Early turnovers sink Panthers

DES MOINES — Four early turnovers contributed to an early 17-0 deficit, but the Creston football team rallied to tie the game twice on the way to falling 44-31 Friday at Des Moines Christian.

While the Panthers go into homecoming week with an 0-4 record in non-district games, coach Brian Morrison said there were many encouraging signs Friday against a 4-0 Des Moines Christian team ranked third in Class 3A by the Associated Press.

Creston fought back from the early turnover woes to trail by just three points (17-14) at halftime. The Panthers later tied the game twice — 17-17 and 24-24 — and were still in contention trailing 37-31 when the Lions recovered Creston’s onsides kickoff with 2:41 to play.

Des Moines Christian added a late touchdown run by Davis Tokheim for the final 13-point margin.

Offensive production

Creston outgained Des Moines Christian in total yards, 521 to 366, including 326 yards passing by quarterback Tanner Ray on 25 completions in 36 attempts. Seth Gordon and Jace Purdum both exceeded 115 yards receiving. Ray had a game-high 136 yards rushing with one TD and Jackson Pettegrew scored two touchdowns in compiling 48 yards.

Tokheim and Henry Gorter ran for 127 and 114 yards, respectively, as the Lions totaled 254 yards on the ground. However, Creston’s early-season issues in giving up big plays showed improvement Friday. Brodrick Phelps had 7.5 total tackles including two sacks. Kal Barber had 6.0 stops.

“We can’t turn the ball over that many times and expect to win this kind of ballgame,” Creston coach Brian Morrison said. “We have to clean that up. I think it’s a different outcome, for sure, if that wasn’t case.”

After falling behind 3-0 on an early Des Moines Christian field goal, Creston lost the ball on two fumbles and a pass interception on its first three possessions. After forcing a punt early in the second quarter, the Panthers fumbled the punt near their own goal and Brody Farver of the Lions recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead.

From that point, Creston outscored the Lions 31-27. But, the early damage proved too much to overcome.

After receiving a pitch from Ray, tight end Rhett Driskell threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Purdum to close it to 17-7 with 7:42 left in the half. Four minutes later Pettegrew ran into the end zone from 6 yards out to close the gap to 17-14 at the halftime break.

The Panthers put together a 14-play, 80-yard drive to open the second half that culminated in a 27-yard field goal by Joaquin Flores to tie it, 17-17. Tokheim, who finished with 127 yards, scored one of his three touchdowns to put the Lions in front again, but the Panthers responded to tie it 24-24 on Pettegrew’s 3-yard touchdown run.

During that drive, Ray completed an 8-yard pass to Purdum on a fourth-and-six situation.

Near interception

On the next Des Moines Christian possession, it appeared that Panther defensive back David Sandoval had an interception at the Panther 4-yard line as Sandoval and the Lions receiver both came down with their hands on the ball. After the officials conferred, it was ruled a catch and on the next playb quarterback Max Town found Tokheim for a 4-yard touchdown pass to go ahead 30-24.

“What I saw what it was a tie, but then they came down and I thought David had sole possession,” Morrison said. “It’s huge, but there were a lot of difference makers in this game.”

Phelps sacked Town on the Lions’ first possession of the fourth quarter, but the teams exchanged punts and the Lions took advantage of favorable field position with a 37-yard scoring drive to go ahead 37-24 with 5:35 left.

Ray’s 2-yard touchdown run ended a 65-yard, 11-play drive to cut it to 37-31 with 2:41 left. Des Moines Christian recovered the onside kick and added a final touchdown by Tokheim with 38 seconds remaining.

“I thought our kids competed against a good football team,” Morrison said. “Our goal for the defense was to make them earn it, and I thought we did that for the most part. We improved from last week and looked like a different football team. We told the kids that our season starts Monday. I think our non-district schedule shook out to where all four teams are pretty good. I think we’re battle tested going into our first district game.”

Creston hosts Atlantic (2-2) for homecoming at 7 p.m. Friday. The Trojans also lost to Des Moines Christian, 17-9 on Sept. 12, before defeating Storm Lake on Friday, 47-22.

DM Christian 44, Creston 31

Points by quarter

Cr 0 14 10 7 — 31

DMC 10 7 13 14 — 44

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

DMC — Andrew Clement 28 FG, 5:52

DMC — Davis Tokheim 12 run (Clement kick), 0:56

Second Quarter

DMC — Brody Ferver fumble recovery in end zone (Clement kick), 9:39

Cr — Jace Purdum 11 pass from Rhett Driskell (Joaquin Flores kick), 7:42

Cr — Jackson Pettegrew 6 run (Flores kick), 3:32

Third Quarter

Cr — Flores 27 FG, 7:09.

DMC — Tokheim 27 run (Clement kick), 5:48

Cr — Pettegrew 3 yards (Clement kick), 3:34

DMC — Tokheim 4 pass from Max Town (Clement kick), 0:56

Fourth Quarter

DMC — Henry Gorter 28 run (Clement kick), 5:35

Cr — Tanner Ray 2 run (Flores kick), 2:41

DMC — Tokheim 25 run (Clement kick), 0:38

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TEAM STATISTICS

CR DMC

Rushes-yards 29-184 38-254

Passing 26-38-1 11-20-0

Passing yards 337 112

Total yards 521 366

Punts-avg. 2-20.5 4-46.8

Fumbles lost 1 1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CR: Tanner Ray 13-136, 1 TD; Jackson Pettegrew 16-48, 2 TD. DMC: Davis Tokheim 19-127, 3 TD; Henry Gorter 9-114, 1 TD; Max Town 10-13.

PASSING — CR: Ray 25-36-1 for for 326 yards; Rhett Driskell 1-2-0 for 11 yards, 1 TD. DMC: Town 11-20-0 for 112 yards, 1 TD.

RECEIVING — CR: Seth Gordon 6-120; Jace Purdum 8-119, 1 TD; Rhett Driskell 7-65; CT Stalker 1-14; Baret Lane 1-6; Gabe Kaufman 1-5; Jackson Pettegrew 1-4; Durrell Haynes 1-4. DMC: Connor Doohen 4-66; Malachi Osborne 2-13; Tate Olsen 1-13; Davis Tokheim 3-15, 1 TD; Ajay Bakke 1-5.

TACKLE LEADERS (solo) — CR: Brodrick Phelps 7.5 (4); Kal Barber 6.0 (1); Colby Brammer 5.0 (2); Tom Mikkelsen 4.5 (3); Lane Travis 4.0 (2); Coltyr Frey 4.0 (2); Davin Wallace 3.5 (3); David Sandoval 3.0 (3); Blake Hayes 1.5; Zadek Engdahl 1.5 (1). DMC: Andrew Clement 13.5 (4); Oliver Grice 11.0 (7); Malachi Osborne 6.0 (3); Tate Olsen 6.0 (5).

INTERCEPTIONS — CR: None. DMC: Grice 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — CR: Frey 1. DMC: Farver 1.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — CR: Phelps 2.5; Mikkelsen 1.5; Frey 1.0; Brammer 1.0; Barber 0.5; Hayes 0.5. DMC: Clement 3.0; Bailey 2.0; Fadden 1.0.

SACKS — CR: Phelps 2.0. DMC: None.