Super senior night!

It took until 4.5 seconds remained in game eight of the 2025 season, but the Creston football team finally tasted victory Friday night.

Jace Purdum caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tanner Ray in the final seconds to lift the Panthers to a 42-35 victory over Greene County on senior night at Panther Field.

As the Rams tried unsuccessfully to lateral the ball on one final untimed down after a penalty, fans from the Creston student section stormed the field to celebrate the first win in nearly a calendar year — a 72-13 home victory over Perry on Oct. 25, 2024.

There had been multiple close calls. Atlantic scored on the final play of the game to snare a 29-27 win on the Panthers’ homecoming Sept. 26. The Panthers rallied twice to tie state-ranked Des Moines Christian a week earlier before falling, 44-31.

This time, Creston made the final decisive play.

“It feels amazing. Finally!” Purdum said after the team’s postgame huddle with coaches on the field.

Head coach Brian Morrison said it was validation that the Panthers were better than their 0-7 record coming in. Until Harlan lost to Atlantic Friday on a late kick return for a touchdown, every team that beat Creston this season was on track to make the playoffs.

“We’re 0-7 coming in and they’re 4-3,” Morrison said. “But our kids don’t practice like an 0-7 team. We don’t play like an 0-7 team. We weren’t getting the breaks and making too many mistakes against a tough schedule, but the kids are bought in and they keep getting better.”

Creston, now 1-7 overall and 1-3 in Class 3A District 6, closes the season Friday at Perry, now 0-8 and 0-4 after a 63-7 loss to Carroll.

500-yard night

Friday’s game was an offensive shootout that featured 530 total yards by the Panthers and 484 yards by the Rams as both teams answered each other’s scoring strikes all night. Yet, it was two fourth-down defensive stands by the Panther defense inside their own 10-yard line that preserved the victory.

“Those were huge,” Morrison said. “Without those stops, we don’t win the football game. I thought we did a good job against their run game. Their quarterback is a good player and No. 1 (Broc Stream) is a dynamic receiver. We gave up some big plays early, but our kids kept battling throughout the game.”

Quarterback Zack Stalder found Stream for a 54-yard gain on the opening drive that culminated in a 2-yard touchdown run for an early 6-0 Greene County lead. (The two-point run attempt failed.)

Senior running back and safety Jackson Pettegrew suffered a broken collarbone in practice last week, and freshman Gabe Kaufman stepped in with a stellar performance Friday night. On the way to gaining 176 yards on 34 carries, Kaufman scored the first of his three touchdowns from 1 yard on the Panthers’ opening drive. Joaquin Flores kicked the extra point for a 7-6 Creston lead.

The Panthers pushed ahead 15-6 on the next possession after Greene County’s only punt of the night. Quarterback Tanner Ray, who completed 23 of 24 passes for 233 yards and three TDs, connected with Seth Gordon for a 37-yard gain on the drive. Gordon was also the receiver on the 3-yard touchdown play and Rhett Driskell caught the two-point conversion pass.

Greene County answered with a quick strike. Stream caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Stalder to close it to 15-13.

Gordon returned the kickoff to the Ram 30-yard line. The Panthers took advantage of the good field position to quickly score on a 25-yard pass from Ray to Purdum.

Trailing 21-13, Greene County secured a 21-21 halftime tie as Stalder, a 6-4, 185-pound senior, bolted up the middle for a 70-yard touchdown run with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter. Stalder passed to Jaron Jacobs for the two-point conversion.

Ray was a perfect 19-of-19 passing for 147 yards at halftime and Kaufman already had 63 yards on 14 carries.

Second half

The Panthers opened the second half by marching 77 yards on 12 plays, ending in a 2-yard touchdown run by Kaufman to move ahead 28-21.

Stalder found Stream again for a big play, gaining 40 yards on the third play of Greene County’s first possession of the second half. Christopher Daugherty broke several tackles for a 30-yard gain on a screen pass, setting up Stalder’s 13-yard touchdown run to tie it again 28-28.

Creston’s offense answered again with a scoring drive, going nine plays with Kaufman scoring from 2 yards for a brief 35-28 Panther lead.

After Jaron Jacobs returned the kickoff to Creston’s 37-yard line, the Rams drove to the Panther 8 before Daugherty was stopped short of the first down on a fourth-down carry. However, Creston was forced to punt and the punt was blocked,

Creston accepted a penalty on Greene County that put the Rams in a third-and-25 situation on the ensuing possession. After an incompletion, Stalder scrambled 27 yards for the first down. With 6:09 left in the game it was tied 35-35 on Stalder’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Jacobs.

Creston drove down to the Ram 5-yard line but a middle screen pass was batted away on fourth-and-four with 2:49 to play. The coaches decided to try for a touchdown lead rather than a short field goal.

“I’m sure there was a lot of second guessing on that one,” offensive coordinator Garrison Carter said. “But, one thing I like about coach Morrison is that he’s aggressive. Our offense had taken us down the field and we just wanted a chance to get one. We didn’t kick it. They would have had two minutes left, down three. We just felt our offense deserved a chance to win the game.”

Winning drive

They eventually got that chance.

Greene County stalled near midfield and tried a fake punt, but the pass fell incomplete to give Creston possession at the Ram 47 with 56 seconds left, and two Creston timeouts remaining.

Ray found tight end CT Stalker for two short passing gains and Kaufman ran for a first down. With 18 seconds left, Ray ran 6 yards for a first down to the Ram 23. On the snap with 12 seconds left, Ray dropped back and found Purdum open in the middle of the field. After the catch, he avoided a would-be tackler and slipped into the end zone. The kick by Flores gave Creston the final 42-35 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining.

Greene County was unable to score on one play after a Creston facemask penalty on the kickoff, triggering the field rush by the student section.

“It was a slant over the middle,” Purdum explained. “We just looked for the second pocket to open because that backside linebacker came downhill. Tanner saw me open and hit me. We knew if the defense got a stop, we had to score.”

Carter said it was clutch execution by the offense in those final 56 seconds.

“They were in that two-high prevent defense and trying to take away the sidelines,” Carter said. “We thought we could stretch them with that swing motion and sneak Jace in behind. He caught it and made a great play to get in the end zone.”

Carter said Ray and Kaufman were aided in their stellar performances by an improving offensive line, which performed well on senior night.

“Our offensive line is phenomenal, and with three seniors this game meant a lot to them,” Carter said. “One of the biggest things offensively for us this year has been the progression of Tanner. He’s just making really good decisions. A lot of times he’ll roll out and if nothing is there, he’s such a weapon with his legs. It’s kind of a third option in the pass game. Huge credit to coach (Brandon) Phipps, who does a great job with the quarterbacks.

“And one thing about tonight is that it was a tough deal for Jackson (Pettegrew) to not be able to play,” Carter added. “He was having an all-district type of year and breaks his collarbone just before senior night. One of the bright spots for us this year has been his leadership. One of the reasons Gabe has been able to step in and play so well is that Jackson has been coaching him up all year, giving him reps in practice and walking him through things. He never felt threatened by him. He was just excited to have another guy having success next to him. That takes a special person.”

Greene County fell to 4-4 overall and tied with Creston at 1-3 in District 6. Atlantic and Carroll meet this week having secured the district’s automatic postseason spots, both at 4-0 in district play. Harlan (3-5 and 2-2) hosts Greene County in the other game.

Creston 42, Greene County 35

Points by quarter

GC 6 15 7 7 — 35

CR 7 14 14 7 — 42

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

GC — Aden Bardole 2 run (run failed), 8:44

Cr — Gabe Kaufman 1 run (Joaquin Flores kick), 3:22

Second Quarter

Cr — Seth Gordon 3 pass from Tanner Ray (Rhett Driskell pass from Ray), 10:27

GC — Broc Stream 46 pass from Zack Stalder (Teagan Chisholm kick), 5:09

Cr — Jace Purdum 25 pass from Ray (kick failed), 2:45

GC — Stalder 70 run (Jaron Jacobs pass from Stalder), 1:50

Third Quarter

Cr — Kaufman 2 run (Flores kick), 8:32

GC — Stalder 12 run (Chisholm kick), 5:38

Cr — Kaufman 2 run (Flores kick), 3:16

Fourth Quarter

GC — Jaron Jacobs 7 pass from Stalder (Chisholm kick), 6:09

Cr — Purdum 23 pass from Ray (Flores kick), :04.5

—————

TEAM STATISTICS

CR GC

Rushes-yards 50-271 27-190

Passing 24-25-0 16-30-0

Passing yards 259 294

Total yards 530 484

Punts-avg. 1-5.0 1-55.0

Fumbles lost 0 0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CR: Gabe Kaufman 34-176, 3 TD; Tanner Ray 16-95. GC: Zack Stalker 14-159, 2 TD; Christopher Daugherty 10-28; Aden Bardole 3-3, 1 TD.

PASSING — CR: Ray 23-24-0 for 233 yards, 3 TD; Rhett Driskell 1-1-0 for 26 yards. GC: Stalder 16-29-0 for 294 yards, 2 TD; Teagan Chisholm 0-1-0.

RECEIVING — CR: Jace Purdum 7-117, 2 TD; Seth Gordon 5-90, 1 TD; CT Stalker 3-23; Driskell 4-10; Riggins Hanson 2-8; Kaufman 2-8; Baret Lane 1-3. GC: Broc Stream 4-148, 1 TD; Jaron Jacobs 7-85, 1 TD; Daugherty 2-44; Brennan Jacobs 2-13; Lincoln Schwander 1-4.

TACKLE LEADERS (solo) — CR: Tom Mikkelsen 5.5 (4), Brodrick Phelps 4.0 (2), Davin Wallace 4.0 (3), Coltyr Frey 3.5 (2), Zadek Engdahl 2.5 (2), Lane Travis 2.5 (2), Blake Hayes 2.5 (2) Colby Brammer 2.0 (1), Cason Scarberry 1.5 (1), Kal Barber 1.5 (1). GC: Daugherty 13.5 (9), B. Jacobs 13.0 (11), J. Jacobs 9.5 (7), Keegan Lawrence 7.0 (4), Stream 4.5 (3).

INTERCEPTIONS — None.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — None.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — CR: None. GC: Daugherty 2.0, Joey Frantz 0.5, Lawrence 0.5.

SACKS — CR: None. GC: Daugherty 1.0, Frantz 0.5, Lawrence 0.5.