Murray stunned in state playoff opener

MURRAY — In the middle of Mustang Field Wednesday, Wayne’s running back Clayton Kiefer could be seen posing for pictures with his proud parents. He smiled big — his white jersey and signature handtowel both soiled with dark mud.

He had reason to smile.

Kiefer had just led the Wayne Falcons to an 82-57 victory over the Murray Mustangs in the first round of the Eight-Man state football playoffs. He carried the ball 29 times for 292 yards and five touchdowns in the victory.

“He’s as tough of a runner as we faced all year,” said Murray head coach Keith Shields. “At times tonight, we thought we had him stopped and he’d make a great cutback, or we thought we had him and he’d carry us three or four more yards upfield.”

On paper, Kiefer doesn’t look that dangerous at 5-7, 160 pounds.

“It’s not his size that gets you,” said Wayne head caoch Bart Elliot. “It’s his toughness. He is just a hard-nosed kid who refuses to go to the ground. He deserves all the praise and pats on the back he will get tonight. He works his butt off.”

Game summary

Neither team led by more than 10 points in the opening half as the two teams went back and forth trading touchdowns. Wayne led 36-31 at halftime thanks to a 50-yard touchdown reception by Trent Carpenter with 15.3 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

The two teams continued to trade touchdowns through the third quarter until Wayne freshman Nick Mattly recovered an onside kick with 2:15 remaining in the third quarter.

“We didn’t want to kick it to their returnmen (Andrew Rider and Seth Nerness),” Elliot said. “So we called an onside kick and if we got the football, great. If we didn’t — because they are such good returnmen — we still wouldn’t be giving up a lot of field position.”

Less than two minutes after Mattly’s fumble recovery, Kiefer capitalized on the turnover, barreling into the endzone for a 2-yard touchdown, making the score 68-57 with :36 remaining in the third quarter.

“That fumble recovery gave them the momentum,” Shields said. “And credit them, they took that momentum and finished the game.”

Murray was held scoreless the entire fourth quarter.

Murray finishes the season with a record of 8-3 overall. They will lose seven seniors including Alex Shaw, Tyler Cashman, Collin Titus, Cole Weir, Sam Rockhold, George Barber and Andrew Rider.

“These seniors have 39 career victories, which if I counted right, is by far the most victories of any senior class at Murray,” Shields said. “The things they’ve done on and off the field have been incredible.”

This is the only class in Murray history to make the state playoffs in all four of their seasons.

Wayne (7-3) now moves to the second round of the state playoffs playing against H-L-V 7 p.m. Monday.

Wayne 82, Murray 57

Wayne  8  28  32  14  -  82

Murray  17  14  26  7  -  57

1st quarter

W — Clayton Keifer 24 run (Keifer run), 9:20

M — Seth Nerness 77 kickoff return (Brandon Short kick), 9:07

M — Short 21 FG, 1:14

2nd quarter

W — Carson Keifer fumble recovery in end zone (pass failed), 11:14

M — Barnes 18 run (Short kick), 9:31

W — Cl. Keifer 58 run (Keifer run), 9:10

W — Dillon Lain 1 run (Tyler Jamison pass from Lain), 1:42

M — Andrew Rider 27 pass from Barnes (Short kick), ;44

W — Trent Carpenter 51 pass from Lain (run failed), :15

3rd quarter

M — Nerness 28 run (Short kick), 11:08

W — Carson Keifer 33 pass from Lain (run failed), 8:59

M — Nerness 4 run (pass failed), 7:15

W — Cl. Keifer 6 run (pass failed), 4:55

M — Nerness 55 run (run failed_, 4:38

W — Cl. Keifer 65 kickoff return (run failed), 4:27

M — Rider 72 kickoff return (Short kick)

W — Carpenter 47 run (pass failed), 2:49

W — Cl. Keifer 1 run (Jamieson pass from Lain), :36

4th quarter

W — Carson Keifer 3 run (pass failed), 6:15

W — Cl. Keifer 34 run (Lain run), 5:04

Individual leaders

Rushing: M - Seth Nerness 11-144, Andrew Rider 15-137, Matt Barnes 10-27, Owen Tracy 1-3, Josh Barber 1-2, Thane Simmons 1-(-1). W - Clayton Keifer 31-305, Trent Carpenter 3-72, Dillon Lain 8-39, C.D. Kunzie 2-7, Trevor Wilson 1-5, Nick Mattly 1-2.

Passing: M - Matt Barnes 8-19-0 for 180 yards, Thane Simmons 0-2-0. W - DIllon Lain 7-14-0 for 142 yards.

Receiving: M - Rider 3-79, Sam Rockhold 2-65, Nerness 2-36.W - Carson Keifer 2-62, Tyler Jamieson 2-61, Trent Carpenter 1-51, Clayton Keifer 2-23.

Tackles (solo-assists): M- Sam Rockhold 9-5, George Barber 6-3, Matt Barnes 5-2, Scott Funke 4-2, Jack Jones 3-2, Andrew Rider 4-1, Seth Nerness 2-3

Tackles for loss: M - Rockhold 2, Nerness 1.

Sacks: M - Barber 1, Nerness 1.