Raiders roll into playoffs

 The Mount Ayr Raiders will enter the 2024 playoffs on a high note with a 54-14 win at Martensdale-St. Mary’s in their district finale.

The win was the sixth for Mount Ayr in eight games and helped the Raiders to a 5-1 District record this year.  The 50-plus point total was the third time this season that Mount Ayr has topped the mark.

“We had a complete game.  It was good to have balance in production.  We were efficient passing and when we had the opportunity to get big plays,” said Mount Ayr coach Ryan Victor.

“We wanted to get back at it after a tough loss last week. MTSM played us tough to their credit.  It wasn’t as if they rolled out the red carpet and let us do what we wanted to.  Once we settled in and got moving the football in the second quarter, we were ok,” said Victor.

Mount Ayr finished the regular season with a 6-2 record and a runner-up finish in Class A District 6.  Madrid won the district followed by district runner-up Mount Ayr, Lynnville Sully is the No. 3 team out of District 6, and Wayne is the No. 4 team for the playoffs.

Madrid and Mount Ayr will host first-round games by Wayne and Lynnville-Sully will hit the road.  Madrid will host North Tama and Mount Ayr will host Earlham.  Lynnville-Sully will travel to Riverside (Oakland), and Wayne will travel to AC/GC.

The Raiders led just 14-7 after the first quarter but used a big second quarter to take a 38-7 halftime lead.  Mount Ayr scored 16 points in the third quarter to take a 54-7 lead to the final quarter.

Dyson Thompson scored the first points of the game on a 42-yard scoring run less than a minute into the game with a 42-yard run for a 6-0 lead.

MTSM would take their only lead of the game two minutes later on a 17-yard scoring pass, 7-6.  The Raiders would add a Jackson Ruggles 15-yard scoring run with 1:05 left in the opening quarter.

A 14-7 Mount Ayr lead swelled to 38-7 at halftime after a 24-point second quarter for the Raiders.  A Tate Dugan scoring run with 9:34 left in the half was followed by touchdown passes from Ruggles to Thompson for 62 yards and Trevin Victor to Ruggles for 48 yards late in the half.

Two more Raider touchdowns in the third quarter on a Ruggles 24-yard pass to Kash Wasteney and Thompson’s second scoring run gave the Raiders a 54-7 lead.  The 35-point running clock mercy rule was

activated in the second half.

Mount Ayr had 487 yards to total offense in the game with 218 passing and 269 rushing yards.  Junior quarterback Jackson Ruggles passed for 170 yards on 7-of-10 attempts with two touchdown passes.  Ruggles also rushed for 21 yards on four carries for a touchdown.  Ruggles also caught one pass for 48 yards and had a touchdown.  Defensively, Ruggles had a fumble recovery and also intercepted a pass.

Dyson Thompson led Mount Ayr in rushing with 148 yards on 10 carries with a pair of scores.  Tate Dugan also had a rushing score in the game.  Thompson also led the Raiders in receiving with two catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.  Kash Wasteney also had a touchdown catch in the game.  Defensively, Mount Ayr was led in tackles by Trace Knapp and Rowan Sackett with 6.5 each.  Trevin Victor added 5 tackles.

Martensdale-St. Mary’s had 276 yards of total offense in the game with 231 passing and 45 rushing yards.  Sophomore quarterback Jack Gavin passed for 231 yards on 14-for-27 attempts with two touchdowns.  Cale Morrow was the top MTSM rusher with 28 yards on seven carries.  Junior Travis White led the Blue Devils in receiving, catching eight passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns.  Defensively, Colton Wight led in tackles with 7.5.

The Raiders will host Earlham Friday night in the Class A playoffs.  Earlham finished in third place in Class A District 7 at 4-2.  Earlham is 6-2 overall.  The Cardinals beat Mount Ayr district foe Central Decatur 41-12 and beat District 6 champion Madrid, 21-14.  The Cardinals also gave state-ranked AC/GC a good game, falling 28-21.  Earlham beat South Central Calhoun 21-19 in week 8 in their district finale.

“We are excited to have another home football game, especially in the postseason. We earned it.  It wasn’t given to us and we understand how special it is,” said Victor.

“Earlham is a physical football team.  They will run the single wing and that will be a challenge for our defense,” he said.

The Cardinals quarterback Blake Reynolds has passed for 809 on 57 completions with 9 touchdown passes.  Senior runningback Caleb Smith has rushed for 1,010 yards on 124 carries with 13 touchdowns.  The Cardinals as a team has rushed for 1,901 yards and has a per-rush average of 6.7 yards.  The Cardinals have three receivers with over 100 yards on the year.  Josh Winey caught 19 passes for 328 yards and 6 touchdowns.  Dallas Canoyer caught 11 passes for 218 yards with two touchdowns.  Klayton Wolken also caught 13 passes for 131 yards.  Defensively, Caleb Smith leads in tackles with 64 tackles and Josh Winey has 54.5 tackles.  Earlham has nine different players who have received a fumble and three different players who have intercepted a pass.

Mount Ayr 54,  Martensdale-St. Mary’s 14

Friday, October 18 at Martensdale

1    2    3    4    Final

MA    14  24  16  0      54

MSM   7    0    0  7      14

Scoring Summary:

1st Qtr (11:14) – MA – Dyson Thompson 42-yard run (Dyson Thompson run no good)

1st Qtr (9:29) – MTSM – Travis White 17-yard pass from Jack Gavin (Ethan Cross kick)

1st Qtr (1:05) – MA – Jackson Ruggles 15-yard run (Dyson Thompson kick)

2nd Qtr (9:34) – MA – Tate Dugan 5-yard run (Tate Dugan run)

2nd Qtr (1:36) – MA – Dyson Thompson 62-yard pass from Jackson Ruggles (Jackson Ruggles run)

2nd Qtr (0:45) – MA –  Jackson Ruggles 48-yard pass from Trevin Victor (Dyson Thompson run)

3rd Qtr (10:56) – MA – Kash Wasteney 24-yard pass from Jackson Ruggles (Dyson Thompson run)

3rd Qtr (7:20) – MA – Dyson Thompson 56-yard run (Jackson Ruggles run)

4th Qtr (1:55) – MTSM – Travis White 67-yard pass from Jack Gavin (Ethan Cross kick)

Individual Statistics:

Rushing: MA – Dyson Thompson 10-148, Evan Weehler 6-31, Jackson Ruggles 4-21, Drayden Thompson 3-3, Tate Dugan 2-7, Keaton Swank 2-3, Trevin Victor 1-19, Trace Knapp 1-18, Rowan Sackett 1-10, Tyler Martin 1-9. MTSM – Wesley Turner 9-16, Cale Morrow 7-28, Jack Gavin 3-1.

Passing: MA – Jackson Ruggles 7-for-10 170 yards 2 TD’s, 0 INT”s; Trevin Victor 1-for-2 48 yards 1 TD, 0 INT’s; Drayden Thompson 0-for-1 0 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT”s. MTSM – Jack Gavin 14-for

Receiving: MA – Dyson Thompson 2-121, Jackson Ruggles 1-48, Trevin Victor 1-20, Kash Wasteney 1-20, Tate Dugan 1-9, Louden Main 1-4, Tyler Martin 1-(-4). MTSM – Travis White 8-184, Colton Wight 3-23, Jason Fugate 2-12, Cale Morrow 1-12.

Defensive Statistics:

Tackles (S-A-T): MA – Rowan Sackett 6-0.5 6.5, Trace Knapp 4-2.5 6.5, Trevin Victor 5-0 5, Bracken Collier 1-1.5 2.5, Jackson Ruggles 1-1 2, Drayden Thompson 2-0 2, Isac Dugan 2-0 2, Tucker Larson 2-0 2, Jaize Frost 1-0.5 1.5, Kash Wasteney 1-0.5 1.5, Dyson Thompson 1-0 1, Tyler Martin 1-0 1, Garrett Walter 1-0 1, Tate Dugan 1-0 1, Louden Main 1-0 1.

MTSM – Colton Wight 5-2.5 7.5, Wesley Turner 4-0.5 4.5, Travis White 3-1 4, Trent Jellison 2-1.5 3.5, Gavin Frantum 3-0 3, Ira Hawk 2-0.5 2.5, Levi Minella 1-1.5 2.5, Jack Rezac 0-1.5 1.5, Cale Morrow 1-0.5 1.5, Hunter Dooley 1-0 1, Orion Blaisdell 1-0 1, Clayton Pedersen 1-0 1, Jason Fugate 1-0 1, Caleb Puderbaugh 0-0.5 0.5.

Tackles For Loss: MA – Tucker Larson 2, Tyler Martin 1, Rowan Sackett 1. MTSM – Wesley Turner 1, Colton Wight 1.

Sacks: MA – none. MTSM – Wesley Turner 1.

Fumble Recoveries: MA – Jackson Ruggles 1, Tate Dugan 1. MTSM – none.

Interceptions: MA – Jackson Ruggles 1-0 yards. MTSM – none.

Kicking Statistics:

Kick-Offs: MA – Tate Dugan 4-171 yards, Isac Dugan 4-121 yards. MTSM – Ethan Cross 3-66 yards.

Kick-Off Returns: MA – Garrett Walter 1-8, Jackson Ruggles 1-(-4). MTSM – Cooper Hamilton 3-28, Hunter Dooley 2-14, Wesley Turner 1-26, Clayton Pedersen 1-16, Ira Hawk 1-10.

Punts: MA – Tate Dugan 1-30 yards, 30.0-yard ave. MTSM – Jack Gavin 2-58 yards, 29.0-yard ave.

Punt Returns: MA – Trevin Victor 2-11 yards.  MTSM – none.