MORAN — The Marmaton Valley High football team shut out their third opponent of the season when they blanked Marais des Cygnes Valley at home Friday, 60-0.
The Wildcats (3-1) had two turnovers in a game that had one-way traffic all night. The first interception came from Jaedon Granere, the second from Brevyn Campell. Dre Ellis went for three touchdowns and had 98 rushing yards on the night.
“I always think it’s more impressive to shut somebody down. It’s hard to shut down teams in eight-man, where every opponent has a chance to score,” Marmaton Valley head coach Max Mickunas said. “I was proud of the defense because it was our third shutout of the season. I think it’s something these guys pride themselves on.”
Even more impressively, Marmaton Valley scored all 60 of their points by halftime. The Wildcat offense totaled 262 total yards with 145 rushing yards and 71 receiving yards. Brayden Lawson threw for two touchdowns and 71 yards and rushed for 29 yards.
Ellis was the lead runner for the Wildcats, carrying in the three touchdowns on 98 rushing yards on six carries.
“Ellis is fast, and he runs hard. He never shies away from contact, and he’ll run you over,” said Mickunas. “He doesn’t spend a lot of time juking and dancing and does a good job of getting up and down the field. He’s great to have on the team because he takes a lot of pressure off Brayden. When you have both those guys back there, it makes it more of a threat.”
Lawson’s pair of touchdown passes were delivered to Jaedon Granere and Tyler Lord, each hauling in one. Granere was the leading receiver with 42 receiving yards on one touchdown and a long reception of 39 yards. Lord hauled in 29 receiving yards.
“We try to keep it pretty balanced,” Mickunas said. “I always tell these guys sometimes it may be your night or it may be another guy’s night and they’ve done a good job of buying into the team’s success over individual success.”
Defensively, Campbell had a team-high eight total tackles while Lawson had seven total tackles. Dagan Barney, Lawson, Ellis and Campbell each had a team-high four solo tackles. Lawson and Scharff also each had one tackle for a loss.
Marmaton Valley hosts Hartford on Friday at 7 p.m.
