Late comeback falls short, 28-27

An early 21-point deficit turned into a ferocious fourth-quarter rally by Creston Friday in a 28-27 loss to Winterset.

The Panthers trailed 21-0 after the first 15 minutes of the game, and then outscored the Huskies 27-7 over the final 33 minutes.

Running back Jackson Pettegrew scored his fourth touchdown of the game off a direct snap in a power-running formation called “Tank,” which includes all-district defensive lineman Tom Mikkelsen at fullback. Creston’s offensive line had established a forward push to make the play a staple of coordinator Garrison Carter’s offense in the second half.

Pettegrew was a workhorse Friday, ending with 173 yard on 33 carries. Quarterback Tanner Ray ran for 42 yards and was 14-of-25 passing for 156 yards and 1 intercepton.

Morrison’s teams have a long lineage of going for two points in that kind of situation, harking back to Chase Shiltz’s two-point run to send the program to its first UNI-Dome appearance in a 50-49 overtime win at Dallas Center-Grimes in 2014.

So, instead of potentially tying it 28-28 with an extra-point kick, the Panthers set up on offense to go for the two-pointer and the lead. Pettegrew took the snap and followed a set of blockers to the right. Just as traffic developed and he set to cut inside, his footing slipped as the Husky defenders moved in for the stop short of the 3-yard gain. After the team’s previous touchdown, Pettegrew successfully ran in the two-point conversion.

“We thought if we can’t make it with Tank in that situation, a two-point conversion, then we don’t deserve to win the football game,” Morrison said. “We’re not going to kick it there.”

Turnover nullified

There was almost another chance to capitalize on a Winterset turnover, which had already happened prior to three of the Panthers’ four touchdowns. On Winterset’s first play from scrimmage on the next possession, Winterset appeared to lose a fumble at the end of a run for a first down.

However, there was no declaration of which team had possession as the officials huddled near the Husky sideline. Eventually, it was ruled there was an inadvertent whistle while the ball was loose, so by rule the play was replayed from the line of scrimmage.

Creston had one timeout left, and Winterset converted two short fourth-down situations to run out the clock to hold on, 28-27.

The team’s 27-7 advantage left Morrison encouraged, despite falling to 0-2 with a road test at 2-0 Glenwood this week.

“We got better as a football team this week,” Morrison said. “Our guys never give up. They fought through a bad first quarter. Once they started to get it right they played good football.”

Offense finds rhythm

With senior running back Ben Porter leading the effective Winterset offense to a 21-0 lead at the 8:53 mark of the second quarter, Creston suddenly snared some momentum with a nine-play possession. The drive ended when Ray was tackled at the 7-yard line on fourth-and-goal.

The Huskies fumbled on their next possession, opening the door for Pettegrew’s first touchdown with 3:05 left in the first half. It was a much better performance by the Panther offense in the second half, and the defense allowed only one scoring drive. That came after the Panthers had closed it to 21-13.

Despite falling behind by two scores again (28-13) with just 9:31 left, the Panthers eventually found themselves within a two-point conversion of a victory.

“We showed improvement. Just the confidence of our kids doing the right thing, that gives the kids behind them, like the linebackers doing the right thing, then the secondary can trust them and they’re doing the right thing, too,” Morrison said. “They can make plays in space. They weren’t doing that early on.”

Morrison said the offense gained some momentum in the second half of the game. Ray completed two passes of more than 30 yards each to Jace Purdum and Seth Gordon to set up two of Pettegrew’s short-yardage scores. However, Winterset’s fourth-down stops in their territory proved to be crucial.

“Offensively we were better but we left points on the field in the red zone,” Morrison said. “Too many penalties. We have two important non-district games coming up against Glenwood and Des Moines Christian, two good football teams. We have to keep getting better.”

Winterset 28, Creston 27

Points by quarter

Wint 7 14 0 7 — 28

Cr 0 7 0 20 — 27

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Wint — Jace Bellamy 24 run (Alejandro Vallejo-Montonya kick), 5:49

Second Quarter

Wint — Wyatt Swanton 30 pass from Carson Cook (Vallejo-Montonya kick), 11:57

Wint — Ben Porter 13 run (Vallejo-Montonya kick), 8:53

Cr — Jackson Pettegrew 2 run (Joaquin Flores kick), 3:05

Third Quarter

None

Fourth Quarter

Cr — Pettegrew 5 run (run failed), 11:55

Wint — Bellamy 9 run (Vallejo-Montonya kick), 9:31

Cr — Pettegrew 2 run (Pettegrew run), 6:29

Cr — Pettegrew 1 run (run failed), 4:33

—————

TEAM STATISTICS

WINT CR

Rushes-yards 44-309 45-224

Passing 7-11-1 14-25-1

Passing yards 118 156

Total yards 427 380

Punts-avg. 2-32.0 2-45.5

Fumbles lost 2 0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CR: Jackson Pettegrew 33-173, 4 TDs; Tanner Ray 10-42; Gabe Kaufman 2-9. WINT: Ben Porter 25-189, 1 TD; Jace Bellamy 6-59, 2 TD; Nathan Rivera 8-35; Wyatt Swanson 1-22; Carson Cook 2-12.

PASSING — CR: Ray 14-25-1 for 156 yards. WINT: Cook 7-11-1 for 118 yards, 1 TD.

RECEIVING — CR: Seth Gordon 5-67; Jace Purdum 3-55; Baret Lane 2-17; Durrell Haynes 2-13; Pettegrew 1-5; Rhett Driskell 1-(-1). WINT: Wyatt Swanson 3-50, 1 TD; Bellamy 1-35; Drake McDonald 1-23; Dominic Tucker 1-5; Daxon Weeks 1-5.

TACKLE LEADERS (total-solo) — CR: Lane Travis 7.5-5, Kal Barber 7.0-4, Joaquin Flores 5.0-4, Brodrick Phelps 4.0-2, Davin Wallace 4.0-3, Ethan Holliday 3.5-3, Coltyr Frey 3.0-3, Colby Brammer 2.0-1, Tom Mikkelsen 2.0-2, Blake Hayes 1.5-1, Cason Scarberry 1.5-1. WINT: Bellamy 14.5-8, Cael Hirsch 7.5-4, Swanson 6.0-5, Jude Gurwell 5.0-3.

INTERCEPTIONS — CR: Flores 1. WINT: Bellamy 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — CR: Wallace 1, Holliday 1.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — CR: Wallace 1.0; Mikkelsen 1.0. WINT: Swanson 2.0, Nathan Rivera 1.0, Gurwell 0.5, Cru Hockeett 0.5.

SACKS — WINT: Swanson 1.0, Porter 1.0.