Area football

Murray 87,

Colo-Nesco 44

COLO — Second-ranked Murray broke away from a slow first quarter (14-8) to nearly put 90 points on the board with 683 total yards.

Quarterback Austin Halls had a huge game for the 7-0 Mustangs, with 229 yards rushing and six touchdowns. He also completed four passes for 117 yards and two TDs. His 48 points scored set a school record for one game, surpassing Caleb Byers’ 47 points vs. Mormon Trail in 2008.

Andrew Rider carried 18 times for 161 yards and a touchdown. Seth Nerness averaged 14 yards a carry with 86 yards on six attempts. As a team, Murray ran for 566 yards and nine touchdowns.

“Our offensive line did a great job and all of our backs ran hard,” coach Keith Shields said.

Eddie Otto led an active Mustang defense, finishing with nine solo tackles and 12 assists. Cody Scroggie had 13 tackles and returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown.

Brandyn Niemeyer ran for 240 yards and two TDs, and threw two touchdown passes for Colo-Nesco (5-3).

It took awhile for Murray to pull away. Colo-Nesco scored with 2:18 left in the first half to cut the score to 28-24. Murray scored two touchdowns in the next 49 seconds to take a 42-24 lead into halftime.

After a quick score on the opening drive of the second half gave Murray a 24-point lead, the teams traded scores the rest of the way.

“Although we did not stop Colo-Nesco on defense like we would have liked, it was good to get a 43-point road win,” Shields said.

Murray, 4-0 on the road, closes the regular season at home against rivals East Union and Lamoni.

North Polk 30, Interstate 35 16

ALLEMAN — North Polk defeated Interstate 35, 30-16 here Friday night, as the Roadrunners fell to 0-7 overall and remain 0-4 in Class 2A Distrcit 6.

Tommy Bregar finished the game 17-of-30 passing for 191 yards and one touchdown with one interception.

Bregar’s touchdown pass went to sophomore Zach Goering on a 32-yard score. Goering finished with four catches for 51 yards.