(Guthrie Center) — ACGC football flexed its muscles with a dominant — and perhaps statement-making — win to wrap up an undefeated regular season and capture the Class A District 7 title on Friday.

The KMAland A/1A/2A No. 2 and KMA Sports A State No. 4 Chargers soared out of the gates, scoring on their first six possessions for a 42-point first half that led to a 55-22 win over KMAland No. 4 and State No. 8 Riverside (6-2, 5-1) on the KMA Video Stream Friday night.

“Hats off to Riverside,” ACGC head coach Cody Matthewson said. “They’re obviously a great opponent. What they’ve done all season amplified how we prepared for this game. I felt we prepared at a high level in all three phases and won all three phases.”

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” senior fullback Brexton Schneider told KMA Sports. “We needed to just come out and play our game. We knew they had a chip on their shoulder. We just wanted to come out the hottest. We did that.”

ACGC turned Riverside away on their first drive and needed just two plays for their first spark — a 76-yard touchdown run from Joe Crawford.

“That got the momentum going,” Crawford said. “Everything just parted and there was nothing but green grass.”

“We always preach getting out fast and setting the tone,” Matthewson said. “We got a stop and built some confidence.”

Riverside answered with a touchdown run from Jaxon Gordon — his 25th of the season — to tie the game at 7. However, ACGC surged for the next 35 points of the first half, totaling 246 rushing yards in the first half behind 115 rushing yards from Crawford and four scores from Schneider.

ACGC’s offense ultimately scored on its first seven drives and totaled 393 yards en route to the dominant win.

Crawford had a game-high 151 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, while Schneider had 17 carries for 114 yards and four touchdowns. Ryder Cline found the end zone twice, totaling 88 yards on 10 carries.

“My job is just to run hard,” Schneider said. “I just run where my linemen take me.”

“I think we made a statement,” Crawford said. “We put everyone on notice.”

ACGC’s defense made life tough on Riverside. While Gordon — the state’s leading rusher — ultimately finished with 134 yards and two scores, ACGC’s defense forced five turnovers.

“In a game of this magnitude, we had to execute and take advantage of those turnovers,” Matthewson said. “We executed at a high level. We knew what we were going to get with Jaxon Gordon. Our defense did a phenomenal job.”

Riverside’s passing game produced 109 yards from quarterback Landyn Schoenrock, who connected with Cole Jeppesen for a score. Jeppesen ended with 76 yards. The Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed out of Class A District 7 and host a playoff game.

As for ACGC, they hope Friday night’s win is a blip on a memorable postseason after quarterfinal losses in 2021, 2023 and 2024. The Chargers are the top seed out of A District 7 and will likely play every game at home until the semifinals…if they get there.

“We’re just going to focus on next week,” Matthewson said. “We have to focus on our opportunity next week. We’re in control of our destiny. We’ll put one foot in front of another. If you overlook somebody, your season will end pretty dang quick. We don’t want that.”

The Iowa High School Athletic Association will release the Class A pairings at 10 AM Saturday.

View the full interviews with Schneider, Crawford and Coach Matthewson below. 

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