Panthers win district title

Creston took advantage of two early Nevada turnovers to build a 14-0 lead on the way to securing the Class 3A District 6 championship Friday with a 42-28 victory on senior night at Panther Field.

A senior class of 25 was honored before the game in an emotional ceremony that also included a drone flyover by Levi Buxton in memory of the late Sterling Sharp, a member of this class until his family died on a spring break trip in Mexico in 2018. The drone had his number (92) from youth football and the “12th man” theme this team has been playing under in its 8-0 season.

The Panthers improved to 4-0 in district play, locking up a home playoff berth on Oct. 27 after concluding the regular season Friday at 2-6 Perry. Nevada falls to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in district play with a game left at Atlantic.

Early turnovers

Nevada forced Creston to punt after the first three plays of the game and looked effective on offense in driving to the Panther 15-yard line. But a fumble on one of Cason Stevenson’s carries was recovered by the Panther defense, leading to an 87-yard scoring drive capped by one of two touchdown passes from 3A leading passer Cael Turner to fellow senior Brandon Briley from 15 yards.

Nevada fumbled again on the first play of the next possession, giving Creston a short field (26 yards) to score quickly on a 1-yard run by Weston Trapp from a power short-yardage formation.

Nevada never recovered from that early 14-0 deficit and trailed 28-7 at halftime. The Panther defense began to slow the Cubs’ offense and put together long scoring drives against a strong Nevada defense that was allowing only 10 points per game.

“Anytime you can get turnovers in a game like this it’s critical,” Creston coach Brian Morrison said. “We made a couple of defensive adjustments based on what they did in the first series. That’s a really good football team. Our kids dug deep to get the district championship.”

It’s the first Creston district crown since the 2011 season, with that title wrapped up in a 42-20 win at Harlan. Spencer upset the 8-1 Panthers in the first round of the playoffs that year.

The 2014 Creston team that went to the UNI-Dome actually finished second in the district behind Dallas Center-Grimes, but avenged that regular-season loss in a wild 50-49 quarterfinal win in overtime.

So, this Panther team is still on track to make history in a big way, passing all of the tests to date including wins over Class 4A district champion Lewis Central, Class 4A state-ranked Ballard and defending state champion Harlan, which righted itself Friday in a 27-6 win over Atlantic. Clear Lake was shut out by Humboldt Friday, 34-0, leaving Creston as the lone unbeaten team in Class 3A and a consensus No. 1 this week.

“It was a great team win. We knew what was on the line and we came out and executed and had fun,” Turner said, standing in the rain after his 242-yard night with three touchdown passes.

In the battle of all-state running backs, Creston’s Brennan Hayes finished with 186 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries, and Nevada’s Stevenson ended with 120 yards and one TD.

During Nevada’s 21-7 fourth quarter, Hayes momentarily halted the Cubs’ momentum surge with a 77-yard touchdown burst to push the score to 42-14.

After Nevada scored twice to cut it to 42-28, the Panthers took over possession with 3:31 to play and ran out the clock to preserve the two-score cushion.

“The ball got slippery and it was hard to catch snaps and throw it, but we knew we could run the ball. That was our goal late in the game,” Turner said.

As pleased as Morrison was with the outcome, he was not satisfied with the comeback by Nevada down the stretch.

“That last six or seven minutes, we have to play cleaner,” Morrison said. “But, I was super pleased to hold them to seven at the half and it was still seven going into the fourth quarter. That team scored 39 points on Harlan last week. Stevenson is a legitimate all-state running back. We were able to bottle him up and not let him get outside in open space.”

Defensive back Jack Walter led the defense with 12 tackles. Austin Evans was next with 6.5, and the senior linebacker said pursuit was a key in slowing Stevenson.

“We just did what we do, get 11 hats to the football,” Evans said. “They got the momentum going at the end, but we did our job in the first three quarters so it really didn’t matter at that point. It gives us something to look at on film and fix.”

Defensive end Max Chapman, one of four Panthers with a tackle for loss, said the Panthers held their own in the battle of top Class 3A lines.

“The energy coming out of the locker room was the best we’ve had all year, right up there with how we came out at Lewis Central,” Chapman said. “It boils down to we watched a lot of film. The defense always dreads the moment in practice when Morrison says it’s time for the pursuit drill, but it pays off. We were containing the running back and getting some pressure on their quarterback.”

The Panther offense mixed an effective running game featuring Hayes with a passing attack that found openings in the middle of the field on short routes, along with some big strikes downfield. Tyler Riley hauled in a long pass over the middle from Turner for a 75-yard touchdown in the first half, and Briley had two TD catches in the corner of the end zone. The second one came on some improvisation.

“It was meant to be a post, but Cael scrambled out so I stuck my foot in the ground and ran left,” Briley said. “He threw it, I fought (the defender) for it and got it.”

28-7 at half

That 16-yard strike to cap a 33-yard drive when the Panthers got the ball with just 1:53 left in the half sent the Panthers to the halftime dressing room with a 28-7 lead. Rain began falling during the band’s halftime show and changed the conditions for both offenses in the second half.

Garrison Carter, the team’s offensive coordinator and former ADM head coach, said the offensive staff’s game plan was working effectively to build the lead up to 35-7.

“It was big to score after the turnovers,” he said. “We always preach to win after sudden change. Score if we force a turnover, and get a stop if we turn it over. We tried to show some things we hadn’t shown much. We tried to stretch them laterally, almost like some triple option stuff with Cael, and then go over with top with some big shots. Cael made the throws.”

Turner now has 25 touchdown passes, breaking the single-season record of 23 held by Alex Nielsen from the state semifinal team of 2014.

Turner praised his offensive line afterward for allowing time for those long passing plays to develop. Offensive tackle Quinten Fuller said it was a successful night for the guys up front.

“I think they were looking for our screens, and they weren’t always rushing real hard,” Fuller said. “We were able to pass the ball downfield. No. 5, their linebacker, was tough on the sweeps but we were able to run the ball up the middle.”

Having a back like Hayes comes in handy during rainstorms when running the ball is essential, Turner said.

“He finds holes, he breaks tackles and he makes big plays when there isn’t much there,” Turner said. “He’s just a big play waiting to happen.”

Briley said Nevada defense was designed to slow Hayes, and provided room downfield for big plays.

“They run a cover three so they only have one high safety. We knew if we could get past the corner and occupy their safety, we could hit them deep,” Briley said.

Meanwhile, Stevenson was unable to change the game with big plays from the Nevada offense, which also featured dangerous receivers Kyle Kingsbury and Jacob Khounsourath.

“They are pretty balanced,” said defensive back Dylan Calvin. “We knew if he (Stevenson) started bouncing off tackles, he could get loose. Morrison preaches 11 hats to the ball. The turnovers were big momentum changers for us, for sure. Field position is so big in big games like this.”

Locking up a home playoff game was icing on the cake, Morrison said.

“Home field advantage is critical,” he said. “There were no guarantees if we lost this game tonight and we told the kids that. We’re in a great position now. We just have to continue what we’re doing week in and week out.”

Creston 42, Nevada 28

Points by quarter

Cr 14 14 7 7—42

Nev 0 7 0 21—28

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Cr — Brandon Briley 15 pass from Cael Turner (Brennan Hayes kick), 7:30

Cr — Weston Trapp 1 run (Hayes kick), 5:21

Second Quarter

N — Cason Stevenson 1 run (Kyle Kingsbury kick), 10:27

Cr — Tyler Riley 75 pass from Turner (Hayes kick), 9:42

Cr — Briley 16 pass from Turner (Hayes kick), 0:25

Third Quarter

Cr — Trapp 2 run (Hayes kick), 2:06

Fourth Quarter

N — Anthony Eaton 11 run (Kingsbury kick), 10:15

Cr — Brennan Hayes 77 run (Hayes kick), 9:28

N — Eaton 1 run (Kingsbury kick), 4:12

N — Kingsbury 61 pass from King (Kingsbury kick), 3:31

—————

TEAM STATISTICS

Cr N

First downs 14 14

Rushes-yards 40-228 39-156

Passing 13-25-1 9-17-1

Passing yards 242 169

Total yards 460 309

Punts-avg. 3-31.0 3-31.3

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-3

Penalties-yards 8-35 3-17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CR: Brennan Hayes 28-186, 1 TD; Cael Turner 3-21; Weston Trapp 6-20, 2 TDs; Dylan Calvin 1-1. N: Cason Stevenson 22-120, 1 TD; Anthony Eaton 8-43, 2 TDs; Connor King 9-(-7).

PASSING — CR: Cael Turner 13-24-1 for 242 yards, 3 TDs. N: Connor King 9-16-1 for 169 yards, 1 TD.

RECEIVING — CR: Tyler Riley 2-86, 1 TD; Josh Schaefer 5-73; Brandon Briley 5-64, 2 TDs; Casen Dryden 1-19. N: Kyle Kingsbury 5-98, 1 TD; Jacob Khounsourath 4-71.

PUNTS-AVG. — CR: Dylan Calvin 3-31.0. N: Mason Herrold 3-31.3.

TACKLE LEADERS (total-solo) — CR: Jack Walter 12.0; Austin Evans 6.5; Dillon Starlin 5.5; Will Bolinger 5.5; McCoy Haines 5.0; Lucas Travis 5.0; Jackson Kerr 3.0; Max Chapman 2.5; Milo Staver 2.0; Tyson Looney 1.0. N: Jackson Burlage 13.5; Isaac Williams 9.5; Anthony Eaton 7.5.

INTERCEPTIONS — CR: McCoy Haines 1. N: Austin Waldera 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — CR: Dylan Calvin 1, Austin Evans 1, Lucas Travis 1.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — CR: Walter 1.0; Evans 1.0; Bolinger 1.0; Chapman 1.0. N: Eaton 3.0; Burlage 1.5; Will Palmer 1.0; John Nelson 1.0; Nate Maier 0.5; Cason Stevenson 0.5; Jacob Khounsourath 0.5; Williams 0.5.