Dusty Deines, Sunflower State Radio
BELOIT, Kan. – In Saturday’s DII All-Star Game at Trojan Field, the East scored early and often, taking a 30-0 lead in the first quarter on their way to a 54-22 victory, snapping a three-game winning streak for the West in the series.
It was evident very early that it would be the East’s day. On their first play from scrimmage, a trick play on a halfback pass netted a 61-yard touchdown throw from Axtell’s Isaac Detweiler to Cason Mastre of Canton-Galva. The East led 6-0 just 13 seconds into the game.
After the West went three and out, the East went 69 yards in eight plays, culminating with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Canton-Galva’s Garrett Maltbie to Holden Barker of Crest. Maltbie added a two-point run to put the East up 14-0.
The West was forced to punt again on their second drive and it took just one play for the East to get on the board again. Maltbie found Luke Davies of Lebo on a 40-yard TD strike and Maltbie and Mastre hooked up on the two-point conversion to put the East up 22-0.
A turnover on downs by the West gave the East the ball back yet again in the first and four plays later, Detweiler had a three-yard touchdown run and Barker added the two-pointer to put the East up 30-0 with 1:40 left in the 1st quarter.
The West was finally able to get on the board, scoring in three plays on their next drive, capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Gantz of Stafford to Cade Johnson from Wallace County. The East took a 30-6 lead into the second quarter after the West score.
With most of their scores coming on short drives, the East used a 15-play, 65-yard drive that included a 60-yard pass from Maltbie to Mastre which set up a five-yard TD pass on 4th & Goal from Maltbie to his other Canton-Galva teammate TJ Koehn. Barker added another two-point run to put the East up 38-6 with 7:08 left in the first half.
The West got another big play on their next drive. Thunder Ridge QB Dylan Bice connected with Carson Werth of Victoria on a 29-yard TD pass. Bice connected with Werth on the two-point pass as well as the West cut the lead to 38-14 with 4:40 left in the first half. That would be the score at halftime as well.
In a lower scoring second half, the West went three and out on their first drive and the East struck first. In just three plays and 19 seconds, Maltbie ran one in from 15 yards out and Mastre recovered a Barker fumble in the end zone for the two-pointer. The East led 46-14 with 10:34 left in the third.
Two possessions later, Sawyer Bowman of Hodgeman County recovered an East fumble and the West needed just two plays to punch it into the end zone as Bice connected with Dighton’s Max Neeley on a six yard touchdown pass. Bice found Neeley on the two-pointer to cut the East lead to 46-22 with 6:34 left in the third quarter.
The East had a turnover on downs on their next possession, but Davies got an interception on the next West drive. Seven plays later, the East was in the end zone again on a five yard run by Detweiler as Barker added a two-point conversion. That score gave the East a 54-22 lead with 2:56 left in the third and from there, each team went scoreless.
The two teams combined for three turnovers on downs and two punts mixed with multiple penalties in the final quarter.
The East finished with 541 yards of total offense, gaining 283 through the air and 258 on the ground. Maltbie went 12-25 for 222 yards and three touchdowns passing and ran for another 96 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. Mastre had five catches for 135 yards and a score, while Barker ran for 121 yards for the East. For the West, they put up 184 total yards with 159 through the air, but just 25 on the ground. Bice threw for 82 yards and a score, while Gantz had 77 yards a touchdown passing.
Breaking the three-game winning streak for the West, the East now leads the overall series in the DII game 13-9.
Scoring Summary
1st, East: Mastre 61 pass from Detweiler (PAT failed), 11:47 (6-0 East)
1st, East: Barker 31 pass from Maltbie (Maltbie run), 6:35 (14-0 East)
1st, East: Davies 40 pass from Maltbie (Mastre pass from Maltbie), 4:06 (22-0 East)
1st, East: Detweiler 3 run (Barker run), 1:40 (30-0 East)
1st, West: Johnson 33 pass from Gantz (PAT failed), 1:16 (30-6 East)
2nd, East: Koehn 5 pass from Maltbie (Barker run), 7:08 (38-6 East)
2nd, West: Werth 29 pass from Dy. Bice (Werth pass from Dy. Bice), 4:40 (38-14 East)
3rd, East: Maltbie 15 run (Mastre recovered fumble in end zone), 10:34 (46-14 East)
3rd, West: Neeley 6 pass from Dy. Bice (Neeley pass from Dy. Bice), 6:34 (46-22 East)
3rd, East: Detweiler 5 run (Barker run), 2:56 (54-22 East)
DII All-Star Game Stats:
East West
Total Offense: 541 184
Rush Offense: 258 25
Pass Offense: 283 159
Penalties: 16-140 6-55
Score by Quarters:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
East 30 8 16 0 54
West 6 8 8 0 22
Individual Rushing:
East: Barker 16-121, 3 PAT; Maltbie 16-96, TD, PAT; Detweiler 7-37, 2 TD; Mastre 1-4
West: Neeley 4-16; Dy. Bice 10-12; Gantz 5-(-1); Johnson 4-(-2)
Individual Passing:
East: Maltbie 12-25-222, 3 TD, PAT; Detweiler 1-1-61, TD
West: Dy. Bice 10-12-82, 2 TD, 2 PAT; Gantz 7-15-77, TD, INT
Individual Receiving:
East: Mastre 6-135, TD, PAT; Davies 3-62, TD; Koehn 3-44, TD; Barker 2-34; Buessing 1-11
West: Werth 6-68, TD, PAT; Neeley 6-52, TD, PAT; Johnson 3-30, TD; Hildebrand 1-8; Anderson 1-0
