS BREAKUPS — C/O-M: Chesnut 1, Luther 1, Hartman 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — C/O-M: Hulett 1, Wurster 1, Weis 1.

TACKLES FOR LOSS (YARDS) — C/O-M: Luther 2-(-4). Glen: Mayberry 2.5, Sell 2-0, Mower 1.5.

SACKS — C/O-M: Chapman 1-8, Barncastle 0.5-8, Travis 0.5-8. Glen: Sell 1.0.

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