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WEST LIBERTY, Iowa — Despite playing a rugged schedule in the opening half of the season, Wilton’s football team has struggled offensively.

The Beavers snapped out of their funk Friday night.

Quarterback Alec Crawford threw two touchdowns and ran for one as Wilton outscored West Liberty 21-0 in the second half for a pivotal 31-7 district victory.

Wilton (3-3, 2-2 district) came into the game averaging just 8.8 points per game, but Lance Pedersen’s team compiled 266 yards of offense and forced five West Liberty (2-4, 2-2) turnovers to seize control of fourth place in Class 2A District 5.

The Beavers jumped to a 10-0 advantage after a 12-yard touchdown run by Crawford and a 37-yard field goal by Cale Austin in the second quarter.

The Comets crawled within three before halftime on Erik McKillip’s 4-yard scoring run.

Wilton padded its lead in the third quarter. Kyle Holmes caught the first of his two touchdown passes from 4 yards out at the 4:43 mark. Ninety seconds later, Crawford and Holmes hooked up from 13 yards to make it 24-7 Beavers.

Crawford completed 16 of 24 passes for 150 yards and ran 11 times for 48 yards.

Ryan Waack led the Beavers with five receptions for 74 yards, while Holmes, who blocked a pair of punts, hauled in four passes for 44.

Corey Gorsuch had eight tackles, including two for loss. Brandon Van Zandt and Sam Skelley had two sacks.

Wilton returns home next week to face Center Point-Urbana (4-2, 3-1), while West Liberty travels to unbeaten Iowa City Regina.

Wilton 31, West Liberty 7

Wilton 0 10 14   7 — 31

West Liberty 0 7 0   0 —   7

Second Quarter

Wilt — Alec Crawford 12 run (Cale Austin kick), 4:22

Wilt — Austin 37 field goal, 2:52

WL — Erik McKillip 4 run (Tito Villarreal kick), 0:22

Third Quarter

Wilt — Kyle Holmes 4 pass from Crawford (Ryan Waack run), 4:43

Wilt — Holmes 13 pass from Crawford (kick failed), 3:13

Fourth Quarter

Wilt — Austin Anderson 9 run (Austin kick), 11:00

Individual statistics

Rushing

WILTON — Austin Anderson 13-52, Alec Crawford 11-48, Ryan Waack 3-19, B. Anderson 1-(-1), Nate Fratzke 6-(-2).

Passing

WILTON — Crawford 16-24-1, 150 yards, 2 TDs; Waack 0-1-0, 0 yards,

Receiving

WILTON — Waack 5-74, Kyle Holmes 4-44, Z. Brewer 1-14, BJ Reuter 1-12, A. Anderson 3-10, Fratzke 2-3.

Wapello squeaks past Durant-Bennett, 20-14

WAPELLO, Iowa — Taylor Jacobsmeier’s 6-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter was the difference Friday night in lifting Wapello past Durant, 20-14.

Durant (2-4, 1-3 district) out-gained Wapello 313-293 in total yards and had a 14-7 lead late into the third quarter.

However, Wapello (5-1, 3-1) tied the game with 26 seconds remaining in the third when Logan Lanz caught a 6-yard pass from Jacobsmeier.

Jacobsmeier completed 14 of 19 passes for 133 yards and had a hand in all three Indiana touchdowns. He did throw his first interception of the season.

Caleb Fruend tallied both touchdowns for Durant, including a 75-yard touchdown run with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter. Fruend finished with 169 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Jake Goering ran for 106 yards. In all, Durant had 267 yards on the ground against Wapello’s defense.

Dylan Schrader paced Wapello’s ground game with 84 yards on 22 carries. Jacobsmeier had 69 yards rushing.

Wapello travels to Belle Plaine next Friday, while Durant returns home to play Van Buren.

Wapello 20, Durant 14

Durant 7 0 7 0 — 14

Wapello 0 0 14      6 — 20

First Quarter

Dur — Caleb Fruend 17 run (kick good), 4:23

Third Quarter

Wap — Taylor Jacobsmeier 10 run (kick good), 8:09

Dur — Fruend 75 run (kick good), 7:17

Wap — Logan Lanz 6 pass from Jacobsmeier (kick good), 0:26

Fourth Quarter

Wap — Jacobsmeier 6 run (kick failed), 7:56

Individual statistics

Rushing

DURANT — Caleb Fruend 16-169, Jake Goering 20-106, Zach Downing 5-12, Skylar Dierikx 1-6, Drew Lensch 1-(-26).

WAPELLO — Dylan Schrader 22-84, Taylor Jacobsmeier 14-69, Logan Lanz 1-7.

Passing

DURANT — Dierikx 4-8-1, 46 yards.

WAPELLO — Jacobsmeier 14-19-1, 133 yards, TD.

Receiving

DURANT — Fruend 2-36, Ross Lilienthal 1-5, Lensch 1-5.

WAPELLO — Jacob LaFayette 9-78, Brock Webb 2-35, Eric Garcia 1-10, Lanz 1-6, Schrader 1-4.

Mediapolis breaks free late to upend Columbus

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa — Columbus Community hung tough with Mediapolis for three quarters before Mediapolis recorded two fourth-quarter touchdowns to post a 20-0 win Friday night.

Blake Wulf had 91 yards rushing to lead Mediapolis (4-2, 2-2 district), while Jon Mathiasmeier had a 16-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to make it a two-possession contest.

Jared Eichelberger had a game-high 148 yards rushing on 42 carries for Columbus (1-5, 0-4), which has dropped five straight since winning its season opener.

Mediapolis picked off a pair of Rafeal Cardenas passes, including Jake Holsteen’s 20-yard return for a touchdown with 4:02 remaining.

Steve Lizzaraga had nine tackles for the Wilcats, while Luis Aguirre was in on nine tackles and had an interception.

Columbus travels to district co-leader Mid-Prairie next Friday night.

Mediapolis 0 0 7   13 — 20

Columbus 0 0 0     0 — 0

Third Quarter

Med — Blake Wulf 4 run (kick good), 0:52

Fourth Quarter

Med — Jon Mathiasmeier 16 run (kick failed), 9:25

Med — Jake Holsteen 20 interception return (kick good), 4:02

Individual statistics

Rushing

MEDIAPOLIS — Blake Wulf 20-91, John Mathiasmeier 9-88.

COLUMBUS — Jared Eichelberger 42-148, Luis Aguirre 5-30, Jacob Hartsock 2-20.

Passing

MEDIAPOLIS — Jesse Ertz 4-6-1, 32 yards.

COLUMBUS — Rafeal Cardenas 2-5-2, 28 yards.

Receiving

COLUMBUS — Luis Aguirre 1-16, Hartsock 1-12.

Clinton knocks off MHS sophomores, 16-7

CLINTON, Iowa — The Muscatine sophomore football team had its three-game winning streak snapped Friday night with a 16-7 loss to Clinton. The Muskies are 3-3 on the season.