Baxter football falls to visiting Collins-Maxwell in rivalry matchup

BAXTER — The Baxter football team scored twice in the first and last quarters against rival Collins-Maxwell on Friday night.

But the Spartans were just too good overall and dominated the middle two frames during a 60-26 non-district road win.

Collins-Maxwell snapped a four-game skid in the series with a 22-0 second quarter. The Spartans led 22-12 after one and scored the only points of the third.

Stadan Vansice’s debut at quarterback was up and down. He rushed for 185 yards and two scores. He also threw for 46 yards and a TD on eight completions but was picked off three times, and the Spartans returned all three for touchdowns.

Cael Wishman gained 49 yards on 12 carries, Eli Dee grabbed four passes for 45 yards and one touchdown and Colten Damman snagged a pair of passes for 10 yards and a TD.

Hayden Burdess finished with three catches for 23 yards and Miles McCord grabbed one pass for 12 yards.

Blake Maxwell came in for Vansice at quarterback in the second half and finished 3-of-4 through the air for 45 yards and registered his first career TD pass.

Wishman led the Bolts’ defense with eight tackles and two tackles for loss. Trevor Hamilton collected 5.5 tackles, Cody Spurgeon totaled five tackles, Vansice and Damman each had four tackles and Burdess chipped in 3.5 tackles.

Baxter (0-1) rushed for 231 yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry, while the Spartans (1-0) ran for 238 and averaged 6.1 yards per rush.

Cooper Wierson completed a pass for 14 yards, rushed for 71 yards and one score and returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the win.

Austin Boege ran for 135 yards and three scores, made 10 tackles and returned the other interception for a TD.