Spartans rout Stanton, host Fremont-Mills Friday

 EXIRA (Oct. 26) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton football team started and finished the first half in strong fashion last Friday night, taking a commanding 44-8 lead to the locker room en route to a 51-14 win over Stanton in an Eight-Player first round playoff game.
 The 7th-ranked Spartans improved to 9-1 and will now host No. 5 Fremont-Mills (9-1) in a quarterfinal game Friday at 7:00 p.m. Stanton finished 7-3 overall.
 Exira-EHK defeated F-M 45-27 in this year’s season opener. Since that time, the Knights have reeled off nine straight dominating wins, including last week’s 61-8 playoff rout of Lenox. Friday’s winner will earn a ticket to the November 8 state semifinals at the UNI-Dome.
 Spartan sophomore quarterback Tyler Petersen continued to fill in nicely for the injured Josh Pettepier, completing 8-of-13 passes for 129 yards and three touchdowns vs. the Vikings. Trey Nelson caught two of the scores, including a 65-yard connection, and finished with three receptions for 89 yards. Creighton Nelson also caught a TD pass.
 Cole Burmeister led the Spartan rushing attack with 86 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries while Jayden Goodwin scored on the ground as well.