Mustangs lock up district title in win over West Marshall

Oct. 9—MONROE — PCM head football coach Greg Bonnett knew Adrien Robbins would be special before his freshman season even started.

Fast forward to 2023 and new superlatives used to describe Robbins are running thin.

One week after setting a new school record with 307 rushing yards, Robbins ran for 409 on Friday during the Mustangs' come-from-behind 49-20 win over West Marshall.

It was the 25th-best single-game rushing performance in Iowa high school football history.

"He's electric. I remember telling you before his freshman season that he was going to wind up being one of the most electric players that PCM has ever had," Bonnett said. "I knew it then. I still know it now."

Gavin Van Gorp

PCM trailed 14-7 in the second quarter before going into halftime tied at 14-all. Robbins put the game out of reach with touchdown runs of 61, 64 and 45 yards in the third and it kept the Class 2A No. 8 Mustangs unbeaten in District 6 play.

The Mustangs also locked up the district title and a pair of home playoff games following Iowa Falls-Alden's loss to Jesup.

"We really want to play in the Dome. That's our biggest goal," Robbins said. "Winning the district title is amazing though."

Bonnett changed PCM's offense last year and brought in former Williamsburg assistant coach Zach Woods to run it. What he envisioned it looking like is what he's seeing on Friday nights this season.

The Mustangs rank second in Class 2A with 2,172 rushing yards and are tied for third with 27 rushing touchdowns.

Robbins leads 2A in rushing by almost 400 yards with 1,472. His 18 rushing TDs are tied for the 2A lead and he's averaging eight yards per carry.

"This is 100 percent what I envisioned when I brought coach Woods in," Bonnett said. "We are hitting our stride as an offense, I think he's hitting his stride as a coordinator and we are having a lot of fun doing it."

PCM's defense also played well on Friday. That unit held West Marshall's run-heavy offense to 96 yards on 35 carries.

Finn Wilson led the Mustangs with a career-high 11.5 tackles and Brevin DeRaad chipped in a career-best 8.5.

"I just tried to read my keys and tackle the guy with the ball," said Wilson, who leads PCM with 52 tackles this fall. "Winning the district is awesome, but I was more excited to beat West Marshall. We wanted this one a lot."

Brevin DeRaad Kaden Clark

West Marshall is 8-5 against PCM since 2008, but the Mustangs ended the Trojans' modest two-game win streak in the series.

PCM lost last year's game 13-12 and West Marshall won 30-7 in 2021.

"I have always heard there's bad blood between us since I was little," Robbins said. "They beat us last year in a close game so this one feels really good to beat them."

Neither team scored in the first quarter. West Marshall ran six plays before punting on its opening drive, but the Trojans got it right back when the ball deflected off a PCM player during the punt return.

The Mustangs' defense held strong though, turning over the Trojans on downs in four plays.

A 35-yard pass from Gavin Van Gorp to Jacob Wendt on the Mustangs' first offensive play from scrimmage highlighted their first drive.

Robbins also had a first-down run of 14 yards, but a holding penalty put PCM behind the sticks and it punted three plays later.

A pass interference penalty on PCM was West Marshall's best play of its third drive, but the Trojans punted the ball back to the home team.

PCM (5-2, 4-0 in the district) couldn't take advantage of a shanked punt though. Robbins opened the drive with runs of 10 and 17 yards, but the Mustangs failed to convert a fourth and short four plays later.

After a West Marshall three-and-out, PCM got on the board with an 8-play, 55-yard drive. The first seven plays came on the ground, including a 14-yard run by Robbins, but Van Gorp found Griffin Olson in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard TD to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.

"The offensive line is up there manhandling people, being ornery, thumping people, too, and doing it with smiles on their faces," Bonnett said. "It's really good to see our offense clicking like this."

Griffin Olson Gavin Van Gorp

West Marshall (2-5, 2-2) answered right back on its next drive. A 45-yard pass play from Carson Davis to Jace Eich got the Trojans into the red zone and Ben Gonzalez scored from 5 yards out two plays later.

It was Gonzalez's long kickoff return that started the possession at the 50-yard line.

The Trojans then went in front 14-7 after Andrew Tollefson picked off a Van Gorp pass and returned it 54 yards for the score.

That came with 1:39 to go until halftime. But it left enough time for the Mustangs.

After an 11-yard run, Van Gorp then connected with Olson for 20 yards. Seven runs later and PCM was in the end zone.

Robbins had runs of 11 and nine yards on the drive and Van Gorp got a first down with an 8-yard run. He scored on a sneak from 1 yard out with 4 seconds left on the clock.

"We were still in the game and not worried," Wilson said about being tied at halftime. "We just turned it up in the second half."

The third quarter belonged to PCM. Robbins started the opening possession with a 7-yard run and ended it with a 61-yard touchdown. It was a 3-play, 70-yard drive.

"Sometimes I just think it will be an average play and then I see him flying down the field," PCM senior offensive lineman Jacob Burns said about Robbins. "It's amazing to watch. He's great."

After forcing West Marshall into another three-and-out, Robbins made a house call on the first play from scrimmage on PCM's next drive. That TD run covered 64 yards and put the Mustangs in front 28-14.

"Those two electric plays by Adrien got us going, and we got rolling from there," Bonnett said.

Another three-and-out by the PCM defense and a punt by the Trojans set up the Mustangs' next drive on the West Marshall 45-yard line.

After an incomplete pass, Robbins took the handoff and sprinted 45 yards to paydirt.

Van Gorp scored on a 9-yard run and Shay Burns added a 14-yard TD run in the fourth to cap PCM's scoring.

The Mustangs ran for 495 yards and averaged nearly 10 yards per carry.

"We stayed with our assignments and made sure to watch for the blitz," Jacob Burns said. "That was our focus this week. Everyone knows we run the ball a lot so they try to blitz into the run and we just had to be aware of that.

"Last year, I didn't have the best game against those guys so this one felt personal. It feels good to win it."

Justin Johnston

West Marshall's first four possessions in the second half ended with punts. Another one ended in a Riley Graber interception.

Gonzalez scored on a 2-yard run with 8:26 left in the game to complete the Trojans' scoring.

Robbins gained 409 yards and scored three TDs on 33 carries. His 184 carries this season are the second-most in 2A.

"Never did I imagine running for that many yards," Robbins said. "When they told me, I was amazed. I was excited. That was crazy."

Van Gorp ran for 59 yards and scored two TDs on 14 carries and was 3-of-9 through the air for 73 yards and another score. He also booted a 53-yard punt.

Shay Burns gained 31 yards on four carries and scored his first varsity touchdown, Olson had two catches for 38 yards and one TD and Wendt's lone catch went for 35 yards.

Trenner Van Dyke finished with 5.5 tackles and two tackles for loss, Kaden Clark collected four tackles and Olson tallied 3.5 tackles and recovered a fumble.

Allias Nolin and Justin Johnston each had three tackles and Graber registered his second interception of the season.

Gonzalez ran for 58 yards and two scores on 22 carries for West Marshall, while Davis was 7-of-12 through the air for 114 yards and an interception.

Davis gained 39 yards on 12 carries and Eich grabbed two passes for 84 yards.

Notes: Both teams committed four accepted penalties. ... Bonnett is happy about the district championship, but the two home playoff games and starting with a No. 4 seed are more important to him. ... Bonnett said the biggest adjustments at halftime came on defense, but he also felt like the offense was one block away mostly. "We made some defensive adjustments to improve the deep balls over the top," Bonnett said. "That has been our problem all year. We went to a zone cover 3 shell to keep guys deep. "You can throw records out the window. We have coached against them so much that there are no secrets. It's always going to be a good game no matter what the year is."