Raiders march into playoffs
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By RYAN STONEBRAKER
MOUNT AYR, Iowa – The Raiders left no doubt about their postseason plans after a big 43-0 shutout win over Southwest Valley last Friday at home.
With the win Mount Ayr clinches the third seed in the upcoming District 7 playoffs. There was a scenario where if the Raiders would have lost to Southwest Valley and AHSTW would have won, which they did, there would have been a three-way tie for the third and fourth spots. However, that mess didn’t happen and the Raiders are looking ahead to the start of the playoffs this week.
The victory brought Mount Ayr’s record to 5-3 overall record. This is the fifth straight year under head coach Ryan Victor that the Raiders have made the playoffs.
“We did a good job playing defense,” Victor said. “We wanted to stop the run game tonight and when we did, it made them one dimensional. We shut their running game down other than a couple draw plays. Our defensive backs also put the clamps on their kids and they couldn’t move the football in the air like they wanted to.”
Mount Ayr didn’t have a lot of interceptions, but the Timberwolves as a team completed only 3-of-17 pass attempts.
The Raiders had 282 yards of total offense in the game with 114 yards passing and 168 rushing yards. Jackson Ruggles passed for 62 yards on three completions with two touchdowns and Tate Dugan completed a pass for 52 yards. Dyson Thompson had a team high 62 rushing yards on seven carries. Dugan and Drayden Thompson each had a rushing touchdown in the game.
Defensively, Dugan led in tackles with five and Bracken Collier and Rowan Sackett each had 3.5 tackles.
Mount Ayr wasted little time taking control of the game as Thompson returned the opening kick-off 78 yards for a score and after an Adler Reed conversion run, the Raiders led 8-0 just 11 seconds into the game. Mount Ayr would score 22 points in the opening quarter.
Thompson would score on a 4-yard run on the Raiders first offensive possession with 7:32 left in the opening quarter to extend the lead to 15-0. Later, with 1:20 left in the quarter, Ruggles threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Isac Dugan for a 22-0 lead after the first quarter. Placekicker Drew Graham converted both PAT’s he attempted in the opening quarter.
It was more of the same in the second quarter as the Raiders scored 21 more points to take a 43-0 halftime lead as the 35-point running clock mercy rule was activated in the second quarter.
In the quarter Reed ran a punt back 52 yards for a touchdown with 9:34 left before halftime to put the score at 29-0. Mount Ayr scored twice in the final five minutes of the half on a Dugan 2-yard run and a 35-yard touchdown pass from Ruggles to Reed with 19 seconds left before halftime.
Southwest Valley ends the season 3-5 overall with the loss. The Timberwolves got a boost from the return of starting QB Walker Bissell who missed a lot of games due to injury. Bissell had a tough time getting passes completed, going 3-for-17 in the game for 49 yards. Bissell was the leading rusher for his team with 57 yards on 10 carries, while Cael Hogan rushed for 30 yards on 11 carries and Gavin Wetzel caught two passes. Defensively, the Timberwolves were led by Evan Fast with five tackles.
The Raiders will play Council Bluffs St. Albert Friday in a Class A first round match up. St. Alber was the runner-up in District 8 and are 5-3 overall after going 5-1 in district play. Their only losses are at Tri-Center and at home to Riverside and Woodbury Central. Sophomore quarterback Cael Yrkoski has thrown for 863 yards and nine touchdowns on 56 completions. The Falcons have a 1,000-yard rusher in senior Kyle Irwin who has 1,060 yards on 120 carries and 13 touchdowns. He has a 7.8-yard per rush average. Sophomore Cooper Hamilton has 20 catches for 312 yards and a touchdown and junior Adrian Jessen has 15 catches for 342 yards and six touchdowns. Defensively, St. Albert is led by Avery Beck with 53.5 tackles and three others have at least 30 tackles.
“They (St. Albert) wants to run the ball and they have a 1,000-yard guy,” Victor said. “They have some big guys up front that could be a match up challenge, but one thing you can’t see on our film is how physical we play. Anytime you are in the playoffs you are going to see a good football team. They have tradition. We have tradition. It will be a good football game.”
Mount Ayr 43, SW Valley 0
Friday, October 17
At Mount Ayr
1 2 3 4 Final
SWV 0 0 0 0 0
MA 22 21 0 0 43
Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr (11:49) – MA – Drayden Thompson 78-yard kick-off return (Adler Reed run)
1st Qtr (7:32) – MA – Drayden Thompson 4-yard run (Drew Graham kick)
1st Qtr (1:40) – MA – Isac Dugan 20-yard pass from Jackson Ruggles (Drew Graham kick)
2nd Qtr (9:34) – MA – Adler Reed 52-yard punt return (Drew Graham kick)
2nd Qtr (5:03) – MA – Tate Dugan 2-yard run (Drew Graham kick)
2nd Qtr (0:19) – MA – Adler Reed 35-yard pass from Jackson Ruggles (Drew Graham kick)
Team Statistics:
MA SWV
First Downs 15 10
Pass C-A-I 4-4-0 3-18-1
Pass yards 114 46
Rushes-yards 32-170 25-91
Total Offense 282 101
Punts-Ave. 0-0 4-35.3
KO Returns 69 0
Punt Returns 78 40
Fumbles-lost 3-3 2-0
Penalties-yds 4-65 2-10
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Mount Ayr – Dyson Thompson 7-62, Bryson Martin 6-35, Nathan Roemer 5-16, Tate Dugan 4-16, Jackson Ruggles 3-13, Drayden Thompson 2-7, Keaton Swank 2-5, Trace Knapp 2-2. SWV – Walker Bissell 11-42, Cael Hogan 11-17, Wyatt Shires 3-(-4).
Passing: Mount Ayr – Jackson Ruggles 3-for-3 62 yards 2 TD’s, 0 INT’s; Tate Dugan 1-for-1 52 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s. SWV – Walker Bissell 3-for-17 46 yards 0 TD’s, 1 INT; Gavin Wetzel 0-for-1 0 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s.
Receiving: Mount Ayr – Adler Reed 2-42, Jackson Ruggles 1-52, Isac Dugan 1-20. SWV – Gavin Wetzel 2-14, Carson Cooper 1-32.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Mount Ayr – Tate Dugan 4-2 6, Bryson Martin 1-2 3, Rowan Sackett 2-1 3, Logan Worthington 1-2 3, Kaiden Stull 2-0 2, Jackson Ruggles 0-2 2, Drayden Thompson 1-1 2, Evan Wheeler 0-1 1, Nathan Roemer 0-1 1, Brogan Gourley 0-1 1, Keaton Swank 1-0 1, Jesse Shelman 0-1 1, Cordell Clemens 1-0 1,
Sacks: Mount Ayr – Logan Mercer 0.5, Lane Parrish 0.5.
Tackles For Loss: Mount Ayr – Bracken Collier 3.5, Rowan Sackett 1, Tate Larson 1, Drayden Thompson 1, Trace Knapp 0.5.
Fumble Recoveries: Mount Ayr – none.
Interceptions: Mount Ayr – Drayden Thompson 1-49 yards.
Kicking Statistics:
Punts: Mount Ayr – none.
Punt Returns: Mount Ayr – Adler Reed 2-69.
Kick-Offs: Mount Ayr – Isac Dugan 3-96 yards, 32.0 ave.; Bryson Martin 2-78 yards, 39.0 ave., Drew Graham 2-58, 29.0 ave.
Kick-Off Returns: Mount Ayr – Drayden Thompson 1-78 yards.
