Big Reds rebound with Pennant Game win
Sep. 3—CENTERVILLE — A week removed from a defeat in one long-standing rivalry game, the Centerville Big Reds rebounded with a 42-17 win in another.
A 30-point second quarter propelled Centerville over the Davis County Mustangs Friday. It's the school's seventh win in the last 10 Pennant Games played, and it moves Centerville to 72-29-3 in the all-time series between the teams separated by 24 miles on Highway 2.
The Big Reds drew first blood with a two-yard touchdown run by Landon McGrann. An extra-point kick was short, for an early 6-0 Centerville lead. With 1:03 to go in the opening frame, Davis County's Landon Fetcho kicked a 30-yard field goal to draw the Mustangs within three points.
A muffed punt helped begin Centerville's offensive assault in the second quarter. Centerville's Drennan Moorman kicked a punt on 4th and 9 from Centerville's own 19-yard line. It was muffed by Davis County, and Centerville's Ayden Beeson recovered it at the 43-yard line.
Following the recovered muffed punt, McGrann went on a 36-yard run into Mustang territory. He handed the ball to freshman Makoa Kaleponi who ran it nine yards. Then McGrann ran the ball the final 15 yards for a touchdown. After Kaleponi successfully completed a two-point conversion, Centerville led 14-3 with 10:44 remaining in the first half.
The Mustangs answered with a two-play drive capped with a 55-yard touchdown run by Blaine Meyer. With a point-after kick, the score was 14-10.
Centerville finished the half with three touchdowns for a commanding lead.
First, McGrann scored on a one-yard run. Then Ryan Sinnott caught a 48-yard touchdown pass.
With two minutes to go in the half, Davis County punted the ball to Centerville. Sinnott caught it at the 15-yard line and ran all the way to the endzone, but an unsportsmanlike penalty negated the score. The points were only taken off the board temporarily, however.
The drive went 59 yards. McGrann picked up an 8-yard gain on the ground, then threw a 16-yard pass to Sinnott. Then Kaleponi caught an 11-yard pass, followed by an 8-yard reception by Sinnott. A four-run by McGrann preceded Sinnott hauling in a 10-yard reception just shy of the end zone. With 25 seconds left on the clock, McGrann finished the score with a 1-yard run. On the two-point try, Kaleponi fumbled the ball but recovered to successfully convert and give the Big Reds a 36-10 lead heading into the locker room.
Each team found the end zone once more, both in the fourth quarter.
After a holding penalty pushed the Big Reds to their own 11-yard line on second and 23, McGrann gained a couple of yards with a run. Then, the junior quarterback dropped a screen pass into the hands of Kaleponi, who took it 83 yards untouched to the end zone.
With Centerville deep in their own territory, an errant snap went into the end zone and was landed on by Davis County sophomore Hank Bulechek for the game's final touchdown.
The Big Reds broke the 500-yard mark for offense, led by McGrann completing 13-of-20 for 297 yards in the passing game. He also tallied 176 rushing yards on 28 carries. Kaleponi ran the ball 10 times for 50 yards, and caught three passes for 107 yards. Sinnot was McGrann's top-target with seven passes for 113 yards.
Davis County's Carter Will completed 6-of-13 passes for 35 yards. Blaine Meyer was Will's top target with two catches for 22 yards, and had four carries for 73 yards.
Centerville (1-1) will head to Clarke in week three. Davis County (0-2) will host 0-2 Cardinal in a game where both South Central Conference schools search for their first win.
Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.
