Harlan wins JV, freshman games

Harlan completed the sweep of Creston/O-M football in 2018 with a 28-6 victory over the Panthers Monday night at Panther Field.

On Friday night, the Cyclones won the freshman contest, 37-20.

Coach Jon Thomson said assistant coach Tanner Webb called the plays for much of the game, including the second-half scoring drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Gavin Gillam. Long runs by Kaden Bolton and Gillam pushed the ball into the red zone, Thomson said.

“Bolton did a real nice job running the ball tonight and defensively he was valuable playing middle linebacker with Gavin tonight,” Thomson said. “Keegan Smith did a great job at center. Our D-line played well, especially Wiley Ray, Hunter Patterson and Jacob Rushing. Hayden Green did an amazing job punting the ball, averaging close to 40 yards.”

That was the final JV game of the season.

Gage Skarda was involved in two scoring plays for the Panther freshmen Friday night on a 63-yard run and a 30-yard touchdown reception from Avery Fuller. Briley Hayes added a 1-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion carry.

Erick Rodriguez returned a kick 60 yards to set up the Panthers in good field position. Rodriguez and Hayes each had a pass interception on defense.

Chris Wilson recorded two sacks for the Panther defense and Payten Bierle and Skarda each had one.

“I really thought our kids competed hard tonight in Harlan,” Panther coach Kevin Cooper said. “I felt like our running game really got going, and that is a credit to our offensive line and our running backs. Once again we just gave up too many big plays. We cut the lead to 15-8 right before half, and gave up a kickoff return touchdown. We have one game left on our season, and hopefully we can end on a happy note!”

The Panther freshmen host Glenwood at 4:45 p.m. Friday.