Panthers motivated to finish strong

Coming off an exciting 42-35 victory over Greene County for the first win of the 2025 season, the Creston football team looks to continue a strong finish at winless Perry Friday night.

Coach Brian Morrison said the team has been reminded to guard against overconfidence against a team that has been outscored 224-14 in district play. The last win by the Bluejays was 23-6 over Ogden on on Sept. 13, 2024. That was one week after beating Des Moines Hoover 35-21 early in a 2-7 season.

“We can’t just walk in there thinking it’s going to be 45-0 in the first quarter,” Morrison said. “We can’t be complacent and have the idea going in that, oh well, we’re playing Perry, and then walk in and not play good football. We have to do what we do. We want to play our best game on Friday, whoever it is, to finish the year out.”

The most competitive game by the Bluejays this season was a 42-28 loss in week three to Woodward-Granger. Four district losses have been by scores of 49-0 to Greene County, 49-7 to Atlantic, 63-0 to Harlan and 63-7 last week to Greene County.

“They’ve given up a lot of chunk plays on defense,” Morrison said. “It’s hard to get a read on their offensive game plan because the games get out of hand so fast. We do know their running back (junior Nadir Ouahbi) has good speed and they like to use him on the jet sweep. If they have success with it, they’ll keep running it. They have some shift kids that could present problems, because that’s been our issue all year. We’ll have to show up and play and contain them to get the ball back to the offense as much as possible.”

Creston’s offense has certainly been more productive this season. Tanner Ray ranks fifth in Class 3A passing with 1,463 yards on 127 completions in 195 passes, with six touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

“The turnovers are the only thing holding Tanner back from having what would be considered an elite season at quarterback,” Morrison said. “He continues to get better.”

Ray has also rushed for a team-high 761 yards on 107 carries and four touchdowns. Jackson Pettegrew (out with injury) and Gabe Kaufman have produced 543 and 455 yards, respectively, for a total of 998 yards from the running back position.

By contrast, Perry quarterback Ian Fisher is 31-of-87 passing for 327 yards and eight interceptions with two TDs. Ouahbi has rushed for 690 yards on 116 carries with four touchdowns, including a 98-yard scamper.

Perry’s leading receivers Rylan Modlin and Owen Zander have 135 and 137 yards in receptions with two TDs. Creston junior Jace Purdum has 39 catches for 554 yards (seventh in class 3A) and five touchdowns. Senior Seth Gordon ranks 10th in 3A with 504 yards on 31 catches and one TD. Tight end Rhett Driskell surpasses all Perry receivers with 160 yards on 21 receptions.

Jacobo Cerna-Gomez leads the Perry defense with 44 tackles. Creston leaders are Lane Travis (38.0), Kal Barber (36.5), Davin Wallace (32.0) and Colby Brammer (29.0).

Morrison said it’s important for the seniors to go out victorious in their final two games, and a win would help sustain some positive momentum in the program going into 2026.

“Our seniors have done a great job of leading us and I expect the same Friday night,” Morrison said. “We have a lot of pieces coming and we want to finish playing good football. We’ll have some spots to fill on the offensive line, but everywhere else we some pieces returning. Defensively we’ll be returning a lot of experience.”

District co-leaders Atlantic (6-2 overall, 4-0 district) and Carroll (5-3, 4-0) meet in Carroll Friday to determine the district champion. Greene County (4-4, 1-3) plays at Harlan (3-5, 2-2).

Creston (1-7, 1-3)

OFFENSE

T Garrick Clausen 5-10 225 Sr.

G Michael Wofford 6-0 200 Jr.

C Chasse Downing 6-4 270 Sr.

G Gunner Martwick 6-1 250 Sr.

T Layne Sand 6-5 235 Jr.

WR Jace Purdum 6-1 170 Jr.

WR Seth Gordon 5-8 160 Sr.

TE Jameson McDonald 6-1 185 Sr.

TE Rhett Driskell 6-3 190 Jr.

QB Tanner Ray 6-0 155 Jr.

RB Jackson Pettegrew 5-10 180 Sr.

or Gabe Kaufman 6-0 155 Fr.

K Joaquin Flores 6-0 160 Jr.

DEFENSE

DE Ethan Holliday 6-2 200 Sr.

DT Hayden Levine 5-11 190 Jr.

DT Tom Mikkelsen 6-1 210 Jr.

DE Blake Hayes 6-2, 205 Jr.

OLB Coltyr Frey 5-9 160 Jr.

ILB Colby Brammer 5-6 160 Jr.

or Kal Barber 5-8 160 Sr.

OLB Brodrick Phelps 5-11 160 Sr.

CB Zadek Engdahl 5-9 145 So.

CB Casen Scarberry 5-10 160 Jr.

S Lane Travis 5-8 160 Sr.

S Davin Wallace 5-8 170 Sr.

P Joaquin Flores 6-0 160 Jr.