Rams tear through Panther defense

GLENWOOD — Despite the Panthers being down only four points early in the second quarter Friday in Glenwood, the Rams opened the floodgates, scoring 49 unanswered points before Creston scored another touchdown in the fourth. Creston lost the game 59-13, dropping to 0-3.

The Rams remain undefeated, led by senior running back Scott Reed Jr., who set a Glenwood single-game rushing record against the Panthers. Creston allowed 490 rushing yards and 90 passing yards. Of the 490, Reed logged 336 yards on 18 attempts.

Early stops

Glenwood came out looking to set the tone on the opening drive, putting together four plays for 54 yards to start the game.

On the fifth play, however, Creston senior linebacker Kal Barber forced Rams senior Jack Johnson to fumble. Barber recovered the ball for a turnover.

Creston’s drive was much more methodical, chipping away at yardage until after 10 plays, the Panthers had a first-and-10 on the Rams’ 15-yard-line. On first down, senior running back Jackson Pettegrew took a direct snap, making it 5 yards to set up a second-and-5 at the 10.

Junior quarterback Tanner Ray’s pass over the middle intended for junior Rhett Driskell was high. On third down, Ray kept it for a 2-yard gain. On fourth-and-3 from the 8, Creston went for it with a direct snap to Pettegrew. The Rams’ defensive front made the stop, ending the drive in a turnover on downs.

Ray ended the game 11-of-20 for 110 yards and a touchdown. He led rushing with 104 yards on 14 attempts. Pettegrew added 56 yards. Jace Purdum led receivers with two receptions for 47 yards.

“I think the game was a competitive football game after the first quarter,“ head coach Brian Morrison said. ”We got some stops, the big turnover in their first series.”

From the 6, Reed ran the ball back 15 yards in their first play, brought down by sophomore David Sandoval who made his starting debut Friday. In the following play, Sandoval finally brought Reed down, saving a touchdown after Reed broke numerous tackles in a 62-yard run.

Sandoval led the Panthers in solo tackles with five, followed by Barber and junior Davin Wallace with four. Productive tackles were hard to find, with only junior Randy Shady and sophomore Noel Ornelas producing a single tackle for loss each.

“Tackling was not a strong suit of ours,” Morrison said. “We weren’t tackling in space. Yards after contact were enormous. We had [Reed] wrapped up in the backfield a few times, and he’d cut loose for a 60-some-yard run instead of a 6- or 7-yard run because of that.”

Creston’s red zone defense held the Rams to a field goal with tackles by Colby Brammer, Ethan Holliday and Barber to set up a fourth-and-7 at the 14-yard-line.

With 2:21 left in the first, Creston trailed 3-0.

Freshman Gabe Kaufman had a slippery return on the ensuing kick off, starting the Panthers’ drive at the 29-yard-line. From there, though, it was a false start followed by a three-and-out.

Starting their drive around midfield, it took the Rams just two plays for sophomore Haze Stephens to break free for a 46-yard touchdown run.

“They found a weakness and something we couldn’t do well that night and they exposed it,” Morrison said.

The first quarter ended 10-0, but less than a minute into the second quarter, Ray completed a 12-yard pass to freshman Riggins Hanson followed by a 19-yard pass over the middle to a wide open Jameson McDonald for the score.

On the ensuing point after attempt, the Rams were called for encroachment. The Panthers took advantage of the short yardage, attempting a 2-point conversion. Pettegrew was stopped short of the end zone, leaving Creston down 10-6.

Snowball of scores

Halfway through the second quarter, the Rams had another 2-play drive, this one culminating in a 55-yard touchdown by Reed.

The next drive would see Ray’s pass tipped at the Panthers’ 10-yard-line, caught by Korbin Pelzer for a pick 6. Just five minutes after being down only four points, the Panthers now trailed by 18.

Quarterback Ben Carlo snuck in one more score for the Rams before the end of the second quarter, sending the Panthers into halftime down 31-6.

“The end of the second and the entire third quarter, it just snowballed,” Morrison said. “We had kids out of position, and they were making big plays against our defense. They had good field position a majority of those quarters. There were a lot of three-and-outs and turnovers offensively.”

The Panthers’ first two drives of the second half ended in three-and-outs while the Rams put together two touchdowns in six plays, going up 45-6.

After moving the chains for the first time in the second half, Ray’s pass was once again intercepted. The Rams scored another 7 off the turnover.

Each team scored once in the fourth quarter, the Panthers putting up the game’s final score on a 4-yard run by Kaufman.

Takeaways

Despite the lopsided score, Morrison was able to see some positives.

“Overall, I was very impressed prior to the game with their offensive and defensive line,” he said. “I thought our offensive line did some really good things against defensive front, and I think our defensive line did some good things against their offensive front which I thought were a really good unit.

“They are probably the best offensive group and defensive group up front that we’ve seen all year, and I thought they held their own.”

The Panthers return to action Friday at Des Moines Christian for their final non-district game.

Glenwood 59, Creston 13

Points by quarter

Cr 0 6 0 7 — 13

Glen 10 21 21 7 — 59

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Glen - Aaron Christian 31 field goal good, 2:21.

Glen - Haze Stephens 46 run (Christian kick good), 0:17.

Second Quarter

Cr - Jameson McDonald 19 pass from Tanner Ray (2pt no good), 11:04.

Glen — Scott Reed Jr 55 run (Christian kick good), 7:16.

Glen - Korbin Pelzer 15 interception (Christian kick good), 6:32.

Glen - Ben Carlo 14 run (Christian kick good), 0:32.

Third Quarter

Glen - Carlo 3 run (Christian kick good), 9:43.

Glen - Stephens 5 run (Christian kick good), 7:31.

Glen - Jacob Aust 9 run (Christian kick good), 3:23.

Fourth Quarter

Glen - Trey Williamson 33 run (Christian kick good), 9:27.

Cr - Gabe Kaufman 4 run (Joaquin Flores kick good), 5:25.

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TEAM STATISTICS

CR GL

Rushes-yards 29-209 37-490

Passing 12-22-2 8-9-0

Passing yards 115 90

Total yards 324 580

Punts-avg. 6-32.3 1-35.0

Fumbles lost 0 1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CR: Tanner Ray 14-104; Jackson Pettegrew 11-56; Gabe Kaufman 4-49, 1 TD. GLEN: Scott Reed Jr. 18-336, 1 TD; Haze Stephens 2-51, 2 TD; Trey Williamson 2-36, 1 TD; Ben Carlo 4-23, 2 TD; Jacob Aust 4-22, 1 TD; Deagan Oliver 6-16; Dylan Pitzen 1-6.

PASSING — CR: Ray 11-20-2 for 110 yards; Mason Wilson 1-2-0 for 5 yards. GLEN: Carlo 7-8-0 for 67 yards; Stephens .1-1-0 for 23 yards.

RECEIVING — CR: Jace Purdum 2-47; Pettegrew 3-23; Jameson McDonald 1-19, 1 TD; Riggins Hanson 2-14; Seth Gordon 2-7; Baret Lane 1-5. GLEN: Jack Johnson 5-71; Ethan Eiseman 1-11; Kaden Crouch 2-8.

TACKLE LEADERS (solo) — CR: David Sandoval 5.5 (5); Coltyr Frey 4.5 (4); Davin Wallace 4.5 (4); Colby Brammer 4.09 (3); Blake Hayes 3.5 (2); Randy Shady 3.0 (1); Kal Barber 2.5; Tyler Travis 2.5; Ben James 2.0 (1). GLEN: Dylan Powles 7.0 (6); Tristan Ludwig 5.5 (4); Shain Pratt 4.0 (4).

INTERCEPTIONS — CR: None. GLEN: Korbin Pelzer 1; Gaven Abbott 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — CR: Barber 1. GLEN: 0.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — CR: Shady 1.0; Noel Ornelas 1.0. GLEN: Drake Buthe 3.0; Mason Koehler 2.0.

SACKS — CR: None. GLEN: Buthe 2.0; Koehler 1.0; Connor Wear 1.0.