CEDAR VALE — With a 56-8 victory over Oswego last Friday, Cedar Vale/Dexter clinched the Eight Man I-District 1 championship.
The Spartans won their fourth straight game as they improved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in district play. With a one-game lead over second-place Sedan, CVD wrapped up the district title after previously beating the Blue Devils 36-28 in their head-to-head matchup on Oct. 4. Cedar Vale/Dexter will close out the regular season on Friday when it travels to Central-Burden. The Raiders are 2-5 overall and 2-2 in the district following a heartbreaking 50-48 loss at Sedan last week.
As for Oswego, it dropped to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in District 1. The Indians are battling for the final playoff spot from the district and will face a must-win situation Friday at home against Flinthills. The Mustangs — 1-6 overall and 1-3 in the district — picked up their first win of the season last week, snapping an eight-game overall losing streak with a 40-28 home win over West Elk.
Oswego, Flinthills and West Elk are all tied for fourth place in the district standings with one week to go, meaning the outcome of all three games on Friday will be a factor in the final playoff spot.
The teams were tied at 8-8 in the first quarter. Brogan Myers put the Spartans on the board with a 38-yard touchdown run, and Isaac Elliott scrambled 23 yards for the Indians to evening things up. Yet, CVD took the lead for good on a 50-yard run by Myers in the final minute of the period to grab a 16-8 edge.
That was the start of 48 unanswered points for the Spartans to close out the game. Clayton Henderson found Devin Catlin for an 18-yard scoring strike in the second quarter. CVD’s defense then got in on the action with two scores in the final three minutes. Myers picked up a pair of fumbles and returned them 55 and 40 yards for scores to bump the Spartan lead up to 34-8 at the intermission.
After the break, Cedar Vale/Dexter delivered the knockout. Myers added three more touchdowns on runs of 40, 41 and two yards. The last came with 4:13 left in the third quarter to close out the game on the eight-man mercy rule.
CVD recorded 281 total yards of offense, including 238 on the ground. The Spartan defense limited the Indians to 178 yards while also forcing three turnovers — two of which were returned for scores.