March 19, 2024

CMB battles through mistakes to win final Homecoming

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BAXTER — For the second straight game, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s football team has held a significant advantage in total yards.

Unfortunately, the success moving the football hasn’t led to easy victories yet.

The Raiders out-gained East Marshall 408-286 on Friday night, but the offense played behind the sticks too much because of penalties. Despite those 12 penalties for 115 yards and not having head coach Rob Luther on the sidelines, CMB found a way to win during a 27-21 triumph in the program’s final Homecoming game.

Blake Coughenour rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns in helping the Raiders win their second straight game after beginning the season 0-3.

“There were holes everywhere,” Coughenour said. “I couldn’t be more proud of my offensive line. We didn’t start out very well, but we are starting to figure it out that we can run the ball whenever we want.”

CMB led 7-0 after one quarter and had a 14-7 lead at halftime. East Marshall won the second half 14-13, but the Raiders (2-3) held on to improve their Class 2A District 3 record to 2-1.

East Marshall fell to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in district play.

“It’s important to win the game. It’s homecoming, and we are trying to keep our ship on the right course, but mistakes just hurt us tonight,” Defensive Coordinator Jason Aker said. “We are making mental mistakes that can’t be made in Week 5 of a season.”

Aker and the other CMB assistant coaches had bigger roles Friday because Luther was not permitted to be at the game after he was ejected from the Sept. 16 game against West Marshall.

Both teams put together long drives on their first offensive possessions of the game.

East Marshall began with the ball and drove 64 yards in 10 plays before turning the ball over on downs.

CMB went 79 yards in 17 plays on its first drive. The Raiders benefited from an offsides penalty by East Marshall when they went for it on fourth-and-1 from their 30-yard line. The biggest plays from scrimmage were 7-yard runs by Hunter McWhirter and Dalton Birchmier. Coughenour capped the drive with a 4-yard TD rush.

East Marshall answered the Raiders’ scoring drive with a game-tying drive of its own. This time, the Mustangs went 80 yards in 15 plays. Tyler DeBondt found Noah Bandstra on 14-yard TD pass with 6:10 to go until halftime.

The only other drive of the first half for CMB ended with another touchdown. McWhirter found Brady Kemp on a 10-yard pass that resulted in a first down and then Coughenour sprinted for 15 yards on the next play. On third and 8, Coughenour got it again and cruised past the Mustang defense for a 46-yard TD.

“He’s one of the greatest running backs I have ever seen,” offensive linemen Jason Hillgren said. “Our run game can be unstoppable if we can get our linemen going. I trust him 100 percent to do what he does if we can open up holes for him.”

The Raiders got the ball first to start the third quarter. They made it 3-for-3 on the night when Coughenour scored his third TD of the night on a 12-yard run.

Braydon Aker set up the score with back-to-back first-down runs of 16 and 12 yards. Aker also converted a third down and 3 with an 18-yard run. Coughenour scored one play later.

“Braydon is coming off a leg injury and for him to run the football like that was great to see,” Coach Aker said. “The fear of getting hurt again is going away, which is big.”

East Marshall’s passing offense gave CMB fits all night long. The Mustangs got within 21-13 on their first drive of the second half when they 66 yards in 11 plays.

DeBondt completed three passes for first downs on the drive and Bandstra’s 1-yard TD run was set up by a 17-yard pass from DeBondt to Cole Nauman and a CMB roughing the passer penalty.

“Defensively, we have to get off the field. We couldn’t stop the pass tonight,” Coach Aker said.

CMB’s fourth possession resulted in a fourth straight touchdown. On the drive, Aker connected with Travis Lindemoen for 15 yards on fourth and 2. A 2-yard by Aker on fourth and 1 kept the ball with CMB and then Coughenour’s 12-yard run set up Aker’s 9-yard TD pass to Maxwell.

East Marshall fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, but CMB couldn’t turn the miscue into points.

The drive started on the Mustang 36-yard line. The first play resulted in a 15-yard run by Coughenour, but the next three plays went for five yards and another 10 yards were lost due to another holding penalty. An Aker incompletion turned the ball over on downs.

The Mustangs regained momentum on their next drive. Starting on its own 22-yard line, East Marshall drove 78 yards in 12 plays. The drive included 20 yards in CMB penalties, and DeBondt connected on a 28-yard pass to Zane Johnson, a 10-yard pass to Logan Nicholson and a 12-yard pass to Nauman before connecting with Johnson for a 4-yard TD.

The Mustangs got within six points after DeBondt completed a pass to Lansin Lacina on the 2-point conversion attempt.

CMB had one final drive to ice away the victory. The Raiders began on their own 40-yard line after Johnson kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff.

Coughenour gained first downs on runs of 9, 15 and 12 yards on the drive, but he was stopped a couple yards short of the sticks on fourth and 6.

East Marshall gained 15 yards on the first play of its final drive thanks to a CMB penalty. Lindemoen broke up the next pass attempt, and then sophomore Will Clapper batted down a DeBondt pass on the final play of the game.

McWhirter was 6-for-8 for 47 yards through the air, while Aker passed for 22 yards, including a 9-yard TD to Tucker Maxwell. That score put the Raiders up 27-13 in the fourth quarter.

“I think both of our QBs trust each other. They have a goofy handshake that they do in practice, but the competition is helping to push each other,” Coach Aker said. “They are not pouting about it and just trying to do what they can do to help us win.”

Aker also rushed for 73 yards on 10 carries. The Raiders gained 339 yards on the ground in the victory. They averaged 6.3 yards per carry.

East Marshall’s Tyler DeBondt threw for 267 yards and two scores in the loss. The Mustangs only rushed for 19 yards on 19 carries.

CMB’s defense had five sacks. It also was the first time this season that the Raider offense did not have a turnover in a game.

“Not turning the ball over was big. The turnovers have killed us all season long,” Coughenour said. “We’ve had so many chances to stomp on teams’ throats. I don’t know what it is, but it’s big to get our second straight win. Now we just move on to the next one.”

The Raiders still need to clean up the penalties. Coughenour had a 62-yard touchdown run called back because of a holding infraction in the third quarter after East Marshall got within 21-13.

CMB’s final drive featured back-to-back holding calls, one of which came on another big gain by Coughenour.

Kemp led the Raider receivers with five catches for 42 yards. Maxwell’s only catch was the TD, while Lindemoen hauled in two passes for 18 yards.

Jason Hillgren and Archer McFadden each had two sacks to lead the CMB defense. Clapper had the other sack.

Hillgren and Clapper each had three tackles and two tackles for loss, while McFadden finished with 2.5 tackles and two tackles for loss.

Coughenour has rushed for 769 yards in the first five games, which ranks second in 2A. The senior tailback’s nine rushing touchdowns is currently tied for fourth.

“The season didn’t start off too well, but I think we have found some plays that are starting to work,” Hillgren said. “We just need to keep giving (Coughenour) the ball. We have a couple wins now. Hopefully we can keep going.”

CMB attempts to get a third consecutive win at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Des Moines. The Raiders face Heart of Iowa Conference rival Saydel in a district contest.

“I don’t know that we can take any team in our district lightly,” Coach Aker said. “Getting two wins feels good, but we are going to have to fix those mental mistakes this week against Saydel. We are just trying to get wins as many as we can.”