By NATE BEIER | For the County Line
The Potosi/Cassville co-op continued its dominant run against Scenic Bluffs Conference schools Friday night, defeating Royall 47–6 in nonconference play.
The Chieftains found a way to score early and did so, never looking back as they nearly shut out the Panthers.
Royall managed to find some success on offense, as Zephyr Turner finished with 75 rushing yards on 17 carries. Jameson Bender had 42, and Keith Schnurr had just 11, but was responsible for the team’s lone touchdown run.
The P/C co-op rattled off 284 rushing yards and 75 passing yards. Quarterback Ben Udelhofen tied for the team lead with 70 rushing yards, and one score, but also passed for 2 TDs.
The Chieftains’ defense came up with some big stops as they sacked Schnurr six times and caught three interceptions.
Turner finished with eight tackles; Ty Dragan had seven. Max Benish and Bryce Gruen each had two catches.
“We have played two really tough teams,” said Royall coach Ryan Olson. “We have had some bad luck in those games — pick sixes, punt returns for touchdowns — little things we need to clean up.”
“Those scores may not show it, but our defense has done a great job. A lot of our points given up have been due to interceptions and other special team plays. We just need to limit those plays and we’ll be all right.”
This week, the Panthers host Necedah as conference play begins. The Cardinals made their return to varsity-level action this season after playing a junior-varsity-only schedule last year.
“Necedah is a really intriguing opponent, as they are coming off back-to-back 40-point games and have a lot of speed on the field,” said Olson. “They have a very talented player in Jaron Murphy, who does a lot for them. We need to focus on ourselves the week and control what we can control.”
Around the Scenic Bluffs
Bangor, which is ranked No. 1 in Division 7, shut out Loyal 41–0 Friday night. Carter Horstman ran for 176 yards and 2 scores as the Cardinals rushed for 363 yards collectively on the night.
New Lisbon defeated Boscobel 42–6 after a big night for Gunnar Pedersen. Pedersen rushed for 147 yards and 3 scores, but also passed for 83 yards and a score.
Cashton fell 21–14 to Luther, Hillsboro lost 41–16 at Melrose-Mindoro, and Necedah fell to C-FC 45–42 after a late field goal by the visiting Pirates.
This week, Hillsboro heads to Bangor, Cashton goes to Brookwood, Necedah is at Royall and New Lisbon hosts North Crawford.