Panthers win shootout, 48-28

The points came fast and furious in a four-touchdown first first quarter Friday night at Panther Field, but when the dust settled Creston remained unbeaten with a 48-28 victory over Ballard.

Facing their third Class 4A school in a 3-0 start, the Panthers outscored the Bombers 13-7 in a more defensive-oriented second half, surviving the 210-yard rushing effort of Ballard star senior running back Eli Rouse.

Rouse bolted 97 yards for the game’s first touchdown after Creston’s opening drive stalled at the Bomber 3-yard line.

On the initial play of that first Panther drive, Panther running back Brennan Hayes gave a glimpse of what was to come by taking a pass from Cael Turner 42 yards to the Ballard 29. For the game, Hayes caught seven passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, along with 16 carries for 102 yards rushing and three scores.

“In practice we worked on a little more running back stuff in the pass game,” Hayes said. “The protection was great tonight. The run game was a little slow in the beginning, but it’s hard to complain when the passing game is clicking like that.”

Senior quarterback Cael Turner had another strong performance, completing 18 of 28 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions. Brandon Briley caught three passes for 70 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown. Downfield blocking by receivers to turn completions into touchdowns was effective in the first half, including key blocks by Tyler Riley and Carson Rieck.

Rouse punctured the Panther defense for 173 yards and two TDs in the first half with Creston in front, 35-21. In the second half it was a tougher road for the Bomber offense, as Rouse added just 37 yards to his rushing total. The lone Ballard scoring play of the second half was a 7-yard fumble return after a Panther pass completion.

Senior defensive end Max Chapman had five tackles for losses for Creston. Linebacker Austin Evans had a team-high 8.5 tackles and his interception in the second quarter set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Hayes that opened up a 28-7 lead.

“We weren’t locked in the first quarter, really,” Chapman said. “We went into halftime and our coaches told us we needed to lock it in. We realized that this was a very losable game for us. Our guys realized it was going to take a team effort to win.”

“They didn’t get many first downs in the second half,” Creston coach Brian Morrison said. “They are an explosive team. We made some adjustments in caving in that B and C gap. You have to bottle him (Rouse) up and set the edges on their stretches. Our kids fought for four quarters. Their bread and butter on defense is stopping the run and we exploited some other things tonight.”

The Creston offense accumulated 564 yards in total offense and 48 points against a Bomber defense that had only allowed 17 points against Pella and 14 against fourth-ranked Humboldt.

“Cael Turner played a great game for us tonight,” Morrison said. “The offensive line did a great job with the run and pass. We have some weapons and we were able to get the ball to them tonight.”

The Panthers unveiled a new wrinkle in their offense in the third quarter that led to one of three rushing touchdowns by Hayes and a 41-21 lead. On third-and-six from the Ballard 39, receiver Tyler Riley got the handoff from Turner for what appeared to be a jet sweep to the left.

However, Weston Trapp came the other direction from the left wing and took a pitch from Riley. Trapp found Turner open for a 24-yard pass completion on the right side. Trapp is frequently a run/pass threat taking direct snaps in the power formation formerly known as “Tank” in the Panther offense.

“In the little padded league we called that the wobble dobble,” Hayes said, smiling.

Turner also punted twice for a 41-yard average, once on a quick kick taking the shotgun snap on fourth down after it appeared the offense was going for it at the Ballard 40 early in the fourth quarter.

“Cael Turner is just so athletic, he can do a lot of things for us,” Morrison said.

Ballard fell to 1-2. Creston (3-0) faces its first Class 3A team in a trip to Carroll (1-2) this week in the final non-district game before hosting Harlan (2-1) on homecoming Sept. 22 to open Class 3A District 6 play. Harlan edged Glenwood 17-14 Friday. Lewis Central ralied from a loss to Creston to top Class 4A top-ranked ADM, 38-31.

Carroll started the season with a 20-0 win over Greene County before falling to Gilbert (21-14) and Denison-Schleswig (31-7).

Creston 48, Ballard 28

Points by quarter

Cr211467—48

Bal71407—28

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

B — Eli Rouse 97 run (Roman Culbertson kick), 8:15

Cr — Tyler Riley 57 pass from Cael Turner (Brennan Hayes kick), 7:58

Cr — Brennan Hayes 67 pass from Turner (Hayes kick), 5:13

Cr — Hayes 75 pass from Turner (Hayes kick), 0:04

Second Quarter

Cr — Hayes 1 run (Hayes kick), 10:09

B — Rouse 36 run (Culbertson kick), 5:17

Cr — Brandon Briley 34 pass from Turner (Hayes kick), 1:39

B — Jude Gibson 85 kick return (Culbertson kick), 1:26

Third Quarter

Cr — Hayes 11 run (run failed), 0:00

Fourth Quarter

B — Caleb Sparks 7 fumble return (Culbertson kick), 3:38

Cr — Hayes 25 run (Hayes kick), 1:39

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TEAM STATISTICS

CrLC

First downs99

Rushes-yards30-14033-223

Passing19-29-014-23-1

Passing yards424134

Total yards564341

Punts-avg.2-41.03-35.0

Return yards64125

Fumbles-lost1-12-0

Penalties-yards6-606-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CR: Brennan Hayes 16-102, 3 TDs; Cael Turner 9-25; Weston Trapp 5-13. B: Eli Rouse 25-210, 2 TDs; Rhett Hedrick 4-9; Mason Gatchel 6-8.

PASSING — CR: Cael Turner 18-28-0 for 399 yards, 4 TDs; Weston Trapp 1-1 for 25 yards. B: Mason Gatchell 14-23-1 for 134 yards.

RECEIVING — CR: Brennan Hayes 7-210, 2 TDs; Brandon Briley 3-70, 1 TD; Tyler Riley 1-57, 1 TD; Weston Trapp 4-42; Cael Turner 1-25; Josh Schaefer 1-8; Casen Dryden 1-8; Carson Rieck 1-4. B: Chance Lande 3-63; Nicolas Schonhorst 4-25; Jude Gibson 3-18; Eli Rouse 1-13; Jakson Fleischmann 1-9; Eric Sydnes 2-6.

PUNTS-AVG. — CR: Cael Turner 2-41.0. B: Beau Warg 2-49.5; Mason Gatchel 1-7.0.

TACKLE LEADERS (total-solo) — CR: Austin Evans 8.5-6; Dillon Starlin 6.0-3; Jack Walter 5.5-5; Lucas Travis 5.5-2; Max Chapman 5.5-5; Will Bolinger 4.5-1; Milo Staver 4.0-3; McCoy Haines 2.5-2. B: Jackson Wacha 11.0-9; Rhett Hedrick 6.5-6; Jack Nelson 6.5-4; Jakson Fleischmann 5.0-5.

INTERCEPTIONS — CR: Austin Evans 1. B: None.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — CR: None. B: Caleb Sparks 1.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — CR: Max Chapman 5.0; Jack Walter 1.0. B: Caleb Sparks 1.0; Jackson Wacha 1.0.