Mazour dazzles, leads Boone Central/Newman Grove to C-1 Title.

Wyatt Mazour, the Magician (#20) does it again for Boone Central/Newman/Grove.

Well, the Arnie Johnson Farewell Train has completed it's journey, and in rousing style. Coaching the final game of his career, Johnson's Cardinals turned the magical talents of Wyatt Mazour loose against Ashland-Greenwood and the result was a resounding 54-14 win and a C-1 title. The amazing Mazour rushed for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns, completed 10 of 14 passes for a score, returned a punt 83 yards for another TD and accounted for 384 yards of all purpose yardage in the victory.

The win completed a perfect 13-0 season for Boone Central/NG and sent Coach Arnie Johnson out in grand style with a C-1 State Championship. The calm, steady, friendly Johnson has molded this program into one of the elite tier teams in Class C-1 football teams in the state during his tenure and it was never more apparent than in today's game. A very, very good Ashland-Greenwood football squad, appearing in their 2nd straight C-1 title game, just couldn't contain the magical talents of the 5-9, 195 pound Mazour. Just like his older brother Tanner, the current Mazour sensation dazzled, sparkled, and made plays when they needed to be made. And with an outstanding cast surrounding Wyatt Mazour, the script seemed to be in place from the beginning of the season for what just took place on the floor of Memorial Stadium.

Boone Central/NG wasted no time hitting the board after holding the Bluejays on their opening drive. Starting on the A/G 46 yard line, Mazour broke a 35 yard run on his 2nd carry of the game that carried to the Bluejay 12 yard line. 2 plays later, Mazour spotted 6'-5" Zac Glidden in the right corner of the end zone for an 8 yard TD strike. On the ensuing A/G possession, the Cardinals Brent Janzen gobbled up a fumble at the Boone 47 and set the stage for the 2nd score.

Five plays and 3:05 seconds later, Mazour hit 6'-6" Travis Kennedy with the same pattern, this time for a 19 yard TD. Halfway through the 1st quarter Boone Central/NG had a 14-0 lead.

Ashland-Greenwood answered right back with a 12 yard tackle breaking run by super sophomore Trevor Nichelson. But just as he's done all year, Mazour came right back after a critical opponent score and sent the same old frustrating message to yet another team.

The very first play following the Bluejay touchdown, Mazour took a step back, cut to his right and bounced off defenders like a shiny silver pinball. 65 yards later the Cardinals had a Mazour score and a 21-7 lead.

Ashland-Greenwood was moving down the field on the following drive but was halted again by another jolting hit and yet another fumble recovery by Brent Janzen at the Boone 45. Three plays later and it was another Wyatt Mazour dazzler, this time a 35 yard run. It wasn't like Ashland-Greenwood was tackling sloppy either....the kid is that good.

Hard-nosed Joseph Brugger added another Cardinal TD with a 9 yard skirt around left end and Boone had a 34-7 lead at the break.

Ashland-Greenwood looked like they had some momentum to begin the 2nd half. The Bluejay "D" halted Boone's opening drive the Bluejays took it 40 yards in 8 plays and a 5 yard Trevor Nichelson 5 yard TD run to cut the lead to 34-14. Things really looked rosy for A/G when sophomore Brett Kitrell jumped high in the air to pick off a Mazour pass right at the line of scrimmage. But 12 plays later the Bluejays had to punt and another Mazour dagger was applied to the Ashland-Greenwood comeback attempt.

Mazour fielded the Bluejay punt at his own 17 yard line and weaved in and out of traffic, following his blockers like a pre-written script for an electrifying 83 yard punt return and a score. With the clock showing 41 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, the back breaker may have been applied. It was now 41-14.

Linebacker Keaton Henry picked up a Bluejay fumble to begin the 4th quarter and rambled 42 yards for touchdown to essentially put things away. The Cardinals added another score with 3:57 left in the contest when Wyatt Mazout tossed an 11 yard scoring pass to Colton Pelster. That again started a running clock, the second of the day....and a shocker.

As previously mentioned, Wyatt Mazour led the way for Boone Central/Newman Grove with 250 yards on 18 carries and 2 Tds. He was 10-14 passing for 128 yards and 3 Tds. Wide receiver Zac Glidden has 3 catches 54 and a TD. The other wide out, Travis Kennedy matched that with 3 receptions and 44 yards and also a score. Trevor Nichelson ran for 120 yards on 23 tough carries and scored twice for Ashland-Greenwood. Colton Pelster had 11 tackles for the Cardinals followed Keaton Henry, who logged 10. Bryce Chudomelka and Tyler Craven each logged 8 stops for Ashland-Greenwood in the loss.

The future certainly looks bright for Ashland-Greenwood, and who knows, a 3rd appearance in the finals could be in the cards. For Boone Central/NG, an 80 player roster just may indicate the talent pool runs deep and seemingly endless. We'll see.

One thing we know. Arnie Johnson wanted to go out a state champion. The Farewell Train started it's engines with a 31-14 win over highly regarded Columbus Scotus and just picked up steam from there. It all culmintaed tonight with the impressive 54-14 win over a highly regarded Ashland-Greenwood team. How fitting.

Best of luck Coach Johnson. You're a true winner. And by the way, if you ever think about coming back? You have the approval of about a gazillion people, opposing coaches not included.