Raiders are district champs once again
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Jaydon Knight pulls a Cardinal ball carrier down by his jersey Friday night. Knight recorded two assists and three solos in the win over Central Decatur, while also scoring two touchdowns on the ground and catching one pass for two yards.
Mt. Ayr 21, CD 14
Friday night was the final regular season contest for the Raiders as they faced the Central Decatur Cardinals for a shot at the district title for the first time in five years.
The Raiders took care of business, recording 245 yards of office, 224 on the ground and 21 through the air, to defeat the Cardinals 21-14.
The Raiders held the Cardinals to 162 yards and forced three punts and two turnovers.
The Raiders didn’t win easily, however, with the Cardinals forcing a fumble on the game opening kickoff and throwing a 34-yard touchdown from Matthew Boothe to Trey Hullinger.
It took the Raiders until the second quarter to knot things up at seven each, before halftime on a Jayden Knight one-yard run and Peyton Stull point after.
The second half was a slugfest, with eight minutes burned off the clock before Mount Ayr marched down the field for a Jaixen Frost quarterback keeper and two-yard run. Stull once again provided the point after to lead Central Decatur 14-7.
Mount Ayr would score on another Jayden Knight goal line rush, before Boothe found Leymaster for a 65-yard pass with 8:15 left in the game.
The Raiders ran out the clock to defeat the Cardinals and take the district title with the help of Interstate-35 defeating Pleasantville, 22-7, earlier in the night.
“We didn’t know for sure if we were going to get it [the district championship],” said senior Payton Weehler. “I don’t know how long it’s been since we have been district champs, but it has been too long. I’ve always wanted that in my career and now I have it. It means a lot and we can build on this. It wasn’t the prettiest, but it’s a good confidence booster showing that hard work pays off. It feels good.”
The Raider head coach, Derek Lambert, was proud of his team for pulling through.
“We made a lot of mistakes and it was a slugfest out there. We are going to go back and look at film and say guys these are things we need to clean up,” said coach Lambert. “We didn’t take care of the ball that well on offense and that’s something you have got to do this far into the season. I thought tonight, being a rivalry game, our guys were a little hyped tonight and they were pressing and you can make more mistakes when that happens.”
Despite the mistakes, the Raiders were able to breathe at halftime and come out on top, district champions.
“It’s exciting. We’ve had good football teams between 2015 and now, but to fight through the adversity that we’ve fought through this year, our kids have handled it with a lot of maturity and rose to the occasion when they needed to and have shown great leadership and they deserve it [to be district champions].”
The Raiders will receive a first round bye this Friday and will take the field once more on October 23 against the winner of Central Decatur and Interstate-35.
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
MA 0 7 7 7 21
CD 7 0 0 7 14
Scoring
1st Quarter
11:04 – CD – Boothe to Hullinger 34-yd pass. PAT Rockhold good.
2nd Quarter
10:42 – MA – Jayden Knight 1-yd run. PAT Peyton Stull good.
3rd Quarter
4:34 – MA – Jaixen Frost 2-yd run. PAT Stull good.
4th Quarter
10:42 – MA – Knight 1-yd run. PAT Stull good.
8:15 – CD – Boothe to Leymaster 65-yd pass. PAT Rockhold good.
Team Statistics
1st Downs MA CD
Total 16 9
Rushing 15 1
Passing 1 5
Penalty 0 3
Rushing
Attempts 52 23
Gained 236 54
Lost 12 56
Net 224 -2
Passing
Completions 2 8
Attempts 5 21
Percentage 40 38.1
Intercepted 1 2
Net 21 164
Total Offense 245 162
Punts 1 3
Average 33 40
Return Yards
Punt Return 24 0
Kickoff 25 33
Int. Returns 73 21
Fumble Ret. 0 20
Fumbles 3 3
Fumbles lost 2 0
Penalties 6 12
Yards lost 60 85
Individual Statistics
Passing
Comp Att Yds
Frost 2 5 21
Rushing
Att. Gain Avg
Frost 11 37 3.4
Weehler 14 77 5.5
Shay 9 42 4.7
Knight 10 31 3.1
Cole 8 37 4.7
Receiving
Rec Yds Avg
Shay 1 19 19
Knight 1 2 2
Tackles
S A
T.Ehlen 3 0
Weehler 10 2
Shay 4 0
Knight 3 2
C.Larson 1 1
Shelman 2 1
R.Larson 2 2
Strange 1 0
Morales 1 0
Trujillo 2 0
Shaha 1 0
Frost 1 1
Kick-Offs
Kicks Yds
Stull 4 193
Kick Return
Returns Yds
Pierson 2 25
Punts
Kicks Yds
Pierson 1 33
Punt Return
Returns Yds
T.Ehlen 2 24
Interceptions
INT Yds
Ehlen 1 32
Trujillo 1 41
