Panthers look to tame Huskies

The Creston Panthers look to keep their momentum rolling at Winterset on Friday after rolling in their season opener against Clarinda, 28-12.

Senior quarterback Kyle Strider, who threw for 169 yards and ran for 90 yards against Clarinda, is shaping up to be a great field general for the Panthers.

Other Panthers, too, stood out on film.

“Watching film, we have a lot of guys who compete like crazy,” Morrison said. “I was pleased with how Kyle managed the game at quarterback. Obviously our running back in Brennan Hayes, how hard he runs. Up front, I think we’ll improve week one to week two. The kids are receptive to how we’re coaching them. They played a good football game last Friday.”

Strider completed a pass to five different Panthers against the Cardinals, something Morrison likes to see to keep defenses guessing where aerial attacks will go.

“As far as receiver, we have multiple kids that we have to get the football to: Dylan Calvin, Brandon Briley, McCoy Haines and Gannon Greenwalt at tight end,” Morrison said. “They put in time this week and they looked good. Offensively, I think that’s where we’re at.”

In the 2021 Creston vs. Winterset game, the Huskies got the better of the Panthers with a 28-7 victory.

The Huskies lost 19 seniors to graduation. Of those seniors, quarterback Caden Kleemeier (Coe College), running back Dawson Forgy (Wayne State), wide receiver Levi Gurwell (Simpson basketball), Blake Bellamy (Morningside) and Drake Knobloch (Iowa State) are among those playing at the next level.

According to Bound, there were 19 juniors on last year’s roster and 19 seniors on this year’s roster.

“I’ve been here long enough to know that Winterset always puts out a competitive football team,” Morrison said. “The last 12 years, they’ve had some kids go through the program that are pretty special at the high school level. This year, the seniors are coming off a team that went to the Dome in 4A. That’s very impressive and they understand both as a staff and as players what it takes to get to that level.”

The Huskies are 0-2 for the first time since 2018. Winterset lost 29-7 to the Ballard Bombers in week zero and 35-18 to Carlisle in week one action.

“Both games were competitive at half,” Morrison said. “Ballard got away from them in the second half. I thought watching film, offensively and defensively, they improved a ton from those skill positions to a really good Carlisle team. I have the utmost respect for that program, scrimmaging them the last two years.”

Keeping Winterset behind the sticks will be a major key for success on Friday.

“Defensively, the biggest thing for us to win first-and-10,” Morrison said. “Their offense is built on down and distance. If we get in a situation where it’s first-and-10 and second-and-3, second-and-4, second-and-5 they’re going to limit our reps on offense. We’ve got to be great tacklers, we’ve got to be efficient in the run fits and make them earn it. They’re a not much bigger school than us, and I don’t know what year, but they started platooning where they have kids play offense and defense and that’s it. We have to make sure our kids can play four quarters.”

A junior from Creston in Dylan Calvin and a junior from Winterset in Luke Linde have been handling punting duties for their respective schools so far.

Calvin is averaging 28.3 yards on four punts and Linde is averaging 45.0 yards on as many boots. That ability to flip the field is something Morrison is focusing on.

“Their punter is really good, there’s no doubt,” Morrison said. “He kept Winterset competitively in the game in the first half flipping field position. Losing an all-district punter in Derek Paup, we’ve always had good punters. Dylan Calvin, rotating with Turner, they’re improving every day. I think you could see it last Friday. I know he (Calvin) had a shank, but then he had a really good one. We’ve got to be consistent in the punt game. We’ve already practiced our kickoff, kick return, punt, punt return, point after touchdown, field goal and onside kicks this week. We emphasize we have to win special teams to be competitive in special teams.”

Brennan Hayes leads the team in rushing with 228 yards and two touchdowns to his name, but he also handles kickoff and placekicking duties.

“The biggest thing with him is if he runs the ball for 45 yards and scores a touchdown, then he has to kick a PAT, it’s tough he can’t come off to the sideline take a deep breath, focus and kick,” Morrison said. “I know we’ve worked Haines the past two weeks kicking, and he does a good job too. That’s definetly on our minds. He (Hayes) has the leg, consistency is a question mark as far as distance. He can kick them 40 yards, with obviously wind and all that as a factor. I think he did a good job on the kickoff team with two touchbacks last week. That helps when those skill kids can’t return it.”

Friday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m.

“I know our coaches are excited, our kids are excited and I think the community is the same,” Morrison said. “It’s a big game and it’s a half hour away. We play each other in every sport, so it’s always competitive.”

Creston’s junior varsity also put a cardinal feather in their cap with a 12-6 victory on Monday.

“JV traveled to Clarinda and had a big win for us,” head coach Brian Morrison said. “Our scout team both days gave us great looks. The kids were locked in and focused.”

Creston - Winterset series history

Since 1921, Creston is 38-11 in the series with Winterset. However, the Huskies have won five straight since 2017.

1921, Creston 41, Winterset 0; 1929, Creston 7, Winterset 0; 1950, Winterset 20, Creston 0; 1953, Winterset 52, Creston 0; 1970, Winterset 12, Creston 0; 1971, Creston 19, Winterset 0;1972, Creston 19, Winterset 13, two overtimes; 1974, Creston 25, Winterset 8; 1977, Creston 14, Winterset 8; 1978, Creston 40, Winterset 14; 1979, Creston 29, Winterset 8; 1980, Creston 37, Winterset 0; 1981, Creston 21, Winterset 6; 1982, Creston 30, Winterset 21; 1983, Winterset 21, Creston 17; 1987, Creston 28, Winterset 3; 1988, Creston 7, Winterset 0; 1990, Creston 27, Winterset 0; August 1991, Creston 16, Winterset 8; October 1991, Creston 20, Winterset 9; 1992 Creston 47, Winterset 0; 1993, Creston 13, Winterset 12; 1994, Creston 41, Winterset 0; 1996, Creston 31, Winterset 14; 1997, Creston 27, Winterset 8; 1998, Creston 29, Winterset 6; 1999, Creston 26, Winterset 21; 2000, Creston 16, Winterset 7; 2001, Creston 28, Winterset 7; 2002, Creston 27, Winterset 7; 2003 Creston 35, Winterset 6; 2004, Creston 21, Winterset 13; 2005, Creston 31, Winterset 23; 2006, Creston 10, Winterset 7; 2007, Creston 20, Winterset 16; 2008, Winterset 48, Creston 20; 2009, Creston 31, Winterset 29; 2010, Winterset 28, Creston 7; 2011, Creston 29, Winterset 7; 2012, Creston 20, Winterset 19; 2013, Creston 32, Winterset 20; 2014, Creston 42, Winterset 34; 2015, Creston 34, Winterset 12; 2016, Creston 48, Winterset 7; 2017, Winterset 35, Creston 19; 2018, Winterset 35, Creston 19; 2019, Winterset 48, Creston 32; 2020, Winterset 41, Creston 14; 2021, Winterset 28, Creston 7.

Lineups

Creston(1-0, 1-0)

OFFENSE

T Max Chapman

6-4240Jr.

G Austin Seaton

6-0195Sr.

C Jagger Luther

5-8210Jr.

G Tucker Rohrig

6-1215Jr.

T Quinten Fuller

6-2235Jr.

WR Brandon Briley

5-8145Jr.

WR McCoy Haines

5-9145Jr.

WR Dylan Calvin

6-0165Jr.

QB Kyle Strider

6-2185Sr.

RB Brennan Hayes6-0180Jr.

H Will Bolinger

5-9 180 Jr.

PAT/FG Brennan Hayes6-0 Jr.

DEFENSE

DL Max Chapman6-4240Jr.

DL Quinten Fuller

6-2235Jr.

DL Payton Conley6-0160Sr.

LB Austin Evans

5-8150Jr.

LB Ty Morrison

6-0185Sr.

LB Austin Seaton

6-0195Sr.

LB Cade Wurster

5-10170Sr.

SEC McCoy Haines5-9145Jr.

SEC Dylan Calvin

6-0165Jr.

SEC Gannon Greenwalt6-0185Sr.

SEC Cael Turner6-2165Jr.

P Dylan Calvin6-0165Jr.