PCM football ends season following loss to No. 2 Van Meter

MONROE — PCM head football coach Greg Bonnett was confident his Mustangs were going to win at halftime.

Class 2A No. 10 PCM was tied at 14-all against second-ranked Van Meter on its home field.

He loved the two long scoring drives and his defense forced a turnover late in the half that kept the game tied.

But after Van Meter scored on its first possession of the second half, PCM turned the ball over in its own territory and a two-score deficit was eventually too much to overcome during a 31-21 loss to the Bulldogs in a 2A quarterfinal matchup on Friday night.

“I absolutely feel good about how we played,” Bonnett said. “We didn’t play a flawless game, but we played a good, physical, intelligent, fight-to-the-end type of game.

“In the end, when you lose, you hope you did try hard throughout the entire game and hope that nothing was glaring. Nothing was glaring. But we just needed to make plays at the right time.”

Van Meter clinched its ninth consecutive trip to the state semifinals. The Bulldogs are the first team in state history to win 11 games in nine straight seasons.

PCM had three scoring drives in the game. The Mustangs led 7-0 with a 19-play, 80-yard opening drive.

PCM tied the game late in the second quarter with a 17-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

And the Mustangs’ final points came on a 20-play, 80-yard drive with around 5 minutes to go in the fourth.

Unfortunately, Van Meter (11-0) converted a third and five, a third and 18 and a third and 10 on its second scoring drive, picked up first downs on third and five, fourth and one and fourth and two on its first drive of the second half and converted a third and nine with a 39-yard pass play that turned into a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth.

“When you play a team like Van Meter, you have to make every play. You can’t miss on anything,” Bonnett said. “We couldn’t get off the field. That’s going to happen. I think the bigger thing was the big plays. We didn’t eliminate enough of their big plays.

“That was a really good football team we played tonight, and we weren’t perfect.”

PCM’s opening drive of the game featured 19 plays — all runs — and none of them went for more than eight yards. The Mustangs picked up seven first downs, were 2-of-3 on third down and 1-of-1 on fourth and Adrien Robbins capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Van Meter’s first big play tied the game. Bulldog quarterback Austin Baumhover rushed for 121 yards in the win and his 36-yard touchdown run with 4:23 to go in the first evened the score at 7-all.

After a PCM three-and-out, Van Meter went 60 yards in 11 plays. The Bulldogs picked up a third and 18 on a Baumhover quarterback draw right up the middle.

Then on third and 10, Baumhover hooked up with Cael Trudo for a 30-yard touchdown. The Mustangs missed an opportunity at an interception a few plays prior to the touchdown, too.

The Mustangs answered the score with a 17-play drive. They ran the ball 16 times, picked up five first downs and went 3-of-4 on third down and 1-of-1 on fourth.

Robbins highlighted the drive with a 21-yard run. Gavin Van Gorp also found Griffin Olson for 14 yards on third and eight. Van Gorp scored from 1-yard out three plays later.

“That was huge. I think those long drives wear teams down. If they have two-way players, maybe they get tired,” Bonnett said. “In the end, it was a hard-fought game and I’m very proud of our guys.”

Van Meter tailback Ben Gordon came into the game ranked second behind Robbins for rushing yards in 2A.

But the Mustangs (8-3) limited Gordon to 60 yards on 18 carries. He fumbled on the Bulldogs’ final possession of the first half when Kaden Clark punched out the ball and Riley Graber recovered it on the Bulldogs’ 39-yard line.

“That was the most fun part of the game. The energy on our sideline was electric,” Bonnett said.

Unfortunately, PCM couldn’t cash in on the turnover. The drive featured two incomplete passes and a sack that pushed the ball back 11 yards.

Still, Bonnett went into halftime feeling as good as he’s felt all season.

“My confidence was at an all-time high at that point. I thought we were going to come out and beat them,” Bonnett said. “I had no doubts in my mind. It didn’t work out that way, but you couldn’t have told me otherwise at halftime.”

Van Meter went in front 21-14 with a 13-play, 81-yard drive to open the second half.

Baumhover connected with Rhett Pleggenkuhle for 18 yards on third and five and then an offsides penalty by PCM on fourth and one extended the drive.

Van Meter also picked up a fourth and two with a 13-yard screen pass to Porter Doggett and Baumhover scored on an 11-yard run three plays later.

“We were right there at the point of the attack sometimes, but the QB was nifty,” Bonnett said. “Sometimes he got us sucked in and then broke it outside and got those huge plays.

“I just think we needed to be able to stop them better. They did get a lot of third-down conversions and those were big.”

Robbins had 136 yards on 30 carries at halftime. He finished with 204 yards on 47 carries but fumbled the ball on the Mustangs’ opening possession of the third.

Robbins was met at the line of scrimmage by several Bulldogs and the turnover set up Van Meter inside the red zone.

The visitors went 17 yards in five plays and Baumhover capped the drive with a 1-yard TD plunge.

“If we would have played the QB perfectly, I think we would have been good on him, too,” Bonnett said. “He got our eyes out of whack a little bit too much. You have to play with your eyes and when they start to wonder and get dirty, bad things are going to happen.”

After PCM punted on its next drive, Van Meter marched 68 yards in nine plays. The biggest play was a 39-yard pass from Baumhover to Caleb Moore on third and nine. Adlai Lounsbury, who booted all six kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, made it 31-14 with a 28-yard field goal with 11:17 to play in the game.

PCM answered with its 20-play, 80-yard drive. But it took more than 6 minutes off the clock.

The Mustangs ran it 17 times, picked up six first downs and the longest plays were a 10-yard run by Robbins and a 12-yard scamper by Van Gorp.

PCM closed to within 31-21 following Van Gorp’s 1-yard TD plunge. The junior quarterback finished with 44 rushing yards and two TDs on 19 carries and was 3-of-10 through the air for 17 yards.

Van Meter punted for the first time in the game on its next possession. A penalty put the Bulldogs behind the sticks and a tackle for loss by Allias Nolin on third down gave the ball back to the hosts.

The Mustangs started their final possession of the game on their own 20-yard line. Robbins went 10 yards on the first carry, Van Gorp gained nine yards two plays later and PCM picked up its second first down on a short run by Robbins.

The drive ended when Van Gorp gained 4 yards on fourth and five.

Van Meter was able to run out the clock when it picked up a fourth and four on a 33-yard pass from Baumhover to Moore.

Olson caught all three of Van Gorp’s pass completions for 17 yards. He also had 5.5 tackles on defense.

Evan Jones and Justin Johnston led the defense with 7.5 tackles, Trenner Van Dyke collected five tackles and Jacob Wendt secured four tackles and recovered a fumble. Finn Wilson added four tackles and Braedyn Lester registered three tackles.

Baumhover finished 6-of-10 through the air for 139 yards and one TD. Moore ran for 19 yards on two carries, gained 72 yards on two catches and secured 10 tackles.

Teddy Sieck and John Braun led the Van Meter defense with 12.5 tackles and 12 tackles, respectively.

PCM graduates 17 seniors but welcomes back several starters on both sides of the ball next fall.

“I think we are going to be right back where we are tonight and can take it a step further,” Bonnett said. “We have good football players, and I’m anxious to see who steps up in the offseason and who improves.

“I’m going to miss every single one of our seniors. I think that class gave us our soul back in terms of being that physical team that is going to come out there and compete, get after it and win.”

Notes: Each team committed three penalties. … PCM had a 20-16 advantage in first downs and was 13-of-19 on third down. Van Meter out-gained the Mustangs 334-261. … PCM snapped the Bulldogs’ nine-game streak of scoring at least seven touchdowns in a game. It held Van Meter to 21 points under its per-game average. … The Bulldogs have not lost a game at an opponent’s home field since falling to Madrid in 2015, a streak of 41 consecutive wins. … Van Meter is 94-1 in its last 95 games under traditional Friday night lights. … Robbins finished his junior campaign with a school-record 2,182 rushing yards and 24 rushing TDs. Van Gorp, a junior, rushed for 12 touchdowns and Wilson capped his junior season with a team-best 81 tackles.