Photo by Samantha Davis. Murray County Central’s Carson Lewis ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s game against Tracy Milroy-Balaton. The Rebels won 51-36 and advanced to Saturday’s Round 3 quarterfinals.
SLAYTON — The No. 3 Murray County Central football team scored four first-half touchdowns to defeat the No. 6 Tracy Milroy Balaton Panthers in a tense and thrilling game Tuesday night in Section 3A. We defeated them 51-36. Quarterfinals.
“I’m proud of our players. I think it’s all about trusting the players, trusting the process and staying true to ourselves.” MCC head coach Patrick Freeman said. “It means a lot to win in the playoffs against a really good football team…but it’s not over yet.”
This night will be a fierce rivalry as both the Rebels and Panthers have entered the playoffs with recent success and winning streaks, with MCC defeating TMB 39-20 earlier this month.
“It was like a boxing match. They threw more punches than we did.” TMB head coach Jason Kainz said: “Offensively, we were able to move the football. We made some mistakes, we didn’t score on our first drive and then we turned the ball over once. That was a really big difference in this game. ”
MCC finished the regular season with four straight wins, three of which were shutout games by 43 points or more. The two losses were narrow 13-11 losses to Springfield on Sept. 6 and Adrian Ellsworth on Sept. 20, and the Rebels will next face each other in the semifinals.
TMB also won their last two games after having their young players gain more experience throughout the season. They defeated St. James Area 29-20 on Oct. 11 and last week defeated Russell-Tyler-Leuston with a 46-0 shutout victory.
MCC found the end zone four times in the first half, but MCC also found the end zone three times. The game was pretty much a touchdown-or-touchdown affair, but Andrew Holm made a game-changing interception in the third quarter that led to a Rebels touchdown, giving MCC enough momentum to end the night. Gave.
“Andrew is a leader on this team offensively and defensively. He takes a lot of pride in his preparation. He’s not the biggest guy, he’s not the fastest guy, but he’s not going to prepare better than him. do not have” Freeman said. “It’s really fun to watch him play soccer because he gives his all on every play.”
The Rebels had Teague Meyer’s two pass attempts both incomplete, but Carson Lewis and Holm were the focal point of the Rebels’ offense.
Lewis had a team-high 233 rushing yards and four touchdowns, while Holm had 158 yards and two touchdowns. Meyer rushed for 26 yards and scored one touchdown.
MCC burst down the field on its first attack, and Lewis ran into the end zone at 9:55, just over two minutes into the game. A successful field goal kick attempt by Carson Engelkes gave the Rebels an early 7-0 advantage.
Trevor Smith didn’t allow the Panthers to go unresponsive and made a series of plays to force TMB to get several first downs.
Smith completed 26 passes for 323 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception on 46 attempts. He also had a team-high 100 rushing yards.
Smith first reached the Rebels’ 42-yard line, passing to Griffin Zick, who along with Noah Nacums and David Shue make up the majority of TMB’s offense.
After a carry by Shue followed by a carry by Smith to the 20-yard line, the Panthers entered the red zone. Two perfect passes to Zick gave TMB its first touchdown.
Emery Xiong’s successful two-point conversion put the Panthers in first place with an 8-7 lead.
MCC responded almost immediately, with Holm making a long rush straight into the end zone and a successful 2-pointer to take back the lead at 15-8.
The Rebel defense also poised, forcing TMB’s fourth down and getting the ball back. This possession ultimately gave the Rebels a one-touchdown lead at the end of the first half.
Meyer and Lewis led the offense in possession and brought the team to first-and-goal to end the first quarter, before Lewis ran in from the 3-yard line to start the second quarter and give the Rebels a 22-8 advantage. Gave. .
The Panthers were able to close the gap once again and continued to put pressure on the home team.
After Smith passed to Nacums and Zick to get TMB inside the red zone, Shue made an 8-yard carry.
Smith set up Zick for a touchdown and a two-point play as the Rebels cut the lead to 22-16.
Both teams continued to respond to each other, scoring more touchdowns before the half.
Meyer, Holm and Lewis got MCC into the end zone, followed by Engelkes’ successful field goal kick.
After Isaiah Walske and Griffen Brown assisted on TMB tackles for a loss of eight yards and a second down, Smith got the Panthers back on their feet and pulled them back down the field.
Urske recorded three tackles on the night along with Noah Maciowetz and Gabe Tentinger. Brown had one sack and one sack, while Gavin Gillette led the way with five sacks.
In the end, Shue got it for a touchdown. A two-point shot attempt failed, and TMB trailed 29-22 at the half.
“We were only down by seven points. Last time we were up by 10 at the half.” Kainz talked about what he said to his players at halftime. “We were going toe-to-toe with them and trying to swing, so we just had to stop.”
Lewis ran 11 yards for a touchdown to give MCC a slightly cushioned lead at 36-22 at the start of the second half.
“Our attack system stayed true and charged straight at them. We were able to maintain strength all night, and that was our goal.” Freeman said. “I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff, offensive coordinator and players for believing in that.”
Holm became a potential deciding factor for the Rebels when he caught an interception and rushed 55 yards down the field after the Panthers reached the 9-yard line and were within one touchdown of the game-clinching end zone. .
The interception gave Holm an opportunity to rush another 25 yards for a touchdown to start the fourth quarter, increasing the Rebels’ lead to 43-22 and limiting TMB’s chances for a comeback.
However, TMB did not lose their sense of urgency and were not ready to end the night.
Smith carried ample first down yards after being sacked by Holm and then threw two complete passes to Shue and Nakum.
Smith scored Zick’s touchdown and the ensuing two-point play to cut the deficit to 43-30.
As the game unfolded, Lewis ran for another score inside the 20-yard line and converted a successful two-point conversion, giving MCC a 51-30 advantage and giving MCC the lead.
With time running out and just under two minutes remaining, Smith threw to Zick again this season, and TMB scored its final touchdown of the night for a final score of 51-36.
The Panthers finished the season with a total of 3 wins and 6 losses, and after the game, they were seen hugging each other individually near center field.
“I was able to gain a lot of experience this year.” Cains said. “We’re hoping for good things in the future, but we’re graduating some really talented guys.”
MCC, 7-2, will face No. 2 Adrian Ellsworth in the semifinals on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“It’s going to be a tough, physical game. They bring a little bit of a different presence.” Freeman said. “They’ve been really good and it’s going to be a really big test for us, but we’re excited to get the chance.”
Complete TMB statistics were not available at the time of publication.
