Area football recap - Sept. 8 games

Area football results from Sept. 8

Murray v. Twin Cedars

Two school records were tied in the Mustang’s (2-2) second win of the season Friday at home against the Twin Cedar Sabers (0-4) in a 69-6 blowout.

The start was slow for the Mustangs, with two fumbles and an 8-yard Sabers touchdown run by Brenden Connett to take the lead in the first six minutes.

Three minutes later, Murray found their retribution - scoring on a 17-yard pass from Caden Page to Kendrick Mastin to tie the game at 6 apiece.

Page went 10-16 for 154 yards and six touchdowns in the air while tacking on 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground. On special teams, he scored on a 38-yard punt return. On defense he logged four solo tackles.

“It was good to get back in the win column after a couple of tough losses to Colo-Nesco and Bedford,” Murray Coach Shawn Oaks said.

Page’s next five touchdown passes would all be brought down by receiver Kace Patton. Patton logged 135 yards on eight receptions.

“Page’s six touchdown passes tied our 8-player record held by his dad (Cole Page-2000 vs. Seymour), Darin Eckels (2005 vs. Harmony) and Page’s uncle (Austin Halls-2011 vs. A-C in state quarterfinals),” Oaks said. “Kace Patton tied our 8-player record for touchdown receptions in a game with five (held by Cody Scroggie 2012 vs. Don Bosco in state semi-finals).”

The Murray defense held back the Sabers to -15 yards through the last three quarters to finish with 16 total yards.

Titus Barber led the team with three sacks while Patton had an interception and fumble recovery. Also coming away with turnovers for the Mustangs were Aldo Esteban-Cabrera and Keaton Brammer.

The Mustangs are sixth in 8-man district 8 behind Lamoni, their opponent Friday.

Southwest Valley vs. Grand View Christian

After a slow first quarter, the Timberwolves (2-1) came away with a narrow 32-28 victory Friday against Grand View Christian (2-1).

A big second quarter set Southwest Valley up with an 18-7 lead going into half.

Senior quarterback Evan Timmerman led the offense, going 7-14 for 150 yards, two touchdowns, 86 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

The passing touchdown were brought in by senior Isaac Currin who had two receptions for 80 yards, two receiving touchdowns, 91 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

Currin also led the defense with 6.5 tackles.

The Thunder came back with two scores in the third quarter and one in the fourth, but the Timberwolves also put two more on the board to find the victory.

The Timberwolves won the turnover battle 3-2. The Thunder dominated through the air with 258 passing yards, but only put up 40 yards on the ground.

Devin Greenwalt and Dillon Inman each logged sacks for Southwest Valley.

The Timberwolves are ranked fifth in Class A District 8, tied at 2-1 with IKM-Manning and Friday’s opponent —Earlham.

Nodaway Valley vs. Shenandoah

Although his football team lost Friday at home to non-district opponent Shenandoah (1-2), Nodaway Valley/OM (0-3) head coach Brad Honnold felt his team took a step forward and improved a little bit through the game.

The Mustangs earned a 45-8 win over the Wolverines, mainly thanks to big plays their offense was able to break against the NV/OM defense.

“I don’t necessarily know if the score of the game was as indicative of how we played,” Honnold said. “There were a lot more positives than negatives in the game than what it maybe felt like in the moment.”

Even through giving up 45 points, Honnold was most pleased with his defense as, similar to the previous game at Central Decatur, they made several plays on the ball that were crucial in stopping Shenandoah’s offense. Nearly all of Shenandoah’s touchdowns were scored on or set up by long plays of more than 20 yards.

The Mustangs led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter as the Wolverines held them on third down and forced a field goal with 5:41 left in the first. On the first play of the second quarter, Brody Cullin caught a 24-yard pass from quarterback Jake Spangler and the Mustangs led 10-0.

Cullin and Spangler each had additional scores in the second quarter to widen the lead to 26-0.

The highlight for NV/OM’s defense in the second quarter was a Bradley Gebbie interception; however, the offense was unable to cash in on it.

NV/OM’s Titus Hamer scored on a 3-yard run play, cutting the Mustangs’ lead to 39-6 in the fourth quarter. Remington Woosley ran in the two-point conversion.

Shenandoah passed for 254 yards in the game and ran for 129. The Wolverines passed for 24 and ran for 73.

Eli Harris was 3-5 at quarterback with 24 yards. Ashton Honnold was intercepted on one pass attempt. Gebbie caught two passes for 19 yards. In the run game, Hamer had six rushes, 27 yards and a touchdown. Keyin Steeve had 22 yards and Honnold 14.

“I felt our offense was starting to click a little bit,” Honnold said. “Our offensive line was doing a little better job blocking. We started to sustain a couple of drives in that game. It’s all a work in progress right now. We’ve gotta get the kids to believe.”

Carmine Shaw led the defense with 6.5 tackles.

NV/OM heads into Class 1A, District 7 play this week against Woodward-Granger on the road. The Hawks also still search for their first win. All three of Woodward-Granger’s losses have been by two scores or less.

“What we’ve said all year is we want to be 1% better everyday. As long as we’re making positive strides forward, I’m not going to be upset at all. We need to figure out some things offensively. We have some guys who have been hurt or ineligible who will be back this week who will be big for us,” Honnold said. “I’m pleased with the progress we have made so far. I think we’ll be ready to go against Woodward-Granger.”

Mount Ayr vs. Madrid

The Raiders (2-1) found their first loss of the season after a heartbreaking failed two-point conversion to win in overtime Friday against district opponent Madrid (3-0.)

The teams were evenly matched, both coming in 2-0, and both scoring five touchdowns in the bout.

Madrid got the edge on Mount Ayr on yardage, putting up 313 net yards to Mount Ayr’s 228.

The rollercoaster game featured six lead changes, the Raiders finding the first lead with a 72-yard kickoff return by Louden Main and a successful point-after kick by Tyler Martin.

The Tigers found a rhythm, Preston Wicker scoring two rushing touchdowns to take the lead for Madrid in the second quarter.

Two minutes later, the Raiders responded with a 2-yard touchdown by Dyson Thompson to go into the half tied. After halftime, Thompson ran for his second touchdown, but the Raiders missed the two-point conversion to take a 6-point lead.

A successful conversion on the next touchdown set up a 28-21 Raiders’ lead with one minute left in the game. With only 10 seconds left in regulation, Wicker completed a pass to Kyler Kruckenberg. The kick was good to send the game into overtime.

Wicker found his fourth touchdown in overtime, but the Raiders responded with a 7-yard rushing touchdown by Jackson Ruggles. Instead of going for a kick to tie, they went for their third two-point conversion attempt. The pass from Ruggles to Jaize Frost was incomplete to give Madrid the win.

Martin led the Raiders’ defense with seven tackles. Dalton Barnes had a sack for Mount Ayr.

The loss drops the Raiders to third in Class A district behind Madrid and Lynnville-Sully, both 3-0. At 2-1 with the Raiders are Wayne and Central Decatur.

Mount Ayr hosts Central Decatur Friday for homecoming.

East Union vs. Southeast Warren

The Warhawks (2-1) handed the Eagles (2-1) their first loss of the season Friday in a 52-14 runaway game.

The game was tied through one quarter, each team putting up two touchdowns, but the Warhawks’ defense stopped the Eagles from finding the end zone again.

East Union quarterback Seth Hudson went 7-16 for 90 yards passing and logged 17 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Fischer Buffington led in rushing yards with 85 on 15 carries and score the team’s other touchdown.

Southeast Warren quarterback Jamison Ewing had two passing and four rushing touchdowns to open up the lead on East Union.

The Eagles’ Rason Grail pulled in four receptions for 47 yards while Austin Lack caught three for 43. On special teams, Lack returned three punts for 83 yards and on defense, he came down with an interception.

Haydn Walters and Morgan Cooley led the defense, each putting up six total tackles and four solo tackles.

With the loss, the Eagles sit at fourth in 8-man District 8, four teams tied at 2-1: Lenox, Southeast Warren and Lamoni. Bedford leads the district as the only undefeated team after an upset against Lenox.

The Eagles have a tough two weeks coming up as they travel to Bedford Friday for the Bulldogs’ homecoming game and then host Lenox for the Eagles’ homecoming.