Photos by RUTHIES IN HIS IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHY

Johnny Sword finds an opening in the Badgers’ defense.

The Crane Mustangs hosted their fourth undefeated team of the year on Tuesday, March 23, picking up their first win of the season with a close 28-22 victory.  

Crane had 419 yards of offense on the day, but was slowed by six turnovers on five fumbles and one interception.  

Wallowa scored first in the opening quarter when quarterback Lute Ramsden hit his brother Zeb Ramsden on a 34-yard touchdown pass. The conversion run was good, and Wallowa went up 8-0. Crane countered with a touchdown pass, as Mitch Clark connected with Ty Taylor for 50 yards. The Mustangs could not convert the conversion run, and the score stood at 8-6. Still in the first quarter, another L. Ramsden touchdown pass of 22-yards made it 14-8, with Crane stopping the two-point conversion attempt.  

With 9:03 left in the second quarter, Clark brought the Mustangs back when he threw a 6-yard TD pass to Tate Sword. Sword also ran in the two-point conversion to knot the score at 14-14.  

After halftime, Crane opened the third-quarter scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run by Clark. The extra point attempt pass was no good, and with 10:34 left in the quarter, Crane now had the lead for the first time in the game with a score of 20-14.  

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Wallowa’s L. Ramsden teamed up with Z. Ramsden again to score on a 54-yard reception. The pair also hooked up on the two-point conversion pass to give the Badgers the lead at 22-20. Not to be outdone, Crane’s Clark and Taylor responded with their second touchdown connection of the day on a 49-yard pass to put the Mustangs back on top. A Clark to Taylor two-point conversion pass made the score 28-22 with 7:31 left in the game. 

After holding Wallowa on its next possession and needing to run out the clock, Crane lost a fumble that gave Wallowa life with 1:35 left in the game. A Wallowa fourth down pass attempt was incomplete with only :22 seconds left to give the Mustangs the victory.  

Coach Stub Travis commented, “I’m glad they finally got that first win. It was a good win for the kids.”

Mitch Clark led the Crane attack, accounting for 360 yards of total offense. He was 9 of 13 passing for 215 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball 25 times for 145 yards rushing and one TD. Jerett Doman had 11 rushes for 74 yards. Other rushing attempts and yards included Kelton Dunten 3 for 12 yards, Johnny Sword 6 for 7 yards, John Otley 1 for 5 yards, and Tate Sword 6 for 7 yards.  

Ty Taylor caught four passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns, Jerett Doman caught one pass for 29 yards, Jake Doman caught two for 11 yards, and Tate Sword had one reception for 6 yards and a touchdown.  

Jerett Doman led the Mustangs in total tackles with 12, Jake Doman and Ty Taylor each had eight, Logan Defenbaugh recorded seven, and Kelton Dunten had six.

Crane (1-3) travels to Cove (0-2) this Friday for a 12 p.m. kickoff.