Raiders drop home opener

MOUNT AYR, Iowa — An interesting Riverside Bulldog team came to town for the district and home opener for the Radiers last Friday in Mount Ayr.

Last season, Riverside lost its first game and then won six straight games including a 44-32 win at Mount Ayr last year.  The Bulldogs lost to Treynor and ACGC in the regular season before falling at home to BGM in the first round of the playoffs. 2026 graduated star all-state running back Jaxon Gordon who rushed for over 2,000 yards last season and 28 touchdowns. Gordon now plays at Morningside College. Also, Riverside graduated quarterback Landyn Schoenrock who passed for 806 yards and nine touchdowns. However, top receiver Cole Jeppesen who caught 28 passes for 461 yards returned this year.

Despite the personnel losses for the Bulldogs, Riverside would come away with a big district opening win, leaving Mount Ayr with a 22-16 win.

“We have to get better on defense,” Raider head coach Ryan Victor said. “We did OK stopping their run game, but we gave up way too many passing yards.”

Last Friday’s game was a scorcher as the temperature was over 90 degrees with a heat index over 100 degrees when the game kicked off.

The Raiders would score the game’s first points in the first quarter as Drayden Thompson connected with Adler Reed for a 45-yard touchdown pass. A successful two-point conversion gave Mount Ayr an 8-0 lead. By quarter’s end, Riverside would answer with a score and PAT to get within 8-7.

Riverside scored the only points between the two schools in the second quarter, taking a 14-8 lead at halftime. A Peyton Amdor pass and score to Jeppesen accounted for the points.  Riverside would extend its lead to 22-8 in the third quarter on another Amdor to Jeppesen connection.

Mount Ayr dealt with having to sub in at quarterback for the second game this season as Thompson was knocked out of the game by Riverside. Thompson’s sub was Reed who would guide the offense for the entire second half and some of the first half in the game.

Reed would lead Mount Ayr down the field after the last Amdor scoring pass to get the Raiders back on the scoreboard. Those points came on a 3-yard touchdown run by Dyson Thompson. Another successful two-point conversion by the Raiders cut the deficit to 22-16 with one quarter left to play.

The fourth quarter saw the Raiders tying touchdown called back for a holding penalty, and Riverside did just enough on offense to win the possession battle in the final quarter to keep Mount Ayr at bay.

Mount Ayr had 236 yards of total offense in the game.  Thompson passed for 45 yards on his only completion and had a touchdown pass to Reed.

Reed led Mount Ayr in rushing in the game with 77 yards on seven carries. Dyson Thompson added 52 yards on 10 carries and had a touchdown.

Defensively, Trace Knapp led Mount Ayr in tackling with 7.5 while Logan Mercer had six while Larson and Reed each had 5.5 tackles.

Riverside was led in rushing by Mason Houser with 63 yards.  Peyton Amdor passed for a career high 331 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-28 attempts in the game. His season total passing yardage is now 505 yards on 29 completions.  Three of his four season touchdown passes were thrown last Friday. Jeppesen caught eight passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns in the game for Riverside.

On defense, Riverside was led by Mason Houser with 5.5 and Max Shanno with five tackles.

The Raiders stay at home again this Friday when Pleasantville comes to town.

Pleasantville comes in 2-0 this season with wins over Lynnville-Sully 38-8 in week 1 and 16-15 over Pella Christian last Friday.

It’s a game that Victor said presents a challenge for the Raiders,

“We have a big challenge this week,” Victor said.  “Pleasantville has some really good players and we look forward to playing them this week.”

Trojan quarterback Braylon Bingham was a first team All-State pick last season by the Iowa Football Coaches Association as an offensive utility player.

Bingham has committed to the University of Iowa to play football next year. He has passed for 205 yards on 16 completions with two touchdown passes this season. He has also ran for 78 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. JJ Phillips is Pleasantville’s leading rusher with 126 yards on 28 carries and three scores. Phillips also has caught 12 passes for 146 yards and a score. Brayden Kennedy also has 11 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Pleasantville’s leading tackler is Tatum Baethke with nine.

Riverside 22, Mount Ayr 16

Friday, September 4

At Mount Ayr

1 2 3 4 Final

Riverside 7 7 8 0 22

Mount Ayr 8 0 8 0 16

Rushing: Riverside – Mason Houser 12-63, Cole Jeppesen 12-56, Peyton Amdor 12-15, Paden Schechinger 1-1.  Mount Ayr – Dyson Thompson 10-52, Adler Reed 7-77, Bryson Martin 5-9, Drayden Thompson 4-36, Trace Knapp 4-17.

Passing: Riverside – Payton Amdor 16-for-28 331 yards 3 TD’s, 0 INT’s.  Mount Ayr – Drayden Thompson 1-for-3 45 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT’s.

Receiving: Riverside – Paden Schechinger 7-75, Cole Jeppesen 5-187, Kort Rieken 3-69, Mason Houser 1-0. Mount Ayr – Adler Reed 1-45 yards.

Tackles: Riverside – Mason Houser 5.5, Max Shanno 5, Peyton Amdor 4.5, Rex Shanno 3.5, Paden Schechinger 3.5, Hunter Shady 3.5, Lucas Manzer 3, Kort Rieken 2.5, Cole Jeppesen 2, Hayden Trumbauer 1, Uriah Reed 1, Bennett Hough 0.5, Grant Richardson 0.5.  Mount Ayr – Trace Knapp 7.5, Logan Mercer 6, Tate Larson 5.5, Adler Reed 5.5, Drew Graham 5, Bryson Martin 4, Nathan Roemer 2.5, Manny Hyde 2, Calvin Main 2, Logan Worthington 1.5, Remi Christofis 1.5, Ben Curry 1, Keaton Swank 1, Cordell Clemens 0.5, Isac Dugan 0.5, Kaiden Stull 0.5, Drayden Thompson 0.5.

Tackles For Loss: Riverside – Max Shanno 2, Mason Houser 1.5, Peyton Amdor 1, Grant Richardson 0.5. Mount Ayr – Drew Graham 1, Tate Larson 1.

Sacks: Riverside – Peyton Amdor 1.  Mount Ayr – Tate Larson 1.

Fumbles: Riverside – Mason Houser 1, Bennett Hough 1, Peyton Amdor 1, Lucas Manzer 1.  Mount Ayr – Calvin Main 1, Tate Larson 1.

Interceptions: Riverside – 2-0 yards.  Mount Ayr – none.

Kick returns: Riverside – Mason Houser 2-25, Kort Rieken 1-8. Mount Ayr – Dyson Thompson 1-56, Adler Reed 1-39.

Punt returns: Riverside – N/A. Mount Ayr – Drayden Thompson 1-20, Calvin Main 1-3.

Kick-Offs: Riverside – Payton Amdor 4-233 yards.  Mount Ayr – Bryson Martin 3-107 yards.

Punting: Riverside – Kort Rieken 2-99 yards, 49.5-yard ave.  Mount Ayr – Isac Dugan 3-112 yards, 37.3-yard ave.

PAT’s: Riverside 2-for-2.  Mount Ayr – none.

Two-Point Conversions: Riverside – Peyton Amdor 1.  Mount Ayr – Dyson Thompson 1, Adler Reed 1.

Team D7 Overall

Riverside 1-0 2-1

AC/GC 1-0 2-0

AHSTW 0-0 2-1

Nodaway Valley 0-0 0-2

SW Valley 0-1 2-1

Mount Ayr 0-1 1-2

SW Valley 35, Panorama 18

Riverside 56, Red Oak 6

AHSTW 30, Missouri Valley 7

Logan-Magnolia 26, AHSTW 20

ACGC 53, Panorama 7

SW Valley 34, Red Oak 7

Treynor 13, Riverside 7

West Central Valley 38, Nodaway Valley 0

Shenandoah 55, Mount Ayr 22

ACGC 20, SW Valley 7

AHSTW 48, Red Oak 6

Pekin 48, Nodaway Valley 6

Riverside 22, Mount Ayr 16