STUART, IA — A big play at the end of the second quarter carried momentum over to the second half and helped host West Central Valley slowly widen their advantage over Panorama en route to a 49-14 win in Class 1A District 7 play Friday.
“Our guys played hard by we let down our guard at times,” Panorama head coach Mike Kauzlarich said. “WCV ran a quarterback sneak with less than a minutes to go in the half and we were not ready for it. It sneaked through for a 60-yard touchdown and made it 21-7 at half. If you take that play out then it was 14-7 going into half with us getting the ball to start the second half.”
Jacob Walker’s one-yard dive put Panorama (1-5, 0-3) in front, 7-0, early in the game. WCV (3-3, 1-2) countered with a 32-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 7-all.
A four-yard run in the second lifted the hosts to a 14-7 lead, with the long run in the final minute creating the 21-7 halftime score.
A second four-yard run in the third was the only scoring in the game, leaving the hosts holding a 28-7 advantage with 12 minutes remaining.
WCV rattled off TD runs of two, seven, and 54 yards to create a 49-7 gash in the scoreboard before Braedon Draper pulled in a 13-yard TD pass from Cayden VanMeer to establish the final score. Walker kicked one PAT for the Panther and AJ Draper the other.
The hosts threw for 148 yards and one score and ran for 370 yards and six TDs on 49 carries.
Kaden Lindsay (16-106, 2 TDs), Braiden Beane (12-104, 1 TD), Blaine Beane (9-81, 2 TD), and Nate Gerling (5-49, 1 TD) led the way. Gerling added all seven PAT kicks.
The Wildcat defense intercepted four passes and fell on three fumbles to suffocate the Panther offense.
VanMeer was picked off the aforementioned four times while tossing one TD on 23-fo-40 passing. He finished with 186 yards through the air.
Braedon Draper (13-109, 1 TD), Klayton Bremer (7-57), Conner Love (2-13) and Bralen Dawes (1-7) all caught passes for the guests.
Panorama ran for 97 yards on 24 totes. Sawyer Simmons (5-42) and Jacob Walker (11-36) led the way, with VanMeer (7-13) and Braedon Draper (1-6) also having carries.
Keaton VanGundy had six tackles, two sacks and two stops behind the line of scrimmage for the Panther defense. Braedon Draper had nine total stops and and interception, with Love recording 5.5 tackles while Christian Monroy-Nunez recovered a fumble.
“We threatened to score many times during the game but couldn’t punch it in and had three turnovers inside the red zone that really hurt us,” Kauzlarich said.
“We came out very sharp and executing well,” the coach stated. “As the game wore on the veteran ability of WCV wore on us. They have been building this team for three or four years now and have a solid ball club.”
Up next is a visit from AC/GC (5-1, 3-0), who is outscoring foes 187-23 and whose only loss is a week one 20-14 setback to Greene County in a game played at Ogden. The Chargers were 23-20 winners over Interstate-35 Sept. 30.
“Now we play AC/GC and they are a well-oiled machine and a physical football squad,” Kauzlarich said. “We must be disciplined on our defensive assignments and win one and one matchups offensively.”
