Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Cedar Mountain’s Branndon Pendleton carries the ball during a nine-man home football game with Red Rock Central on Friday evening in Morgan.

MORGAN — Cedar Mountain’s momentum didn’t stop after a one-hour storm delay Friday evening as the Cougars put up four unanswered touchdowns to cruise to a 28-8 win over Red Rock Central in a Nine-Man South District, West Subdistrict football game.

Carson Schiller completed 10 of 13 passes for 161 yards and two TDs to lead the Cougars, while Cooper Freitag rushed for 102 yards and two TDs on 19 carries while completing 4 of 5 passes for 38 yards.

Blake Steffl was the go-to guy for the Cougars in the passing game as he hauled in eight receptions for 149 yards and two TDs.

Abraham Stavnes led the Falcons on the ground with nine carries for 72 yards and a TD, while Quintyn Vold had 14 carries for 66 yards. Quarterback Isaac Simonson completed 11 of 26 passes for 65 yards.

One key spoke in the Falcons’ offensive wheel was again forced out of action due to injury as top running Carter Therkilsen was sidelined for the second game in a row. While the Falcons got some quality runs off in Therkilsen’s absence, the Cougars took advantage of missed blocks and dropped passes by RRC.

“They’re a whole different team without Therkilsen,” Cougars head coach Dwane Jemmings said. “But the guys they had ran hard and all that, it’s just that we made a few more plays than them, but this ain’t the last we’ll see of them. We’re more than likely to see them in playoffs, so it was nice to get the victory for section seedings and all that.

“But the kids played good, we left some points off the board, but it was a nice victory. To start with two quick touchdowns and Mother Nature got in the way, but it was nice that we were able to come out and move the ball and do some stuff.”

After the Cougars took a 12-0 lead, lightning bolts lit up the sky as thunder rolled in, forcing officials to put a pause to the action with 7:02 still to play in the half.

But the Cougars didn’t let up when a near one-hour delay came to an end, forcing an RRC turnover on downs and turning it into a seven-play drive that was finished on a 49-yard catch and run touchdown reception by Steffl. A 2-point conversion catch by Steffl had the Cougars up 20-0 with 1:47 left in the half and they carried that lead into the break.

The Cougars continued their strong offense in the second half, kicking the half off with a nine-play drive that ended on a 12-yard TD run by Freitag. A surprise 2-point conversion catch by lineman Kegan Tietz had the Cougars up 28-0 with 7:41 left in the third.

Freitag mainly lined up at running back again this week, but Schiller handled himself well and gave the Cougars more options to work with.

And after a rough 40-6 loss to Hills-Beaver Creek that saw Freitag with a bullseye on his back, a change was welcome.

“I think we realized at Hills when they had seven, eight guys in the box and [Cooper] was back there that we had to do something,” Jemmings said. “As you can see, Carson Schiller’s a nice player, he throws a nice ball, and just with moving Cooper around, that gives us more [options]. We don’t need to run, he’s a big kid for blocking. You get him in front of Branndon [Pendleton], he can open up some holes. We’ve just got to make sure we move Cooper around, use him as decoy sometimes, but also, you’ve got to use him, he’s a horse.”

The Cougars had one turnover on downs and just one punt during the game. Meanwhile, RRC punted just once also but turned it over on downs five times and also threw an interception while threatening to score.

Stavnes put the Falcons on the board with 1:12 left in the third after sneaking inside the pylon for a 15-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion catch by Jayden Lang made it 28-8.

But after blocking a Cougars field goal try that Jake Jackson recovered and took deep into Cedar Mountain territory, Simonson had a pass tipped into the air at the 4-yard line that was intercepted by Aaron Heidemann. Heidemann then took the interception to the Cedar Mountain 24-yard line, extinguishing RRC’s momentum.

Pendleton also had a solid game for the Cougars, rushing 13 times for 52 yards and catching six passes for 50 yards.

Pendleton has still been kept out of the end zone this year, and while Pendleton made an impact on Friday, Jemmings still wants more out of him and the entire team.

“We’re looking for more out of everybody,” Jemmings said. “We still haven’t hit our full potential and we told them that in the huddle. We’ve got kids that can make plays. Lane Guggisberg was out tonight, Blake Steffl played big, made some nice catches and all that. We still haven’t hit where we want to be, but we’re getting there and we’re going to keep working.”

Cedar Mountain started the game by forcing RRC to punt on its first drive of the game. The Cougars then took their first drive into the end zone after a 22-yard TD catch by Steffl to go up 6-0.

Cedar Mountain’s next drive ended with Freitag lining up at quarterback and breaking a tackle on the way to a 25-yard TD run.

Dante Otto returned to play for the Cougars and made a big impact on defense with 11 tackles, while Ryan Kevelin had 11 tackles. Easton Csordacsics had five tackles, two for a loss and a sack also for the Cougars, while Thomas Dahmes added a sack.

Cedar Mountain (3-2) is at Renville County West next on Friday, while RRC (2-2) takes on Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda at 7 p.m. Friday in Fulda.