Banged-up Central City sees state football playoff run ended by Gladbrook-Reinbeck

CENTRAL CITY — Football is often a battle of attrition, especially when the playoffs roll around.

After a long season of hard-hitting contests, injuries are bound to happen and they can be crippling to a football team, especially in the 8-Player class.

For No. 6 Central City, those harsh realities came to light in Friday night's game with No. 7 Gladbrook-Reinbeck.

The Wildcats lost one of their most versatile players in last week's win over Lansing Kee when Matthew Klostermann went down with a knee injury. That was compounded by the loss of Christoper Greif and Braxton Davis during the team's 36-12 loss to the Rebels in a second-round game.

Rebel quarterback Isaac Clark completed 13 of 23 passes for 182 yards and four touchdowns. The senior also carried the ball 15 times for 83 yards.

“You could see it on film, just how good they were,” said Central City Coach Matt Miers of the Rebels, “and the injuries certainly didn't help our chances.

“We lost our best power running back (Klostermann) last week. Injuries are a part of the game. Gladbrook is a great team and they showed it tonight.”

The Rebels’ multi-faceted offense got rolling on their second drive when Austin Vaverka broke loose around right end for a 32-yard score.

It became 16-0 on the first play of the second quarter when Clark hit Hudson Clark on a 35-yard scoring pass.

Central City (8-2) cut the margin to 16-6 when Jayden Hanson bulled his way in from the 4, but the Rebels responded just before the half as Isaac Clark hit Drew Eilers on a 9-yard scoring pass. That gave G-R a 22-6 lead at intermission.

The hosts had two chances to make it a one-score game in the second half, but could never sustain a drive against a stingy Rebel defense.

Miers was proud of the way his team continued to compete.

“We always talk about the most important play being the next play,” he said. “Our kids have continued to buy in to that philosophy and they fought really hard.”

The visitors sealed the victory with a pair of Isaac Clark TD passes, the first a 9-yard throw to Vaverka and the final one on a 27-yard strike to Eilers.

Aiden Klostermann, Central City's all-time leading rusher, closed his career with 121 yards on 23 carries and threw a touchdown pass of 20 yards to Hanson.

“We have a lot to be proud of,” Miers said. “I told the seniors that no other Central City team had made the playoffs two years in a row. It hurts them big time right now, but when they get a chance to reflect on it, they will realize just how much they have accomplished.”

Gladbrook-Reinbeck (9-1) will play in the quarterfinals next Friday against No. 5 Clarksville, a 50-8 winner over Iowa Valley.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 36 Central City 12

At Central City

GR CC

First downs 15 12

Rushes-yards 24-121 39-158

Passing yards 182 60

Comp-Att-Int 13-23-0 5-15-0

Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 5-28.2

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0

Penalties-Yards 3-25 3-26

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 8 14 6 8 — 36

Central City 0 6 0 6 — 12

GR — Austin Vaverka 32 run (Austin Gehring pass from Isaac Clark)

GR — Hudson Clark 35 pass from I. Clark (I. Clark run)

CC — Jayden Hanson 4 run (run failed)

GR — Drew Eilers 9 pass from I. Clark (pass failed)

GR — Vaverka 14 pass from I. Clark (pass failed)

GR — Drew Eilers 27 pass from I. Clark (H. Clark run)

CC — Hanson 20 pass from Aiden Klostermann (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — G-R: Isaac Clark 15-83, Austin Vaverka 7-51. Team 2-(minus 13) Central City: Aiden Klostermann 23-121, Jayden Hanson 13-40, Christopher Greif 1-1, Chris Hanson 1-5, Team 1-(minus 9).

PASSING — G-R: Isaac Clark 13-23-0-182. Central City: Jayden Hanson 3-12-0-27, Aiden Klostermann 2-2-0-33.

RECEIVING — G-R: Drew Eilers 4-67, Hudson Clark 3-67, Austin Vaverka 3-23, Austin Gehring 2-15, Treyvon Herron 1-10, . Central City: Mekhi Benton 3-33, Jayden Hanson 1-20, Josh Lindsey 1-7.