March 28, 2024

Cardinals roll into playoffs with big win

VAN METER — Central Decatur closed out the regular season with a big win over Class 1A District 8 champion Van Meter here Friday, giving the Cardinals plenty of momentum heading into their playoff opener.

The Cardinals improved to 7-2 for the season and 4-2 in District 8 play with the 32-14 win over the Bulldogs. Van Meter dropped to 6-3 overall and 5-1 in district play.

“We played well,” Central Decatur head coach Jon Pedersen said. “We wanted to be a physical team and we accomplished that. Kids carried out a really good defensive gameplan and did what we needed to do on offense to put the ball in the end zone.”

The 2014 season has been a process of eat, sleep, conquer, repeat for Trenton Wells, who ranks second in Class 1A in total offense with 2,524 yards and in touchdowns with 31.

The Central Decatur senior had yet another big game on Friday, completing 11-of-18 for 146 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, in addition to carrying the ball 24 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns.

“They started out the game trying to take Trenton away,” Pedersen said. “We were able to loosen them up with the pass and had some big plays on that. That made them make an adjustment. When they made that adjustment, Trenton started to run well. He’s just getting stronger and stronger. A lot of that is because he’s getting good blocking.”

Pedersen credited the work of offensive linemen Garret Clark, Trace Carson, Justin Shields, Gabe Roberts and Hunter Smith, along with the blocking of running backs Kyle Palmer and Peyton Gilbert in the blocking game.

Defensively, Wells recorded four solo tackles with five assisted tackles, including two solo tackles for loss and one solo sack.

Both of his touchdown tosses went to Peyton Pedersen, who recorded 130 receiving yards on seven catches. They connected for a long touchdown of 63 yards.

Peyton Gilbert continued to make an impact for the Cardinals since his return from injury, rushing for 49 yards on eight carries and leading the team with seven solo tackles and five assists. He also recovered a fumble.

Sophomore Mickey Morgan recorded two solo sacks in the win.

The Cardinals shut down Van Meter’s all-state running back Cody Blackwell, limiting him to just 58 rushing yards on 17 carries. Blackwell added two catches for 19 yards.

“That was the big thing,” coach Pedersen said. “He’s (Blackwell) their main guy. We thought we had a pretty good plan to do that and the kids executed very well. Again, Peyton Gilbert had a big game for us. That was his guy to take care of, and he did a good job of doing it.”

Nathan Justman completed 13-of-18 for 154 yards with a 15-yard touchdown to Jake Koch, who had six receptions for 68 yards. Justman ran for the other Van Meter touchdown. He finished with -17 rushing yards on 11 carries, though, as Van Meter registered only 64 rushing yards for the game.

Central Decatur, the 3-seed from District 8, drew Pella Christian (6-3, 4-2), the 2-seed from District 6 in the first round of the playoffs.

That game was played at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Pella.