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With Ragland leading the way, the Bobcats defeated the Railsplitters 28-14, giving Marshalltown its first win on the new turf at Leonard Cole Field.

Marshalltown’s senior running back carried the ball 30 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns, including a dagger on a 2-yard run with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter. Ragland’s 30 carries are believed to be a school record.

“This is probably my favorite football moment,” Ragland said. “We were all jumping up and down in the locker room, which feels really great.”

Ragland took the lead with a 13-yard run up the middle on one play after recovering a fumble by Zach Wilder, giving the Bobcats a 7-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.

TR PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE – Marshalltown’s Mokamado “Anga” Pramana, 5, fumbles Zack Wilder, 34, during the first quarter of Friday’s football game against Des Moines Lincoln. Help celebrate recovery.

“He’s a tough kid,” MHS head coach Adam Goodbin said. “I’m very, very proud of him. … It was a physical game and our kids just stuck their noses in there and kept plugging away.”

Ragland and Aiden Smitherman made several big runs on Marshalltown’s next scoring drive, including a 20-yard reception from Ethan Gorsuch on a pass from Jacob Hayes. A 15-play, 84-yard drive gave the Bobcats a 13-0 lead with 5 minutes, 43 seconds to go before halftime after the extra point was blocked.

Goodbin was hopeful that the Bobcats could have turned those long drives into a few more points — a similar drive before the end of the first half missed a field goal, and more than eight minutes into the second half. The drive ended in a turnover on downs — but Marshalltown’s run-heavy offense accomplished its goal of dominating time of possession.

“Lincoln has some explosive players, and keeping the ball out of their hands like we did was very important in this game,” Goodbin said.

After a long opening drive of the second half, Lincoln needed just six plays to get on the board with a 23-yard touchdown play from Jackson Lamb to Braylen Jenkins.

TR PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Marshalltown’s Mokamado “Anga” Pramana, 5, and Davis Ragland, left, meet Des Moines’ Lincoln quarterback Jackson Lamb during the first half of Friday’s football game. (7 years old) was defeated with a sack.

Undeterred, the Bobcats ran the clock again with a seven-minute touchdown drive that ended with a 23-yard reception by Kyle Smith of a Hayes pass that floated into the end zone on third-and-13.

Hayes completed 7-of-11 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns, providing the balance the Bobcats needed when they needed to get away from the run.

“I felt like we had some matchups that we really liked on the outside. It was just a matter of giving him time to get off the football,” Goodbin said. “Our receivers did a great job tonight of running routes and physically blocking in the run game.”

Once again, the Railsplitters responded quickly on a 58-yard pass from Lamb to Blake Butters, needing just 95 seconds to get back within one point.

From there, Ragland completed an eight-play drive with seven carries (all runs) and ran in from 2 yards out to put the Rail Splitters out of reach.

“I had to keep my legs moving,” Ragland said. “What I’ve been doing ever since I was in the MFL is just keep rotating your legs, so guys bounce off of you and good things happen. They did a great job. I credit them all.”

Jamison Niehaus sealed the victory with an interception, immediately stopping Lincoln’s next drive and the celebration began.

To top it all off, it was a chance for senior captain Saivion Anderson, who had been out for almost the entire season with an ankle injury, to come out and take the final two knee kicks to seal the victory. .

“He’s a special player for us,” Goodbin said. “And that was a very special moment for him. … We don’t have a lot of seniors this year, but we have a great group of kids. This whole group had a lot of fun.”

Marshalltown’s final game of the season will be no picnic as they head to West Des Moines Valley to take on the Tigers, who are ranked No. 4 in the latest RPI ratings published by the IHSAA.

But on the strength of the winning streak, Ragland knows the Bobcats will be ready for the challenge next week.

“The atmosphere is great at practice right now,” Ragland said. “This gives us real confidence, but we still feel like we have a chip on our shoulder. We’re going into this game with the same mentality that we’ve had going into the last two games and we’re going to fight hard.” is”