Five days after gaining their first victory at Harlan in 36 years, district champion Creston/O-M was upended by 4-6 Spencer, 28-18, in a Class 3A playoff opener Wednesday night at Panther Field.
The Tigers took advantage of crucial Panther mistakes in the first half —including a fumble on the first play from scrimmage and false-start penalties on two third-and-inches situations — in taking a 14-6 lead.
Creston/O-M, coming in ranked 10th with an 8-1 record and seven-game winning streak, finally captured its first lead of the night on Trevor Frain's 32-yard touchdown run with 9:08 remaining in the game.
Trailing 18-14, the Tigers rebounded quickly on Dakota Baker's 52-yard kickoff return to the Panther 23-yard line. Four plays later quarterback Matt Finnern scored from a yard out to push Spencer back into the lead, 21-18.
Creston/O-M was stopped on downs at the Panther 38 with 4:24 remaining, and the Tigers closed the contest with another scoring run by Finnern at the 1:59 mark for the final 28-18 margin.
Spencer (5-6) travels Monday to Harlan (7-3). The Cyclones defeated Sioux City Heelan, 35-30.
In other matchups of Districts 1 and 2, Carroll edged MOC-Floyd Valley, 10-7, and District 1 champion Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley defeated Atlantic, 17-7. Carroll travels to Boyden-Hull Monday.
Creston/O-M had the final advantage in first downs (15-8), number of offensive plays (66 to 43) and total yards (314-284) but big plays and Panther mistakes paved the way for the upset. The Panthers, finishing with 10 penalties for 62 yards, had two turnovers and Spencer did not turn the ball over.
Creston/O-M was seeking its first playoff win since defeating Carroll in 2003.
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MURRAY — History was made here at Mustang Field Wednesday night, as the Murray football team claimed its first-ever playoff victory in its fourth trip to postseason play.
The Mustangs used big plays on offense, defense and specials team to roll up a 54-6 halftime lead against Twin Cedars on their way to a dominating 70-14 8-man first-round playoff victory.
Next up for Murray is a rematch with District 6 rival Lenox, which stunned undefeated Melcher-Dallas Wednesday night, 44-26.
The four teams from District 6 easily swept their District 5 opponents. Also winning were Adair-Casey over Tri-County (Thornburg), 56-7, and CAM (Anita) over Moravia, 78-42.
Murray junior Austin Halls was all over the field for the Mustangs in the first half. He had a 16-yard touchdown pass to Cody Scroggie to make it 20-0 late in the first quarter. In the second period, Halls intercepted two Saber passes, the second one was returned 34 yards for a score. In between the two interceptions, Halls blocked a Saber punt and ran the ball in from eight yards out for a touchdown.
The Mustangs had a pair of defensive scores in the half, as Hunter Decker scooped up a fumble after a Seth Nerness sack and forced fumble and rumbled 10 yards for a touchdown.
Andrew Rider opened the scoring with a short touchdown run and Dalton Daughenbaugh followed with a 34-yard scamper to paydirt.
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Playoff scores
CLASS 4-A
Linn-Mar 47, Clinton 0
Cedar Rapids Washington 38, Davenport Assumption 35
Iowa City 48, CR Kennedy 26
Cedar Falls 51, Muscatine 7
North Scott 58, Waterloo East 29
Iowa City West 66, Dubuque Wahlert 32
Pleasant Valley 33, Cedar Rapids Xavier 31
Bettendorf 38, Davenport Central 14
CLASS 3-A
Spencer 28, Creston/O-M 18
Harlan 35, Sioux City Heelan 30
Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 17, Atlantic 7
Carroll 10, MOC-Floyd Valley 7
Clear Lake 34, Oelwein 13
Decorah 30, Boone 17
West Delaware 37, Ballard (Huxley) 14
Webster City 35, Waverly-Shell Rock 21
Maquoketa 50, Williamsburg 15
Grinnell 52, Western Dubuque 27
Solon 44, Center Point-Urbana 0
Union 22, Washington 15
Pella 41, Perry 20
Norwalk 34, Keokuk 33 (OT)
ADM (Adel) 56, Fairfield 21
Oskaloosa 23, Carlisle 22
CLASS 2-A
Spirit Lake 42, JSPC (Jefferson) 0
South Central Calhoun 27, Sioux Center 0
Carroll Kuemper 27, Sheldon 21
Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 40, OA-BCIG 0
West Marshall 52, Bondurant-Farrar 10
North Polk 42, Pella Christian 7
PCM (Monroe) 42, Collins-Maxwell-Baxter 7
St. Edmond 35, Clarinda 12
Forest City 21, Cascade 14
Clarion-Goldfield 43, North Fayette 21
Beckman (Dyersville) 27, Osage 0
South Winneshiek 12, New Hampton 6
Iowa City Regina 59, Davis County 9
West Liberty 23, Albia 6
Mediapolis 40, Louisa-Muscatine 7
Wilton 42, Mid-Prairie (Wellman) 20
CLASS 1-A
South O’Brien 28, Lawton-Bronson 14
West Lyon 42, IKM/Manning 14
Emmetsburg 47, Prairie Valley 0
Manson-Northwest Webster 55, Sioux Central (Sioux Rapids) 34
Panorama (Panora) 60, Tri-Center (Neola) 13
Logan-Magnolia 56, Central Decatur 24
Council Bluffs St. Albert 47, Mount Ayr 7
Des Moines Christian 38, Treynor 7
Aplington-Parkersburg 51, Eagle Grove 13
Dike-New Hartford 21, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 20
Woodward-Granger 57, Nashua-Plainfield 6
St. Ansgar 44, Hudson 7
Turkey Valley 50, North Cedar 12
West Branch 42, Starmont 7
Alburnett 33, Bellevue 14
Wapsie Valley (Fairbank) 47, Pekin 7
CLASS A
LeMars Gehlen 49, Northwood-Kensett 8
Akron-Westfield 31, Algona Garrigan 22
West Hancock 56, West Sioux 6
Woodbury Central 36, North Iowa 0
Madrid 62, Corning 12
AHST (Avoca) 23, Earlham 20
Exira-EHK 29, Martensdale-St. Marys 9
Bedford 28, Van Meter 27
Mason City Newman 35, Elkader Central 12
North Tama 24, North Butler 7
Postville 7, Rockford 6
Don Bosco (Gilbertville) 15, Grundy Center 12
Lisbon 51, Belle Plaine 0
Lynnville-Sully 54, WACO (Wayland) 14
BGM (Brooklyn) 47, Danville 0
Lone Tree 49, Iowa Valley (Marengo) 7
EIGHT-PLAYER
Newell-Fonda 58, Graettinger-Terril 41
West Bend-Mallard 68, Laurens-Marathon 34
Armstrong-Ringsted 38, Kingsley-Pierson 10
Remsen-Union 35, Harris-Lake Park 14
Glidden-Ralston 50, Sidney 14
East Mills 65, Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 22
Fremont-Mills (Tabor) 62, Woodbine 22
Stanton 60, Ar-We-Va (Westside) 13
Northeast Hamilton 66, Midland (Wyoming) 24
Janesville 50, Kee, Lansing 22
Preston 56, Riceville 13
Clarksville 51, West Central (Maynard) 18
Lenox 44, Melcher-Dallas 26
Murray 70, Twin Cedars (Bussey) 14
Adair-Casey 56, Tri-County (Thornburg) 7
CAM (Anita) 78, Moravia 42