MOUNT AYR — The combination of special team miscues and an inability to convert on third down combined to trip up the Panorama football team for the second consecutive week.
Mount Ayr moved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in Class 1A District 8 play by turning a one-point lead after three quarters into a 21-13 win over Panorama (3-3, 0-2) when Keelan Klommhaus broke free for a 55-yard touchdown run in the final period. Myles Greene hit his third PAT boot of the game to cement the final score.
The Panthers were in a 7-0 hole just seconds into the game after Hunter Haveman returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a TD.
A Klommhaus 13-yard burst gave the Raiders a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, but the Panthers closed to within 14-7 at the half after Gracen Welberg scored off a 29-yard pass from Alejandro Mendez, with Welberg adding the PAT kick.
Luke South scored off a 51-yard strike from Mendez in the third, but the PAT failed, leaving the Panthers in a one-point hole, 14-13.
A missed PAT had Panorama holding a 27-21 lead late in second half of week five, with Clarinda tying the score with a TD and then scoring the eventual game-winning point by converting their point-after kick.
The Panthers remained with a score despite the second Klommaus TD Friday, but inefficiency on offense helped doom any chance of a successful comeback.
Panorama converted only 2-of-12 third down attempts and were 0-for-1 on fourth down against the Raiders. They are only 5-of-24 on third down and 0-for-5 on fourth down in their last two outings.
Mount Ayr made a first down on 5-of-17 third down plays, a small margin that proved large in a game in which total yards (269-260), turnovers (two by each team) and penalties (9-64 to 9-75) were either even or separated by a small margin.
Mendez finished 11-of-25 for 120 yards and two TDs passing, with South 1-2-1 for four yards and Dominic Walker 0-for-1 through the air.
South (1-51, 1 TD), Welberg (5-47, 1 TD), Allias Stahl (4-19) and Zach Rizzuti (2-7) caught passes for the Panthers, with Mendez (21-96), South (8-30), Trey Cobb (8-30) and Rizzuit (1 for minus-11) running the ball for the guests.
Cobb had 13 tackles, including two for a loss of yardage, to lead the Panther defense. Welberg contributed six tackles and Koltin Sloss five. Sloss had one sack and three stops for a loss. Trent Hambleton recorded an interception, with Walker falling on a Raider fumble.
Panorama will visit defending state champion Van Meter (6-0, 2-0) Friday. The Bulldogs won their 19th consecutive game by topping host West Central Valley, 35-14, in week six.
