COLONY — There were several opportunities for distraction Friday for Crest High’s Lancers.
Crest celebrated its fall homecoming on the same night the school honored its talented senior class.
But the Lancers weren’t in much mood to fool around.
Crest scored early and often, pounding visiting Marais des Cygnes Valley, 64-0, in a game called at halftime via Kansas eight-man mercy rules.
The victory, Crest’s fifth in a row, puts the 6-1 Lancers in a key district showdown next Friday at Lebo.
The winner will take home the district championship.
“They’re a tough team,” Lancer head coach Nick McAnulty said. “They’re big up front, and physical like we are. They’ve got some athletes. We’ve got to make sure we’re at our best.”
Even without leading rusher Holden Barker, who remains sidelined with a hand injury, Crest had little trouble with the overmatched Trojan squad.
The Lancers’ first three scoring drives lasted 31, 14 and 28 seconds. Ethan Godderz got things started with a seven-yard run before Stetson Setter scored on runs of 17 and 31 yards to push the Lancers ahead 20-0 within the game’s first 4 ½ minutes.
The relentless Crest defense made sure there was no hope for an MdCV comeback.
Unofficially, the Trojans took 34 offensive snaps, and lost yardage on 10 of them, and were limited to three yards or fewer on 11 others.
“This is the point of the season we’ve got to figure out who we’re going to be,” McAnulty said. “We need to lock everything in, and be laser-focused. We can’t have those mental mistakes we might have had earlier this season. Defensively, we were flying to the ball.”
The Lancers kept up the pressure when Godderz scored on runs of 22 and 18 yards to push the lead to 32-0 by the early minutes of the second quarter. Setter’s 24-yard touchdown run — his third score in as many carries for the game — pushed the lead to 42-0.
Godderz dialed up a 65-yard scoring strike with Karter Miller on the Lancers’ next play from scrimmage to push the spread to 50-0..
The Trojans followed with their most successful drive of the game, advancing to midfield, before Crest senior Trevor Church ended the drive with an interception at the Lancer 10.
But he wasn’t satisfied with the pick.
