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Connor Frame caught four touchdown passes and finished with seven catches for 185 yards as No. 4-ranked Harlan defeated Creston/O-M 35-7 Friday night on the Panthers' homecoming weekend.
Frame was two touchdowns shy of the school record of six TD catches in a game by Nick Foss.
Sophomore quarterback Teagon Kasperbauer completed 13 of 26 passes for 268 yards, with three of those TD connections to Frame in the first half to go with a 35-yard punt return for a score by Joey Moser for a 27-0 halftime lead.
Creston/O-M managed only 42 net yards rushing, but senior quarterback Cole Strider completed 10 of 25 passes for 114 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown to Kayleb Howard with 2:50 remaining in the game. Senior receiver Brance Baker returned to the lineup for the first time since he injured a shoulder in the Sept. 11 game at Lewis Central and finished with five catches for 54 yards for the Panthers.
The Cyclones (6-0 overall, 4-0 Class 3A District 9) host Lewis Central next week for the district championship. Lewis Central is 5-0 and 3-0 in district games, with this week's scheduled game against Denison-Schleswig canceled.
Creston/O-M (1-5, 0-4) travels to Carroll next Friday to conclude the regular season. The Tigers fell to Glenwood Friday, 28-21, to fall to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in district play.
East Mills 53, East Union 12
AFTON – East Union ran up against offensive and defensive lines that didn't budge for East Mills Friday night, falling to the Wolverines 53-12 on Homecoming.
East Mills received the opening kickoff before two false starts on the first play from scrimmage. After the penalties to start, the Wolverines drove right down the field on four plays to start off the scoring frenzy up 7-0.
The Eagles' offense struggled all night, only finding success on big plays when quarterback Gus McNeill connected with Caleb Comstack. McNeill found Comstock streaking down the near sideline late in the second quarter to score on a 62-yard touchdown and again on the same play in the fourth quarter with 4:40 left on the clock for a 40-yard touchdown pass.
On both plays, McNeill threw up a pass for Comstack to pull the ball away from a defender. He did both times, giving East Union more offense in two plays than the remainder of the game.
Despite the two big plays, East Mills' offensive and defensive lines dominated, pushing East Union around. Offensively, East Mills went against the flow of the play on reverses for chunk plays or used read option plays to find gaps in the Eagle defense.
East Union made running the ball a point of emphasis, but struggled to find anything effective. The Eagles switched between shotgun and McNeill under center with Emmet Long in the backfield. The success came from the shotgun with Comstock on the outside.
Wit the loss, East Union falls to (1-4) while East Mills (3-3) gets back to .500. East Union takes on Bedford next Friday in the final game of the season at 7 p.m. in Bedford.
Earlham 21, Nodaway Valley 14
GREENFIELD— Both teams struggled offensively early, but it was the Earlham Cardinals who had just enough down the stretch to escape Nodaway Valley with a 21-14 Class A District 8 football win Friday night on the Wolverines' Homecoming.
Both of Nodaway Valley's first two drives stalled out on interceptions, and the Cardinals' first possession stalled out on their own 38-yard line on a fumble.
Earlham drew first blood on a 7-yard plunge by senior fullback Trey Bond and found themselves in front 7-0 after the first quarter.
After both teams came up empty handed on their next two drives, Nodaway Valley began moving the ball more effectively on the ground and through short passes. The Wolverines capped that series on a 12-yard touchdown on a reverse play by junior Adam Ayase with 1:49 remaining in the first half.
Earlham answered the bell, breaking the stalemate and taking a 14-7 lead with 8:58 to go in the third quarter on a 2-yard run by quarterback Darrell Matchem that was set up by a long run play by senior Tyler Rice that got the Cardinals into Wolverine territory.
On the ensuing kickoff, Nodaway Valley's Jon Gebbie recovered a pooch kick and returned it for a score, tying the game at 14-14 with 8:45 to go in the third.
Matchem closed the scoring in the game, sidestepping Wolverine tacklers for a 2-yard score with 5:56 left in the game.
Nodaway Valley fell to 2-5 going into a bye week to close the regular season. Earlham hosts Wayne next week.
Area scores
Murray 60, Seymour 6
Mount Ayr 26, Interstate 35 6
Southwest Valley 51, Sidney 14