Wayne 56,
Murray 12
MURRAY — Clayton Kiefer scored three touchdowns and ran for 133 yards to lead Wayne past Murray, 56-12, in the Mustangs’ home opener Friday.
The game was a rematch from the Falcons’ playoff victory a year ago, when Kiefer was also a big factor. This time, he had two big plays to break open a 14-6 game.
Kiefer had a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown, and two minutes later he stripped a Mustang ballcarrier and returned the fumble 50 yards to give the Falcons a 30-6 lead before the first quarter expired.
Wayne also converted a fourth-down play from the 13-yard line to score on the last play of the first half, providing a 44-12 cushion at the break.
Fisher Decker took a pass from Matt Barnes for a 60-yard touchdown, and Dustin Teas had a 19-yard TD reception to account for Murray’s scoring, all in the first half.
Matt Barnes returned to the Mustang lineup and had a team-high 54 yards rushing to go with 152 yards passing on 9-of-17. Barnes also had 10 total tackles and Teas had seven.
“The team played a much more competitive game against a great opponent,” said Murray coach Taylor Fulton, comparing it to the 34-0 opening loss to Mormon Trail. “We moved the ball well, having over 250 yards of offense.”
Fulton said the defense held the explosive Falcons several times to stall on long drives or four-and-outs several times.
Murray opens district play Friday at East Union, which is 1-1 after defeating Essex 64-10 on Friday.
Central Decatur 20, PCM 7
LEON — Central Decatur improved to 2-0 for the season, winning its home opener here on Friday over PCM, 20-7.
The Cardinal rushing attack was limited to just 92 yards for the game, led by Trenton Wells running for 84 yards and a 9-yard touchdown on 22 carries.
But, the passing game did enough to outscore the Mustangs. Wells completed 11-of-27 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns, compared to one interception.
A majority of the passes went Peyton Pedersen’s way, as Pedersen caught seven passes for 107 yards and a 29-yard touchdown. Senior Kyle Palmer was on the receiving end of three catches, going for 30 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown. Clayton Dale caught one pass for 20 yards.
Defensively, Pedersen intercepted a Logan Gilman pass.
Wells had a monster game defensively for the Cardinals, collecting 10 solo tackles and three assisted stops. Five of his 10 tackles were solo tackles for loss, as he recorded four solo sacks.
Palmer finished the game with seven solo tackles and three assisted stops. Sophomore Kade Kelso also recorded a solo sack for the Cardinals among his 5.5 total tackles.
Gilman completed 21-of-29 passes for 189 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the loss. Sophomore Luke Greiner caught nine passes for 72 yards and one touchdown. Ricky Reeve had seven catches for 46 yards.
PCM was held to just 51 rushing yards in the game, led by Logan Litrell’s 19 attempts for 77 yards. Gilman finished with -35 yards rushing, thanks in part to the sacks by Wells and Kelso.
The Cardinals open district play on Friday at Des Moines Christian, which fell to 1-1 after a 49-21 loss at Ogden on Friday.
Interstate 35 35, MSM 22
TRURO — Head coach Mike Stuart picked up his first win as coach of Interstate 35 here on Friday in a 35-22 win over Martensdale-St. Marys.
Junior quarterback Jaylan White had a big game for the Roadrunners, both on the ground and in the air.
White completed 12-of-19 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. White finished the night with a quarterback rating of 220.9.
In the ground game, White carried the ball 18 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 10.2 yards per carry.
Taylor O’Dea caught five passes for 150 yards and two touchdwons for the Roadrunners. Zach Goering hauled in four passes for 31 yards with one touchdown. Junior Cole Daniels caught three passes for 58 yards.
Dylan Kernes ran the ball five times for 22 yards, while Daniels added 22 yards on three carries. Freshman Ben Bedwell carried seven times for 21 yards. Zachary Irelan had six yards for the game.
Defensively, O’Dea finished the game with five total tackles to lead the Roadrunners. Daniels and Evan McKinney each finished with four total tackles. McKinney had one solo tackle for loss, as did Garrett Thompson and Wyatt Davenport. Daniel Kennedy and Davenport each had 3.5 total tackles.
Daniels and Kennedy each intercepted a pass, while McKinney recovered a fumble.
For Martensdale-St. Marys, Connor Dunn finished 9-of-23 passing for 86 yards with one touchdown. Dunn also ran the ball 11 times for 75 yards and one score, while Alex Kim had 20 carries for 94 yards and one touchdown.
Interstate 35 opens district play on Friday at Woodward-Granger, which defeated Martensdale-St. Marys 36-20 in week one and lost to Madrid on Friday, 52-16.