Baxter football stays unbeaten, routs Knights in home opener

BAXTER — Baxter’s football team is 3-0 and has outscored its first three opponents 186-16.

Still, the Bolts are not yet ranked in the Associated Press poll and the BCMoore Rankings has Baxter as the 20th best 8-man team.

The low ranking right now has mostly to do with the Bolts not yet facing a tough opponent. But head coach Rob Luther hopes tougher games are ahead.

“It was good to just be home in front of a pretty big crowd. It was nice to be back under the lights here,” Luther said. “We can only line up against who is on our schedule. We need to find out where we are at though so we know where we need to keep focusing.”

Luther believes his squad will get tested this coming week by Grand View Christian. But before the Bolts face the Thunder, they had some fun against Woodward Academy on Friday during a Class 8-man District 7 contest.

Baxter’s defense held the Knights to one first down and -6 total yards in the first half and the offense scored five first-half touchdowns on just 10 plays during a 72-8 home victory.

The first half also included a 38-yard punt return touchdown by Evan Mahoney and a pair of defensive safeties.

“We have the mantra it’s not the who, it’s the how. Whether we play someone bad or someone great, we plan to take care of us,” Luther said. “I think it was good to score a lot early. We got the ball in our playmakers’ hands and they did their thing. We got everyone some kind of point in the game I believe.”

The offense was powered by Mahoney and quarterback Cody Damman against Woodward Academy.

Damman finished 7-of-7 through the air for 141 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed two times for 99 yards and another score.

Mahoney, a junior who moved to Baxter from Grinnell this offseason, gained 38 yards and scored one TD on two carries, hauled in four catches for 99 yards and two scores and took a punt 38 yards to paydirt.

“I think this week we talked about getting him some explosive plays and getting him the ball in space and let him showcase his speed a little bit,” Dammn said about Mahoney. “It was nice to watch him get loose a few times.”

Mahoney had a decent debut for the Bolts in the win against Colo-NESCO in the opener but was out with an illness most of last week, which limited him in the game against Melcher-Dallas.

“He’s the one guy new to our offense who needs to get some confidence,” Luther said. “We thought in the first week he missed some cuts and maybe could have gotten into the end zone, but it was his first varsity start. And he was sick last week. So there was a little bit of ‘let’s get Evan the ball early’ to this game.”

The Bolts’ defense registered four three-and-outs in the first half. One of those resulted in a safety after the Knights snapped the ball out of the back of the end zone on an attempted punt.

The other safety made it 40-0 and came after the Knights lost 14 yards on their first two plays from scrimmage.

The only first down Baxter allowed in the first half came after it was called for roughing the kicker on a punt deep in Knights’ territory.

“We all have similar mindsets and similar goals. We want to win the district obviously and maybe win a few playoff games,” Damman said. “The defense is going to be key to getting there.”

Jake Travis highlighted the defense with seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Damman had 5.5 tackles.

On the Bolts’ first offensive possession, Damman found Travis twice for big yardage. The first completion opened the drive and went for 29 yards. The second was an 18-yard TD.

The next two offensive series were 1-play scoring drives. Damman hooked up with Mahoney twice on touchdown passes of 20 and 46 yards. Then Mahoney returned the punt to the end zone to put the Bolts up 30-0.

Damman’s big run in the game was a 63-yard TD run on the team’s next drive and the first safety with 8:27 left in the half made it 40-0.

“We are going to go with him. He’ll take us as far as we go,” Luther said about Damman. “I know people like to see him run it and throw it all over the field, but he’s a dude on defense, too.”

Luther went to his reserves after that. And Perrin Sulzle hooked up with Cainan Travis on a 19-yard TD. The strike came after Cade Robinson ran the ball twice for 28 yards.

It was 50-0 at halftime following the second safety.

A two-play drive opened the second half for Baxter. Damman followed up a 36-yard run with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Treyton Travis.

Mahoney was featured in the starters’ final offensive drive. He started it with a 19-yard run and ended it with a 20-yard TD sprint. In between, he caught an 11-yard pass from Damman.

“I was sick last week, but it felt good to get involved. I like getting the ball and running,” Mahoney said. “I feel like the connection has been good. It seems to be going well so far. They have been welcoming.”

Woodward Academy (0-3 overall, 0-1 in district play) found more success in the second half against Baxter’s reserve defense. The Knights’ first drive produced a pair of first downs and then they marched 53 yards in 13 plays to crack the scoreboard.

Kenneth Mead scored from 2 yards out to make it 64-8 with 7:48 to play.

The Bolts (3-0, 2-0) added to their score on their next possession. Robinson rolled off runs of 7 and 21 yards before Cael Wishman sprinted 30 yards to the end zone to extend the lead.

Alex Dille recovered a Knight fumble on their final possession and the Bolts ran out the clock to end it.

“How deep we want to go will be determined by how many stops we can get on defense,” Luther said. “We just didn’t get enough stops against Fremont last year. It was a shootout. We know for us to take the next step, it will come down to the defense because we know we’ll score points.”

Jake Travis finished with 47 yards and one TD on two catches, Robinson rushed five times for 63 yards and Wishman gained 34 yards and scored one touchdown on his four carries.

Sulzle completed both of his passes for 22 yards and a TD and rushed once for 7 yards. Cainan Travis grabbed a 19-yard TD and rushed once for 4 yards, Treyton Travis had a 4-yard TD catch and Kolton Hill registered one catch for 4 yards.

It’s a good problem to have, but Luther has plenty of weapons at his disposal when the Bolts are offense.

“Early on I just throw it to who’s open, but when we get a lead like that, it’s fun to spread it around and make sure we get others catches or touchdowns or whatever.” Damman said. “We definitely tried to get everyone something in the game.”

Trice Clapper had five tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss on defense, Devan Fredregill collected 4.5 tackles and three tackles for loss, Aiden McFadden collected 4.5 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss and Cainan Travis added four tackles.

Dille and Callyn Bishop both recovered fumbles.

“We get along great and have great connections. Me, Cody, Jake and Shep have been playing together for four years,” Clapper said. “That’s a lot of football. The new kids are fitting in well and we have a great bond.

“We are curious to see where we’re at. We’re excited to eventually get some better competition to see how good we are. We want to prove how good we are, too.”

Notes: Five of Jake Travis’ eight kickoffs went for touchbacks. ... Friday’s win was the 151st of Luther’s 28-year coaching career. ... Luther expects to get a tough test from Grand View Christian (2-1) this week and the two other best teams in the district are Montezuma (3-1) and BGM (2-1). Those two teams played last week and Montezuma rallied from an early hole to win 54-50. BGM led 44-22 at halftime but was outscored 24-0 in the fourth quarter. ... Cael Shepley caught two 2-point conversion passes, one from Damman and one from Sulzle. Damman ran in two 2-point conversions, Cody Samson had a 2-point conversion run and Hill and Treyton Travis also caught 2-point conversions. ... The latest AP poll came out Monday and the Bolts are now tied for 10th in 8-man.