Mustangs run past Big Reds to win third straight district championship

MONROE — The clock didn’t quite strike midnight on the Centerville football team on Friday night.

But the Cinderella story of Class 2A did not end with a district championship for the Big Reds as the PCM football team rallied from a huge hole early to win its regular-season finale at home.

The Class 2A No. 5 Mustangs trailed by three scores in the first half but rushed for 421 yards and overcame a pair of lightning delays and another injury during a 58-30 victory in 2A District 7 play.

“We made it through despite all the injuries and adversity,” PCM head football coach Greg Bonnett said. “It feels awesome. We get to host some playoff games now so it was a good night.”

It was the sixth straight win for the Mustangs, and they claimed their third consecutive district championship.

The regular-season finale against No. 4 Centerville was a battle for the District 7 title as both teams entered the game 4-0 in district play.

While PCM had been there before, the Big Reds were arguably playing in their biggest game since starting 11-0 in 2009. Centerville has won at least seven games just twice in the past 16 seasons, too.

But the visitors drew first blood and landed the first knock down in a game that ended at 11:59 p.m.

After the first two plays from scrimmage resulted in negative yardage, Mack Murdock connected with Klayton Lawson for an 83-yard touchdown on third and 13.

Lawson got enough for the first down on the initial catch but spun two different times to break tackles and sprinted to paydirt to give Centerville an early lead.

On the first play of the Big Reds’ next drive, Lawson got past the defense again and Murdock hit him in stride down the visiting sideline for an 85-yard TD pass play.

The missed extra point made it 13-0. That’s about when the first delay for lightning took place.

PCM turned the ball over on its next two possessions. Just before the second lightning delay, Centerville’s Conner Petoyan snagged the first of two Chase Wagaman interceptions in the game.

When play resumed for good after another long delay, the Big Reds (7-1, 4-1 in the district) capped a 5-play, 32-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run by Makoa Kaleponi.

“We just tried to stay calm and keep our mind in the game,” PCM senior two-way linemen Braedyn Lester said about the delays. “They showed different fronts so we had to switch up some of our blocking schemes. It worked out for us.”

The Mustangs started their comeback on their next possession. The drive stated on PCM’s own 47-yard line, and the home team needed only four plays to go 53 yards. The drive was capped by a 27-yard TD from Wagaman to Alex Wendt.

It was the only pass completion of the day for the Mustangs as Wagaman finished 1-of-5 for 27 yards, one TD and two interceptions.

“I do that quick out. They didn’t really expect it,” Wendt said of the TD pass play. “Those lightning delays really helped. We talked formations, made sure we knew the game wasn’t over and not quitting because of the deficit. We knew it wasn’t over.”

After a three-and-out by Centerville, PCM continued to carve into its deficit. This time, the Mustangs marched 66 yards in six plays.

All six plays were runs by Lewis Daye Jr. He got three straight first downs on runs of 16, 21 and 19 yards before scoring from 1-yard out with 7:29 to go until halftime.

The Big Reds answered right back though. They drove 80 yards in 11 plays, overcame two short runs by Kaleponi and a sack from Wendt and converted a fourth and five with a 25-yard pass from Murdock to Abram Decena.

Decena hauled in an 11-yard TD pass from Murdock on the next play to swell the visitor’s lead to 27-15.

Centerville took momentum into halftime, too. The Big Reds came up with a stop on fourth down to halt PCM’s final drive of the first half. The eight-play drive by the Mustangs ended at the Centerville 23-yard line.

“We didn’t have school today because of parent-teacher conferences,” Bonnett said. “Those days are always tough because the guys just sit around most of the day.

“We brought them in to lift weights, but it’s not the same. We were out of rhythm because of Senior Night, too, and had dirty eyes. They were just off in the clouds so to speak, and that’s a recipe for disaster. The rain delays were probably a blessing in disguise even though we’re doing this interview after midnight.”

The Mustangs (7-1, 5-0) went 60 yards on their first possession of the second half, and all seven plays were on the ground.

A pass interference call against Centerville moved the chains initially and then Wagaman got loose for 15 yards on fourth and nine.

Daye Jr., who carried the ball 26 times in the first half, scored on an impressive 24-yard TD run to cap the drive. After being stopped initially up the middle, the Mustang sophomore bounced outside and made one final cut near the goal line to bring the hosts to within 27-22 after the Dominic Witt PAT.

The game completely shifted on Centerville’s next possession. After picking up 16 yards on first down, Murdock’s next pass was picked off by Gavin Steenhoek and the senior two-way starter took it back 43 yards for the touchdown. It all started with a big hit on the quarterback by Keegan Fenton.

Playing from behind for the first time in the game, the Big Reds continued to move the ball through the air. On third and 10, Murdock hit Kayden Rice for 28 yards and then connected with Lawson for 12 more and another first down.

But the drive stalled four plays later as Fenton’s sack on fourth down turned the ball over on downs.

Fenton finished with five tackles, two tackles for loss and two sacks in the win, and Wendt registered 9.5 tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks.

“This is the best game to play if you’re in my position,” Wendt said.

“We can basically just run up field and chase after him. They ran a lot of empty sets so we knew they were throwing it.”

Murdock got the ball back to his team though. After a holding penalty pushed the Mustangs back, the sophomore two-way starter picked off Wagaman on the third play of the drive and returned it to the PCM 15-yard line.

Three straight incompletions though forced the Big Reds into a 32-yard field goal attempt and Jason Morrow booted it through to push the visitors back in front 30-29.

That was the last time Centerville scored though. And Easton Morris took over on the ground for the Mustangs.

Already down a few backs due to injury, Morris came in for Daye Jr. after he left the game early. His first run of the second half went for 8 yards and he ended the five-play, 55-yard drive with back-to-back runs of 10 and 20 yards, and the 20-yard TD run shifted the lead back to the Mustangs for good.

“I just tried to stay in the game, think about how I can help the team when my name gets called and do the best I could,” Morris said.

Morris’ big night included a career-best three rushing TDs. PCM’s next drive covered six plays and five of them were runs by Morris.

He capped the possession with a 5-yard TD run that was set up by Wagaman’s 14-yard scamper.

Centerville got a 34-yard completion from Murdock to Kaleponi on its next possession, but another sack ended the drive in the red zone.

This time, a stable of Mustangs, including Wendt and Fenton, turned the ball back over to the offense, and Morris went back to work.

PCM needed only six plays to go 82 yards. Helped out by a few Centerville penalties, Morris got a first down on a 15-yard run and then sprinted past the defense for a 69-yard TD on the next play.

It was the longest run of Morris’ varsity career. He finished with a career-high 184 yards on 18 carries.

“It felt amazing,” Morris said about the long TD run. “My blockers did what they were supposed to, I did my assignment and we got it done.”

Murdock connected with Lawson for 21 yards on Centerville’s first play from scrimmage on its next possession.

But another pick 6 by PCM capped off its come-from-behind win. This time, Jax Strait snagged a Murdock pass and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown.

Murdock, who is being recruited by both Iowa and Iowa State, threw for 417 yards in the loss.

Lawson grabbed six passes for 227 yards and two scores but 168 of those yards and both TDs came on Centerville’s first two possessions.

“We couldn’t defend it a regular way,” Bonnett said. “We had to resort to blitzing and playing cover 0. We tried to get him to throw quick passes that were hopefully off the mark.

“He’s a really accurate quarterback who has some really good receivers to throw to.”

PCM outscored Centerville 58-10 after falling behind 20-0. The Mustangs won the third quarter 22-3 and outscored the Big Reds 21-0 in the fourth.

Daye Jr. led the PCM rushing attack before leaving the game with an injury. He ran for 201 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries.

The Mustangs averaged 7.5 yards per carry in the win. They rank second in 2A with 1,962 rushing yards, tied for sixth with a 6.1 yards per carry average and fourth with 26 rushing touchdowns.

“It’s pretty to cool to be a part of,” Lester said. “I think it tires out the defense, and once we get going it’s hard to stop.

“We have a great RB core. The offensive line is great, and we seem to run for at least 150 every game.”

Bonnett and the Mustangs never panicked and stuck to the run despite the early deficit. He also admitted to not really wanting to challenge Petoyan in the passing game.

“That’s our game. We want to grind on our opponents,” Bonnett said. “But their No. 8 (Petoyan) is a dude. He was locking us down. I really like him. They have some dudes for sure.”

Centerville also was one-dimensional on offense. The Big Reds managed only 43 rushing yards on 24 carries, which is 1.8 yards per rush.

A big part of that success for PCM’s defense was Mason Hjortshoj at linebacker. He’s another Mustang who’s name was called due to injuries to other guys, but he’s made the most of his opportunity.

Hjortshoj finished with a career-high 13.5 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack.

“He’s a physical kid. He loves football,” Bonnett said about Hjortshoj. “He’s super fun to coach and super fun to be around. He’s a young buck running around out there and having a good time. There’s nothing but good things to come from that kid.”

Hjortshoj ranks third on the team with 36 tackles, and he got his hands on a few Murdock passes, too.

“After the first half, we switched things up,” Hjortshoj said. “The inside backers blitzed a lot and that changed everything. That pressure forced him to throw earlier than he wanted to.

“It was a fun game. It’s a tough offense to play against, but I just try to be physical and make contact with someone. I just wait for my chance to make a play.”

Steenhoek added 5.5 tackles and the pick 6, Strait had 4.5 tackles and the pick 6, Wagaman made five tackles and Harrison Brinegar totaled 4.5 tackles.

The PCM defense, led by Hjortshoj, Fenton and Wendt, accounted for eight tackles for loss and six sacks in the win.

Fenton leads the Mustangs with 47 tackles and 14 tackles for loss and his seven sacks rank tied for fourth in 2A.

Brian Snyder led the Big Reds’ defense with 18 tackles. His 77 tackles this season ranks third in 2A.

Another big factor in the game was field position. Centerville basically attempted an onside kick every time it kicked off, while PCM’s Witt booted all nine of his kickoffs into the end zone.

Witt leads the second best kicker in 2A by 23 touchbacks. He has a 2A-best 52 touchbacks in 58 attempts.

“We can go on and on about (Witt),” Bonnett said. “He helps our team and our defense with those touchbacks. It was basically just onside after onside with them. That’s what they’ve done a lot this year.”

PCM opens the playoffs against West Liberty (3-5) at 7 p.m. on Friday in Monroe. The Big Reds get Mediapolis (4-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday in Centerville.

The Mustang’s only other meeting against West Liberty since 2007 came in the state semifinals at the UNI-Dome during PCM’s run to the state championship in 2018. The Mustangs won that game 27-0.

Notes: PCM had a 20-17 advantage in first downs. Thirteen of those came in the second half, and 10 of Centerville’s were in the first half. … The Mustangs committed seven penalties for 60 yards, while Centerville was flagged for eight penalties for 70 yards. … PCM has won at least seven games for the third straight season. The Mustangs have reached seven wins or more in nine of the past 11 seasons, too.