Defensive stops were hard to come by in Marengo on Friday and Iowa Valley had a little more in the tank to hand the No. 7 ranked Winfield-Mt. Union football team their first loss of the season in a 68-52 slugfest.

Both teams averaged over 55 points coming in and the anticipated offensive barrage played out as such with WMU leading 24-18 after one and 40-34 at the break. The Tiger defense came to life in the third by blanking the Wolves and that was all they needed to take the lead and eventually hold on for the district win. Being without all stater Cam Buffington hurt the Wolves defensively, as they gave up 566 total yards to the Tigers. Evan Kearney had a field day throwing for 150 yards and three touchdowns while adding 302 yards on the ground with six more end zone trips. In Buffington’s absence, WMU had 424 yards of offense with other weapons rising to the occasion. Cole Milks had a pair of rushing scores on 12 carries for 97 yards and he completed five of 13 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown to Abram Edwards. The junior Edwards reached pay dirt two other times on the ground and finished with 83 rushing yards. Eli Miller and Caleb Giese all found the end zone for the Wolves.  Cooper Buffington recorded an interception, but WMU was minus three in turnover margin. 

Winfield-Mt. Union drops to 2-1 and they look to bounce back Friday in their home opener against New London (1-2).