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Creston opened their football schedule with a 28-12 win over Clarinda on Friday. The Panthers have won four straight season openers.
“I thought, defensively, we played a good football game,” head coach Brian Morrison said. “Their running back, he’s a good one, he’s fast.”
Creston junior linebacker Austin Evans totaled two sacks and two of Creston’s 5 1/2 tackles for loss.
The Panther defense as a whole held senior running back Tadyn Brown to 91 yards on 12 rushes, including one touchdown.
Junior Brandon Briley scored the first touchdown with a 30-yard receiving touchdown in the back of the end zone which was the lone score of the first half.
Senior quarterback Kyle Strider was 9 of 15 for 169 yards and one touchdown.
Brennan Hayes contributed a pair of rushing touchdowns and Weston Trapp scored from 1 yard out in the second half.
“I think offensively, Hayes ran hard, we did some good things up front,” Morrison said. “Made some good decisions at quarterback, our receiving corps showed we have depth and guys we can count on. We have things we need to clean up, we have to play our best game every week.”
The game was seldom interrupted by penalties, a highlight and testament to focus in the first game.
“I thought penalty wise we did pretty well,” Morrison said. “You know, first game jitters and a 5 yard penalty or a holding. I think in the first half (Strider) was under pressure a lot in the first half. We have to make sure we communicate up front. Overall, the effort was great.
Staying hydrated and avoiding cramps was the tale of the second half.
“Our conditioning really played an important role,” Morrison said. “Their guys were cramping up every other play and our guys fought through it. I’m very pleased with how we got to this point. Now, we just have to keep improving.”
Cael Turner’s one handed interception with 6:04 left in the game tilted the scales fully in favor of Creston.
Creston heads to Winterset on Friday. The Panthers have lost five straight to the Huskies, a 28-7 loss in 2021.
“They’re a physical, quality, football team traditionally,” Morrison said. “We’ve got to focus on us Monday to get things right. The kids will be excited, it’s a big rivalry game between Creston and Winterset.”
Score
Points by quarter
Clarinda0066—12
Creston70147—28
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
CR–Briley 30 yard pass from Strider (Hayes kick), 8:10.
Third Quarter
CR–Hayes 43 run (Hayes kick), 10:29.
CL–Brown 59 run (PAT failed), 9:05.
CR–Hayes 46 run (Hayes kick), 3:31.
Fourth Quarter
CR–Trapp 1 run (Hayes kick), 10:05.
CL–Schmitt 45 run (conversion failed), 1:55.
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TEAM STATISTICS
VisHome
Rushes-yards 27-199 45-336
Passing4-12-19-15-2, 1 TD
Passing yards 46 169
Total yards 245 505
Punts-avg. 7-29.3 4-28.3
Kick return yards 2-35 2-29
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Clarinda, Tadyn Brown 12-91-1; Wyatt Schmitt 8-45-1; Karson Downey 2-45; Ethan McAndrews 3-16; Dominick Polsley 2-5. Creston, Brennan Hayes 19-228-2; Kyle Strider 19-90; Weston Trapp 6-17-1; Brandon Briley 1-1.
PASSING — Clarinda, Schmitt, 4-12-1-46 Creston, Strider, 9-15-2-169, 1 TD.
RECEIVING — Clarinda, Isaac Jones 2-34, Andrew Jones 1-7, McAndrews 1-5. Creston, Briley, 4-101-1; Dylan Calvin 2-32; Dillon Starlin 1-20; Noah Felix 1-9; McCoy Haines 1-7.
PUNTS-AVG. — Clarinda, Caden Butt 5-26.8; Wyatt Schmitt 35.5. Creston, Dylan Calvin, 4-28.3
SACKS — Cl– Cr– Evans, 2; Payton Conley, 0.5.
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