Fast start powers Mustangs past Warriors at home

RAYMOND — A solid game plan helped the Class C-2 No. 6 Raymond Central football team defeat Lincoln Lutheran at home 32-21 in the Mustangs’ C2-1 District opener on Sept. 27. The Mustangs put a big emphasis on the running game, and it paid off with 389 combined yards on the ground. According to Raymond Central head coach Tony Kobza, it was a big factor in controlling the tempo of the game. “We really wanted to establish the run,” Kobza said. “We thought that would be big for us. The way they play up-tempo and throw it around, we wanted to kind of shorten the game as much as we could on our end. So, we really focused on establishing the run and keeping them in front of us and tackling. Those were the two big keys that we had to accomplish.” Wyatt Jelinek used a big play to get Raymond Central going out of the gate. On a quarterback keeper, he broke loose for a 58-yard touchdown run that put the Mustangs up 6-0. Later in the quarter, Jelinek completed a nine-yard pass to Tavion Johnson for a score, which put Raymond Central ahead 12-0 after one. Like the start of the game, Jelinek broke loose for a 63-yard touchdown run to open the second quarter. Alex Novosolev kicked through the extra point to make it a 19-0 contest. For the third time in the game, Jelinek found the endzone with a four-yard rushing touchdown midway through the second. Following a made extra point, the Mustangs were up 26-7. Lutheran closed out the half with a 17-yard touchdown pass, which made it a 12-point contest at 26-14 at the break. In the third quarter, Raymond Central scored for the final time on a reverse to Johnson that went 29 yards for a score. The extra point by the Mustangs was no good, making it a 32-14 game entering the final frame. The Warriors did score once on a five-yard pass in the fourth, which trimmed their deficit down to 11 points in the end. With the win, Raymond Central is now 1-0 in district play and they are off to a 5-0 start. They hope to continue this momentum they have as they hit the back half of their schedule. “It’s awesome and it’s a reward to the kids for everything they’ve done,” Kobza said. “All the work they put in and sacrifice. We kind of broke the season up into four different quarters and we talked about how we were done with the first half after we got through preseason practices and then the non-district games. To start off with a district win over a team who’s historically a really good program, I think the kids can really feel good about where we’re at right now.” Rushing for 135 yards and three scores to go along with 27 passing yards and a touchdown was Jelinek. Johnson had 29 rushing yards and one score. He also hauled in two catches for 36 yards and another touchdown. Grinding out 114 yards on the ground was Tysen Taylor while Dawson Potter finished with 84 rushing yards. Parker Ayres paced the defense with 10 tackles while Matt Larson, Gavin Gehle, and Taylor all had five tackles. Coming through with two tackles and an interception was Reid Otto. The Mustangs are on the road this week at Palmyra at 7 p.m. Friday. Their last time out, the Panthers were knocked off 74-0 by Class C-2 No. 2 Bishop Neumann.