Raiders shock Earlham, 58-50
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Advance to second round of playoffs and rematch with ACGC
A wild shoot-out type football game was one that many probably did not expect in the Raider’s first-round Class A playoff game against Earlham last Friday at home.
There, the two traditional powerhouse football programs put up video game-like totals in a 58-50 Mount Ayr victory.
The 108 combined points total for the two teams were the most combined points scored in a Class A playoff game last week.
Mount Ayr will travel to ACGC on Friday for a Class A state semifinal playoff game. The Chargers beat Wayne 28-0 last Friday in the first round.
The Raiders will be playing in the second week of the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
The Raiders got key touchdowns from a kick-off, punt, and interception return in the second half to help secure the win.
“When you consider yourself a good team and when you are playing in a big game like Friday, you have to play well in all three phases of a football game. We had all three going last Friday. When you can score without running an offensive play that makes you that much more dangerous. Those returns were big momentum shifters for us in the second half,” said Mount Ayr football coach Ryan Victor.
Mount Ayr never trailed in the football game but saw Earlham climb to within two points of tying the game once in the first half and trail only one score, 36-28 after three quarters.
The Cardinals would tie the game at 36 with 11:46 left in the game but the Raiders answered with a Dyson Thompson 83-yard kick-off return for a score on the ensuing kick-off. A Jackson Ruggles two-point run gave the Raiders a 44-36 lead. Later, the Cardinals tied the game again at 44 with 7:11 left in the game.
The Raiders answered with a Tate Dugan 58-yard kick-off return for a score on the ensuing kick-off. Another Ruggles two-point run gave the Raiders a 52-44 lead. On the next Cardinal possession, Ruggles came up big, intercepting an Earlham pass and returning it 58-yards for a touchdown with 5:34 left in the game to make it a two-score ball game at 58-44.
Earlham would add a late touchdown to get the final closer at 58-50 but could get no closer.
The two teams put up 840 yards of combined offense between the two teams which are similar numbers you may see playing a video game like Madden 25.
Mount Ayr had 318 yards of total offense in the game with 89 passing and 229 rushing yards. Jackson Ruggles passed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 7-for-8 pass attempts. Tyler Martin also completed a pass for 13 yards. Dyson Thompson rushed for 105 yards on 12 carries with an 8.8-yard average. For the season, Thompson has 888 yards on 125 carries with a 7.1-yard average. That total is the most for a Raider rusher since the 2015 season when then-junior Cal Daughton rushed for 933 yards and 11 touchdowns with an 8.5-yard per rush average.
Ruggles added 60 rushing yards on 10 carries and two scores. Tate Dugan caught three passes with one being a touchdown while Thompson and Trevin Victor each had two receptions. Ruggles also caught a 13-yard pass in the game.
Tyler Martin led the defense with 15 tackles followed by Dyson Thompson with 9.5 and Rowan Sackett with 9. Martin also had a fumble recovery in the game. Ruggles had the only interception, his sixth of the season, which he returned for a 58-yard touchdown.
The Raiders racked up 242 total return yards with 162 kick-offs and 80 yards in punt returns. The Raiders scored touchdowns in each return category.
Both Jackson Ruggles and Dyson Thompson each had a pair of two-point conversions while Jaize Frost had one.
Mount Ayr struggled to contain Earlham senior running back Caleb Smith in the game. Smith rushed for 316 yards on 39 carries and scored five touchdowns. He had a per-rush average of 8.1 yards. Blake Reynolds passed for 138 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-24 pass attempts and added 32 rushing yards and a touchdown. Four different Cardinal receivers caught two or more passes in the game. The Cardinals had 522 yards of total offense in the game.
Earlham played a pair of district teams this year, beating Central Decatur 41-12 in Leon in week and beating Madrid 21-14 in week five at home.
The Cardinals were third in Class A District 7 standings behind district champion ACGC and runner-up Riverside.
The Raiders scored over 50 points for the second straight game. Early on in the football game, the Raiders scored twice in the first quarter, just under four minutes apart on the game clock. A Jackson Ruggles 1-yard run and Dyson Thompson two-point run gave the Raiders an 8-0 lead with 9:24 left in the opening quarter.
Later, Trevin Victor got the return score party going with an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown with 5:41 left. Another Thompson two-point run gave the Raiders a 16-0 lead.
Earlham scored their first points four seconds into the second quarter to cut the Raider lead to 14-7, but a Tate Dugan 7-yard run and Ruggles pass to Jaize Frost for the conversion gave Mount Ayr a 24-7 lead. Later with the score 24-14, Dugan caught a 4-yard pass from Ruggles to set the score at 30-14 at halftime.
Earlham scored on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter to cut the Raider lead to 30-28 with 7:33 left in the quarter. Mount Ayr would extend their lead before the quarter ended when Ruggles crossed the goal line from 1-yard out with 6:18 left to set the score at 36-28 going to the final quarter.
Mount Ayr will continue their postseason run in the round of 16 remaining Class A teams. The Raiders will now play in Pod B of the Class A playoffs with Riverside, Tri-Center, and AC/GC.
The two semifinal Pod games will be played in a Pod Final for a trip to the UNI-Dome.
Mount Ayr (7-2) will play at ACGC (9-0) in one semifinal and Riverside (7-2) will play at Tri-Center (8-1) in the other semifinal.
Also still in the playoffs is district champion Madrid who will play Pekin with the winner playing the Bellevue-Lisbon winner.
The Raiders will play state-ranked ACGC for the second time this season and fourth time in the last two seasons.
The Raiders are looking for their first win over the Chargers in that time. AC/GC beat the Raiders 40-14 back on October 11.
The Raiders trailed 14-8 at halftime before the Chargers outscored Mount Ayr 26-6 in the second half. The Raiders had 300 yards of total offense in the game and had a balanced attack. Mount Ayr played that game without Jackson Ruggles who missed the game because of being in concussion protocol.
The Chargers used a potent ground game that racked up 442 yards and two 100-yard rushers in the game to distance themselves from the Raiders.
Three Charger rushers are either at 1,000 yards for the season or very close. Mike Fuller leads with 1,094 yards and 12 scores while Jathan South has 966 yards and 19 scores. Joe Crawford adds 872 yards and 7 scores. Those three backs have a per-rush average of no fewer than 7.4 yards a carry.
“We are preparing week to week and the journey is going to get us to the result we desire,” said Victor.
“Wayne slowed it down and got after them (AC/GC) defensively. You can’t sit on your heels. We want to go after them. Getting to play them a second time, we feel better. We want to be a better team than we were in Week 7. We have to be the best version of ourselves. We can only control what we can. If we do those things, we will be in a tight game. That is what we want. A game late and see what happens,” said Victor.
Mount Ayr 58, Earlham 50
Friday, October 25 at Mount Ayr
1 2 3 4 Final
E 0 14 14 22 50
MA 16 14 6 22 58
Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr (9:24) – MA – Jackson Ruggles 1-yard run (Dyson Thompson run)
1st Qtr (5:41) – MA – Trevin Victor 80-yard punt return (Dyson Thompson run)
2nd Qtr (11:56) – E – Caleb Smith 1-yard run (Chris Ridgely kick)
2nd Qtr (9:51) – MA – Tate Dugan 7-yard run (Ruggles pass to Jaize Frost)
2nd Qtr (4:14) – E – Dallas Canoyer 10-yard pass from Blake Reynolds (Chris Ridgely kick)
2nd Qtr (0:21) – MA – Tate Dugan 4-yard pass from Jackson Ruggles (Ruggles run no good)
3rd Qtr (10:23) – E – Caleb Smith 32-yard run (Chris Ridgely kick)
3rd Qtr (7:33) – E – Blake Reynolds 6-yard run (Chris Ridgely kick)
3rd Qtr (6:18) – MA – Jackson Ruggles 1-yard run (Dyson Thompson run no good)
4th Qtr (11:46) – E – Caleb Smith 32-yard run (Reynolds pass to Canoyer complete)
4th Qtr (11:34) – MA – Dyson Thompson 83-yard kick-off return (Jackson Ruggles run)
4th Qtr (7:11) – E – Caleb Smith 12-yard run (Caleb Smith run)
4th Qtr (6:58) – MA – Tate Dugan 58-yard kick-off return (Jackson Ruggles run)
4th Qtr (5:34) – MA – Jackson Ruggles 58-yard interception return (Jackson Ruggles run no good)
4th Qtr (3:14) – E – Caleb Smith 19-yard run (Chris Ridgely kick)
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Earlham – Caleb Smith 39-316, Blake Reynolds 9-32, Dallas Conoyer 5-28, Zane Diersen 3-8. MA – Dyson Thompson 12-105, Jackson Ruggles 10-60, Tate Dugan 6-41, Tyler Martin 6-23.
Passing: Earlham – Blake Reynolds 12-for-24 138 yards 1 TD, 1 INT. MA – Jackson Ruggles 7-for-8 76 yards 1 TD, 0 INT’s., Tyler Martin 1-for-1 13 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s.
Receiving: Earlham – Dallas Canoyer 4-40, Josh Winey 3-58, Klayton Wolken 2-19, Caleb Smith 2-7, Jaxen Speeding 1-14. MA – Tate Dugan 3-27, Trevin Victor 2-32, Dyson Thompson 2-17, Jackson Ruggles 1-13.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Earlham – Josh Winey 10-0.5 10.5, Dallas Conoyer 7-0.5 7.5, Klayton Wolken 5-1.5 6.5, Caleb Smith 4-1 5, AJ Dunsky 3-1.5 4.5, Corbin Eter 3-1 4, Keegan Long 3-0.5 3.5, Jaxen Speeding 3-0 3, Cole Eitel 1-1 2, Keeghen Reed 1-1 2, Zane Diersen 1-0.5 1.5, Konner Keller 1-0 1, Davis Doud 1-0 1, Brady Stewart 1-0 1.
MA – Tyler Martin 11-4 15, Dyson Thompson 8-1.5 9.5, Rowan Sackett 6-3 9, Garrett Walter 3-2 5, Louden Main 2-2 4, Bracken Collier 1-3 4, Jackson Ruggles 1-3 4, Tate Dugan 1-2 3, Kash Wasteney 2-0.5 2.5, Drew Graham 2-0.5 2.5, Trevin Victor 1-1.5 2.5, Drayden Thompson 1-1 2, Isac Dugan 1-0.5 1.5, Tucker Larson 1-0.5 1.5, Jaize Frost 0-0.5 0.5.
Sacks: Earlham – N/A. MA – N/A.
Tackles For Loss: Earlham – N/A. MA – N/A.
Fumble Recoveries: Earlham – Cole Eitel 1, Klayton Wolken 1. MA – Tyler Martin 1.
Interceptions: Earlham – none. MA – Jackson Ruggles 1-58 yards.
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Earlham – Klayton Wolken 6-145 yards, Chris Ridgely 2-103 yards. MA – Tate Dugan 5-196 yards, Tanner Streit 3-114 yards, Isac Dugan 1-28 yards.
Kick-Off Returns: Earlham – Caleb Smith 5-51, Josh Winey 2-27, Cash Eitel 2-24. MA – Dyson Thompson 2-97 yards, Tate Dugan 1-59, Drayden Thompson 1-6.
Punts: Earlham – Blake Reynolds 1-30 yards, 30.0-yard ave. MA – N/A.
Punt Returns: Earlham – none. MA – Trevin Victor 1-80 yards.
