PCM turns to running game to turn back Davis County

BLOOMFIELD — Football fields across the state of Iowa were a muddy mess on Friday night.

That was no different at Davis County High School when Prairie City-Monroe came to town for a battle of Mustangs.

The field was muddy. The footballs were wet. And the players’ footing was compromised.

That forced PCM to change its offensive style from a potent wide-open spread attack to a more conventional ground and pound.

But no matter what play the visiting Mustangs called, Davis County had no answer.

Logan Littrell rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns and PCM’s defense was lights out during a 37-0 win in Class 2A District 7 play.

The Mustangs (3-1, 2-0) scored their first touchdown off a blocked punt by Ethan Thomas, used a short field following a Davis County fumble to score their second touchdown and reached paydirt a third time in just one play following a miscue during another Davis County punt.

Before the host Mustangs knew it, they were down 21-0 with 11:49 to play in the second quarter.

“It was a muddy mess. We knew we were going to have to run the ball. And when we did run the ball, we ran it well, and it set up some play-action passing, too,” PCM coach Greg Bonnett said. “The conditions are sloppy so you never know what’s going to happen with either team’s offense. We stuck with the run game, and it worked out.”

PCM quarterback Logan Gilman threw for 456 yards in his last two games — including a 275-yard, four-touchdown effort last week in the district opener against Centerville — but attempted only nine passes in the wet conditions against Davis County.

But it hardly mattered.

PCM’s first scoring drive — after Thomas’ blocked punt — covered 11 plays and 51 yards. The Mustangs ran it 10 times and Littrell finished it off with a 1-yard plunge.

Davis County quarterback Zach Houf lost a fumble two plays into the home team’s next possession.

PCM needed just one play to get back on the board. And Gilman found Luke Greiner from 25 yards out. That was Gilman’s lone touchdown pass, and he completed six of his nine passes for 88 yards.

“Truth be told, we surprised Gilman (Thursday) and dumped a bucket of water on him because we figured it was going to rain a lot Friday,” Bonnett said. “We had a cooler full of water, too, and we dumped the footballs in it so we got a little wet ball handling in.”

Davis County did not seem to have control of the wet footballs.

The host Mustangs like to run the ball but never got their footing in the first half. Their third possession ended after three plays netted zero yards. On fourth down, Davis County snapped the ball over the punter’s head and he was tackled at the 3.

Littrell made easy work of that drive, scoring on the first play to make it 21-0.

After Davis County went four yards in three plays and punted, Gilman converted a third down on PCM’s next possession when he hooked up with Greiner for 21 yards.

Clay Cooper, playing in his first game of the season, then gained eight yards on a run and Littrell set up his third touchdown with a 17-yard gain.

Littrell made it 21-0 one play later as he dove in from the 1-yard line.

“We have been working on running the ball a lot lately and it has been working out so I think we are going to stick to it,” Littrell said. “The offensive line did a really good job opening up holes for me.”

Another three-and-out for Davis County (0-4, 0-2) gave the ball right back to PCM.

The Mustangs traveled 44 yards in nine plays. PCM converted a fourth down when Davis County jumped offsides and then Gilman found Noah Clark for 13 yards and another first down.

The drive stalled shy of the goal line three plays later, but PCM still found the end zone when Sheldon Speers took the snap on a field goal attempt and found Greiner for an 8-yard touchdown pass play.

That gave PCM a 34-0 lead at halftime and Chase Wilkie’s 29-yard field goal with 8:45 to play in the third quarter was the only points of the second half.

“The defense gave a great effort,” Bonnett said. “We were flying around and weren’t giving up much so that was nice to see.”

The visiting Mustangs had a little fun late in the fourth quarter when they sent out Wilkie to try a 59-yard field goal on the last play of the game.

The kick, which would have been four yards shy of an NFL record, was short but Bonnett said the team got the result they wanted.

“We had (Wilkie) right in the middle of the muddy part of the field. He is always begging to kick those long ones so we figured it was a school record try so why not,” Bonnett said. “It was mainly to see him fall, and he did. The guys had some fun with that one.”

It was definitely a fun night for PCM. The Mustangs have won three straight games by a score of 127-26.

It gets much tougher this week when PCM hosts Class 2A No. 9 Collins-Maxwell/Baxter, which has begun the season 4-0.

“I feel really good about where we are at. We have been physical all year long,” Bonnett said. “I think we have a chance to pretty good at the end of the year as long as we keep things going the way they are going.

Next week’s game is huge. It’s going to be a fun, fun game to be at. It’ll be a blast, and we are looking forward to it.”

Greiner finished the win against Davis County with three catches for 55 yards and two scores.

Davis Herndon led the defense with five solo tackles, six assisted tackles, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Littrell had three solos and three assisted tackles, while freshman Brycen Rogers snagged an interception late in the fourth quarter.

PCM 14-20-3-0—37

Davis County 0-0-0-0—0

PCM — Littrell 1 run (Wilkie kick)

PCM — Greiner 25 pass from Gilman (Wilkie kick)

PCM — Littrell 3 run (Wilkie kick)

PCM — Littrell 1 run (Wilkie kick)

PCM — Greiner 8 pass from Speers (kick failed)

PCM — Wilkie 29 field goal