103.9 KNZA Broadcast - Horton at Doniphan West - click here to listen 

Despite being outgained offensively for the second straight week, the Doniphan West Mustangs scored on special teams as well as defense and built a 30-point lead before winning another District game 44-34 against Horton.  Levi Watts threw a trio of touchdown passes in the first half to give the Mustangs a 30-14 advantage then Zeb Speer for a score in the third quarter before returning a fumble 90 yards on the ensuing drive to give D-West a 44-14 lead.  Horton’s Marshall Randall returned the next kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown and Horton added a pair of scores in the fourth quarter before time ran out in week six. 

After forcing a three and out to start the game, Carter Jensen blocked a Horton punt and returned it 19 yards for the opening score.  The Chargers got within 8-6 on a 47-yard halfback pass from Conner Dean to Gunnar Madere, but the next offensive play for Doniphan West was a 62-yard touchdown pass from Watts to Luke Blevins.  Horton converted twice on fourth and short and opened the second quarter scoring with a Matthew Lobdell 13-yard pass to Madere and a Marshall Randall two-point conversion run made it 16-14.  Watts finished the half with a six-yard TD strike to Speer and another nine-yard touchdown toss to Rodger Groves to make it 30-14 at intermission. 

Horton forced a punt to start the third quarter, but then tried a fake punt and third down and 13 inside their own 20 yard line, which was incomplete and gave Doniphan West a short 14 yard scoring drive as Speer ran in from two-yards out.  Horton was about to score and in the redzone on their next possession but fumbled trying to stretch the football on a third down and short and Speer returned the ball 90 yards for a defensive touchdown.  Trailing 44-14, Horton got the kickoff return by Randall and Matthrew Lobdell ran for a 10-yard touchdown and tossed a 15-yard TD to Nathan Isaacs in the final quarter. 

Horton finished with 349 yards of offense, with 171 on the ground and 178 passing, but had three turnovers.  Lobdell was 12-27 passing for 131 yards and added 72 rushing yards on 16 carries.  Conner Dean led the Chargers with 78 yards on 12 carries and had the halfback pass for a touchdown.  Madere caught four passes for 76 yards and two trips to the endzone while Isaacs had four grabs for 53 yards and Cole Bottom had 71 yards on three receptions.  Horton fell to 2-4 on the season and 0-2 in district play.

Doniphan West had 257 yards of offense with just 57 rushing and two fumbles themselves.  Watts was 13-29 but missed his final six passes of the contest while Zeb Speer earned Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha “Player to Bank On” honors with a rushing, receiving and defensive touchdown as well as several tackles and a pair of two-point conversions.  Speer finished with 75 yards receiving on six catches and 11 yards rushing.  Matt Buster ran for 47 yards while Luke Blevins had 80 yards on four receptions.  Newt Smith was the Denison State Bank “Lineman of the Game” as the Mustangs improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in district play with a huge step towards returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.  D-West will battle for a district title next week playing and JCN (6-0).  Horton travels to McLouth next Friday.