Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Beavers Survive Mud Bowl-Like Game, 22-6

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor

  WELLMAN — Poor weather all last week and soaking rains left of a mess at the Mid-Prairie football field last week with soppy, muddy conditions. The Beavers overcame that though, taking a 22-6 win over the host Golden Hawks to improve to 3-0. The Beavers have started 5-0 in each of the past two years. The Beavers will face Benton for the first time Friday in a matchup between two ranked football teams in two separate classes. The Bobcats are also 3-0 and ranked #4 in the Radio Iowa and the Cedar Rapids Gazette polls, and ranked 7th in the Des Moines Register poll this week. The Beavers are ranked in two separate class 1A football polls. The Beavers are ranked 5th in the Cedar Rapids Gazette football poll this week, up from #7 last week. Wilton is also ranked 5th in the latest Radio Iowa football poll, up from 6th last week.

  Wilton football coach Ryan Hetzler said it was a tough night on the Golden Hawks field.

  “It’s good to get out of here with a win and I’m happy we got out of this game with no major injuries. It was the worst field conditions we have ever played in. By the end of the game, their field was just mud and beat up really bad. There was no grass on the field in the middle where most of the play on the field was,” said Wilton head coach Ryan Hetzler.

  The Golden Hawks are on the road the next two weeks, at Iowa City Liberty this week and at Central Lee to start district play on September 21. It will be nearly three weeks before Mid-Prairie home district opener against Williamsburg the last Friday of the month.

  Hetzler said that there is a general feeling of excitement to play Benton Community this week at home.

  “We are excited to play a new team. They are a really good team, but they lost a lot of players. They are ranked in the top-5 in some 2A polls. They have some athletes. It will be a real test and will tell us where we stand,” he said.

  Mid-Prairie caught the Beavers off guard on the first series of the football game pulling out a trick play on the first play of the game. The Golden Hawks used a wide receiver reverse pass that ended with a Tom Butters 65-yard touchdown catch from Justin Schwartz. The Golden Hawks PAT kick was no good, but Mid-Prairie had a 6-0 lead.

  Wilton answered on their first possession with a touchdown to take a 7-6 lead. On the 14th play of the drive and 12th running play of the drive, Jerome Mays scooted 12 yards on the ground into the end zone for the score. A Mays two-point run gave the Beavers an 8-6 lead with 7:08 left in the opening quarter. The Beavers passes on the first play of their drive, crossing midfield. Mays carried the football for three first downs on the opening drive.

  After a three-and-out, Mid-Prairie had to punt. Wilton took advantage of getting the ball at their own 35 and marched down the field for another touchdown. The Beavers went strictly on the ground with their play calling on the drive, running the ball seven times for 65 yards. Mays came up with a big 32-yard run on the 6th play of the drive, getting Wilton from the Golden Hawk 40-yard line to the 8-yard line and a first and goal situation. Wilton scored two plays later on a Brian Stillman 5-yard run to take a 14-6 lead.

  Mid-Prairie would have five offensive possessions in the first half. After their trickery led to points on their opening drive, the Beavers defense forced Mid-Prairie to pun on the remaining possessions of the half.

  Wilton put the game away on their first drive of the second half, after receiving the second half kickoff. The Beavers put together a 10-play drive that ended with Mays’ second touchdown run with 7:20 left in the quarter. A two-point conversion run by Collin McCrabb put the score at 22-6 Beavers, making it a two-score game. That score would hold up and became the final score as the Golden Hawks could not find the end zone in the second half.

  Wilton had 19 first downs and 374 yards of total offense in the football game. The Beavers rushed for a season-best 351 yards on 66 carries for a 5.3-yard average. Mid-Prairie had 103 yards of total offense and four first downs.

  Jerome Mays rushed for a season-high 210 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns. Collin McCrabb added 104 yards on 26 carries. Both backs have not eclipsed the 300-yard mark for the season with McCrabb leading with 348 yards and a 5.8-yard average and Mays second with 303 yards and a 5.1-yard average. Both have 60 carries on the season to date.

  Mays attempted only seven passes for 23 yards with Chantz Stevens, Brock Hartley and McCrabb each catching one pass. Defensively, Brock Hartley and Charles Martin led Wilton in tackles with 7 and 6.

  The Beavers are one of two undefeated teams in class 1A district 5. Mediapolis is the other team. The Beavers district is competitive, with four teams with two or three wins out of the six-team district. The Beavers are second in the district in points scored at 99 and second in defensive points allowed with 27.

  Benton has not scored fewer than 30 points in each of their first three games, with a high of 45 points in their season-opening win at South Tama. Quarterback Clay Krousie, running back Matt Davis and receiver Nathan Michels are all each in the top-10 in class 2A in yards at their positions. Krousie has passed for 570 yards and five touchdowns. Davis has rushed for 448 yards on 59 carried and has scored eight touchdowns. He has a per carry average of 7.6 yards. Michels has caught 13 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns.

Team Summary:
WIL MP
First Downs 19 4
Rushes-Ave. 66-5.3 21-(-0.3)
Rush yards 351 -7
Pass C-A-I 3-7-1 6-18-0
Pass yards 23 110
Returns-yards 4-37 5-65
Penalties-yards 11-85 6-50
Turnovers 2 1
Time of Poss. 33:57 14:03
Total Yards 374 103
Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Wilton 14 0 8 0 22
Mid-Prairie 6 0 0 0 6

Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr (11:40) - MP - Tom Butters 65-yard pass from Justin Schwartz (Micah Gugel kick no good)
1st Qtr (7:08) - WIL - Jerome Mays 12-yard run (Jerome Mays run)
1st Qtr (2:41) - WIL - Brian Stillman 5-yard run (Brian Stillman run no good)
3rd Qtr (7:20) - WIL - Jerome Mays 7-yard run (Collin McCrabb run)

Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Wilton - Jerome Mays 30-210, Collin McCrabb 26-104, Brian Stillman 7-19, Cory Anderson 3-18. Mid-Prairie -
Passing: Wilton - Jerome Mays 3-for-7 23 yards, 0 TD’s, 1 INT. Mid-Prairie -
Receiving: Wilton - Chantz Stevens 1-16, Brock Hartley 1-6, Collin McCrabb 1-1.

Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Brock Hartley 3-4 7, Charles Martin 4-2 6, Brayton Wade 0-3 3, Clayton Cooling 2-1 3, Collin McCrabb 0-3 3, Cory Anderson 0-3 3, Jerome Mays 0-2 2, Garrett Bohnsack 0-2 2, Chantz Stevens 1-0 1, A.J. Bosten 1-0 1, Brian Stillman 0-1 1, Jacob Creamer 0-1 1, Corey Anderson 0-1 1.
Tackles For Loss: Calib Lilly 3, Clayton Cooling 2, Brian Stillman 2, Jerome Mays 1, Garrett Bohnsack 1, Brock Hartley 1, Collin MCCrabb 1, Charles Martin 1, Cory Anderson 1, Clayton Cooling 1, Jared Townsend 1, Brayton Wade 1.
Sacks: Wilton - Brian Stillman 1.
Fumble Recoveries: Wilton - Charles Martin 1.
Interceptions: Wilton - none.
Pass Knockdowns: Wilton - Ronen Santiago 1, Cory Anderson 1, Collin McCrabb 1.

Kicking Statistics:
KickOffs: Wilton Brock Hartley 4-182 yards, 45.5-ave. Mid-Prairie -
Kickoff Returns: Wilton - Cory Anderson 2-20. Mid-Prairie -
Punts: Wilton - Cory Anderson 2-58 yards, 29.0-ave. Mid-Prairie -
Punt Returns: Wilton - Cory Anderson 2-17. Mid-Prairie -


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