Fast start lifts PCM football past South Tama County

TAMA — Lewis Daye Jr. rushed for a career high against South Tama County on Friday night.

But most of the rest of the production on offense for the PCM football team came from players who were seeing extended varsity action for the first time in their careers.

The Class 2A No. 8 Mustangs spread the ball around and used a balanced attack to down the Trojans, 41-7, on the road during 2A District 7 action.

PCM led 20-0 after one quarter and outscored South Tama 13-0 in the second and 2-0 in the third. The Trojans’ only points came on a touchdown with 6:09 to play in the game.

Daye Jr. started the scoring with a 67-yard touchdown run with 8:02 to play in the first.

Chase Wagaman hooked up with Ivan Shannon for a 13-yard TD a few minutes later and Easton Morris scored his second career rushing touchdown on a 3-yard run late in the period.

Alex Wendt scored on a 1-yard TD run early in the second and Daye Jr. went in from 9 yards out with 29 seconds to play until halftime.

The Mustangs produced a safety in the third and Landon Siedlecki caught a 26-yard TD pass from Wyatt Schubert in the fourth.

It was the first career receiving touchdowns for both Shannon and Siedlecki, the first career TD pass by Schubert and the first career rushing touchdown from Wendt.

Daye Jr. finished with a career-best 236 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He also caught one pass for six yards.

Morris added 58 yards and one TD on 10 carries, Gavin Steenhoek grabbed five passes for 87 yards, Shannon had two catches for 32 yards and one TD and Siedlecki’s only catch was the 26-yard TD.

Wagaman finished 9-of-19 through the air for 134 yards, one TD and one interception. Schubert was 2-of-3 for 34 yards and one passing TD.

Wendt totaled one catch for nine yards and added the short rushing touchdown. Ryker Clark rushed for a career-high 36 yards on seven carries and had one catch for eight yards. It was his first career varsity reception.

Wagaman’s 16 total TDs rank tied for fourth in 2A, while his 11 passing scores are seventh, his 1,007 passing yards rank ninth and his 1,132 offensive yards sit ninth.

Steenhoek ranks fourth in 2A with 900 all-purpose yards, tied for third with six receiving touchdowns, fifth with 474 receiving yards and tied for 10th with 23 catches.

The Mustangs (4-1, 2-0 in the district) rushed for 326 yards on 46 carries and had a 27-6 advantage in first downs.

Jax Strait led the PCM defense with four tackles and Wyatt Heater and Evan Jones produced three tackles each. It was a career high tackle total for Heater.

Keegan Fenton tallied 2.5 tackles and Dylan Beyer snagged his first career interception.

Dominic Witt made all three of his PATs and booted five touchbacks on his seven kickoffs. His 29 touchbacks are tops in 2A and second in the state.

South Tama (3-2, 1-1) was limited to 51 rushing yards on 23 carries, and the Trojans punted seven times.

Ryan Brant led STC with 65 passing yards, one TD and one interception. Nick Upah totaled three catches for 26 yards and a 14-yard TD. Kyle Youngbear led the Trojan defense with 18.5 tackles.

PCM and South Tama played for the first time ever, according to Bound. The Mustangs and No. 6 Centerville are the only unbeaten teams left in 2A District 7 play.