CMB’s historic season continues after rout

MAXWELL — Collins-Maxwell/Baxter added another notch to its historic football season Wednesday night.

The Class 2A No. 7 Raiders, who went undefeated in the regular season for the first time since the two high schools consolidated, can now mark at least one playoff victory on their wall after a dominating performance against South Hardin in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs.

CMB’s defense held the Tigers to 51 yards and two first downs in the first half and the Raider offense tallied 481 total yards of offense in the game during a 48-14 first-round thrashing at Sullivan Field.

Raider sophomore quarterback Hunter McWhirter threw for 227 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 92 yards and two scores, while sophomore Blake Coughenour added 88 rushing yards, 69 receiving yards and three total TDs in the rout.

“We were happy with 9-0 but we could have come in here tonight and lost so we made sure we were prepared and we were ready for it,” said CMB standout wideout Bryce Kemp, who finished with 96 yards on five receptions.

"We wanted to lay it down early and let them know from the start who was going to win."
The Raiders are 10-0 for the first time in program history and play Monday against No. 6 Hampton-Dumont (9-1) in Baxter. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

South Hardin ended up with 206 total yards but scored all 14 of its points in the fourth quarter against a running clock that stopped on Ryland DuChane’s 6-yard TD run with 4:17 to play in the game.

But the Tigers also had three turnovers that led to 14 Raider points.

"It was no different than any other game, you don't want to give them a short field," said South Hardin coach Barry Scott. "You want to make them work for it and we didn't."
South Hardin came into the game with four wins against opponents that collected a combined six wins between them. The Tigers were good against those teams, outscoring them 147-59.

But against teams with winning records, the Tigers entered Wednesday averaging 7.6 points per game and the Raiders made sure that number stayed there until CMB coach Rob Luther called off the starters in the final frame.

“We really played physical football tonight and that was good to see from our guys up front,” said Luther. “We have some playmakers and we just got on them early. The defense played lights out tonight, too.”

Kemp came into the game with 38 catches for 826 yards and eight scores. The Eastern Michigan recruit also has scored touchdowns throwing, running, on defense and in the return game, but he got plenty of help from his teammates against South Hardin.

Kemp finished with 96 yards on five catches, but Coughenour and Hunter Gunderson each scored long touchdowns in the passing game. Coughenour’s 65-yard TD catch capped a string of three straight scores from the sophomore tailback and Gunderson’s 66-yarder from backup QB Nate Bishop capped CMB’s scoring early in the fourth quarter.

“We have so many playmakers on this team,” said Kemp. “It doesn’t matter who you give the ball to, they will make a play. We are just all working as a team.”

Jordin Wilkie led the Tigers (4-6) with 86 rushing yards and his 1-yard TD run put South Hardin on the board early in the fourth quarter. Ryland DuChane’s short TD run capped the scoring and ended a continuous clock that was set in motion on McWhirter’s 42-yard TD run early in the third quarter.

“He is just getting better and better,” said Luther of his sophomore QB. “He’s growing up in front of our eyes. He made some really good reads in the running game. He is headed in the right direction and that will help us tremendously.”

CMB’s defense came into the game with 14 interceptions, 15 sacks and five fumble recoveries. The Raiders picked off South Hardin quarterback Sam Shindelar three times. Two of those interceptions came from junior Brady Stover, who now has 10 picks on the season.

“He is a great player. Ten picks is outstanding,” said Kemp of his teammate Stover. “He is making great plays, and he is working his butt off.”

Clayton Weltha also had a team-high 8 1/2 tackles and a sack for the Raider defense, while Mac Pohlman finished with six tackles.

Shindelar threw for 49 yards and the three interceptions and Wilkie also had 32 yards on two catches.
Eric Mulder came into the game with 67 catches, 705 receiving yards and 10 TDs, but the Raiders held him to just one catch for minus-7 yards.

Despite a 9-0 record in the regular season, the Raiders dropped to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll after the final regular season game. They didn’t let that bother them Wednesday though as they jumped out to a 31-0 lead at halftime. CMB’s defense also did not surrender a first down until midway through the second quarter.

“We are pretty focused. We stay level headed,” said Luther when asked about the rankings. “Rankings are rankings, but we just focus on our next game.”

That will be Monday in Baxter against a Hampton-Dumont squad that beat Southeast Valley 53-7 on Wednesday. Hampton-Dumont’s lone loss was a 20-7 defeat to top-ranked Clear Lake.

The only bad news of the night for the Raiders came in the third quarter when second leading tackler Nick Littell went down with what appeared to be a serious leg injury. Play was stopped for about 30 minutes as Littell left the field and went into an ambulance on a stretcher.

“We are not sure how it happened. It’s a leg injury and it doesn’t look good,” said Luther. “He was in a lot of pain and we are hoping for the best. He’s a warrior and a great player. We’ll see what happens in the morning. He is a big part of this defense. We just hope he is around for the next one.”

SH 0-0-0-14—14

CMB 10-21-10-7—49

CMB — Joey Nissen 25 yd FG

CMB — Hunter McWhirter 9 yd run (Nissen kick)

CMB — Blake Coughenour 8 yd run (Nissen kick)

CMB — Coughenour 1 yd run (Nissen kick)

CMB — Coughenour 65 yd pass from McWhirter (Nissen kick)

CMB — McWhirter 42 yd run (Nissen kick)

CMB — Nissen 25 yd FG

SH — Jordin Wilkie 1 yd run (Eric Mulder kick)

CMB — Hunter Gunderson 66 yd pass from Nate Bishop (Nissen kick)

SH — Rylan DuChane 6 yd run (Mulder kick)

South Hardin CMB

11 First Downs 19

27-157 Rushes-yds. 38-188

49 Passing yds. 293

206 Total offense 481

6-15-3 Passing 13-19-1

0-0 Fumbles-lost 3-1

5-50 Penalties-yds. 8-65

3-42 Punts/Avg. 0-0

Individual Leaders

Rushing: South Hardin-Jordan Wilkie 10-86, Cody Haley 3-38, Rylan DuChane 5-13, Bridger Lawrence 2-11, Jeff Thompson 1-7, Eric Mulder 1-4, Bobby Hatton 4-3, Sam Shindelar 1-(minus 7). CMB-Hunter McWhirter 10-92, Blake Coughenour 15-88, Bryce Kemp 2-8, Nate Bishop 4-6, Hunter Gunderson 1-5, Charles Robertson 1-0, Dalton Birchmier 2-(minus 1), Brady Stover 2-(minus 1), Kyle Cather 1-(minus 9),

Passing: South Hardin-Shindelar 6-15-4-49. CMB-McWhirter 12-17-1-227; Bishop 1-2-0-66.

Receiving: South Hardin-Hatton 3-24, Wilkie 2-32, Mulder 1-(minus 7). CMB-Kemp 5-96, Brady Stover 4-59, Coughenour 2-69, Hunter Gunderson 1-66, Brad Ritter 1-3.

Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or
thyde@newtondailynews.com..