Area football
Ogden 44, Central Decatur 0
LEON — Central Decatur was shut out by Ogden, 44-0, in the season finale here on Friday.
Senior Austin Wells finished 3-of-16 passing for 35 yards, while freshman Peyton Pedersen finished 1-3 for 19 yards.
Ogden shut down the potent Central Decatur rushing attack, which was without the services of Dalton Gilbert.
Senior Tyler Williams was the leading rusher with 48 yards on 11 carries.
Trevor Greenland led the team in receiving with two catches for 31 yards.
Trenton Wells led the Cardinals with 11 tackles.
Central Decatur finishes the season 4-5 overall and 1-5 in Class 1A District 7.
Murray 55, Lamoni 6
MURRAY — Beating a conference rival convincingly was a good way for Murray to send out 11 seniors in wrapping up the District 6 title, but it came with a price.
Junior running back Andrew Rider, with 837 yards and 12 touchdowns in just over eight games, suffered a broken arm on his fourth carry Friday night, and will miss the playoffs. Rider fell awkwardly on his hand as he was tackled near the Murray sideline, and his left arm was broken just above the wrist.
"It's killing him not to be in there," coach Keith Shields said. "He's a very dedicated player. We had some guys step up and perform well Friday."
It's Murray's first-ever nine-win regular season, and first district championship since 2000. The Mustangs open the playoffs Wednesday at home against Twin Cedars.
The Mustangs scored on their first possession on a 9-yard run by quarterback Austin Halls. Lamoni was finally stopped on fourth-and-four at the Mustang 19-yard line, and then Seth Nerness went 61 yards on the next play for a quick 14-0 lead.
Nerness had a huge night for Murray, carrying 19 times for 254 yards and two TDs. Rider picked up 55 yards on only three carries before he was injured.
Halls completed 11 passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns to Sam Rockhold and Nerness.
"I thought our defense played extremely well, giving up only 179 yards, 108 of those yards coming on three plays," Shields said. "Devin Shields and Dylan Craig stepped in and had good games for starters Cody Scroggie and George Barber, who sat out the game because of injuries."
Scott Funke played a good defensive end for the Mustangs, Shields added, as Nerness was carrying the bulk of the rushing attack.
"Our special teams played well, in particular our kickoff return team who gave up only 94 yards on nine kickoffs," Shields said.
Halls' pass interception right before halftime set up an 18-yard TD run by Nerness with 1:22 left in the second quarter for a 42-0 halftime lead.
Murray had 223 yards of offense in the first quarter and 307 by halftime. The second half was played with a running clock and the Mustangs finished with 454 total yards.
