WATERLOO — The Marshalltown football team missed its opportunities and Waterloo West landed some big counterpunches, leading the host Wahawks to a 31-3 victory over the Bobcats on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

Marshalltown (1-5) was held out of the end zone for the fourth time this season, as a 45-yard field goal by Johan Gomez on the final play of the first half was the lone score for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats, who ranked 33rd out of 36 Class 5A teams in scoring average (13.6) entering the contest, are now getting just 11.8 points per game.

“We can’t afford to make some of the mental errors that we made and when we’re given opportunities we’ve got to take advantage of them, and tonight we just simply didn’t,” said MHS head coach Adam Goodvin.

Waterloo West (4-2) scored the game’s final 24 points to break away from a 7-3 lead after the opening quarter. Wahawk quarterback Brady Dean had a pair of 1-yard touchdown plunges and he connected with Deztin McMurrin for a 54-yard scoring strike with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. That touchdown came just 1:30 after the second of Dean’s two TD dives.

“We knew on the offensive side of the ball we’ve got to control the clock a little bit and get that in our favor,” Goodvin said of his halftime message. “Overall it’s not a lack of effort, it’s a lot of little things that went wrong tonight and they just added up and that’s where we’re at right now.”

Waterloo West outgained Marshalltown 338-186 as the Bobcats were limited to 63 yards rushing on 29 carries. Sophomore quarterback Jacob Hayes was 14-for-26 passing for 123 yards, connecting with Tre Brooks four times for 63 yards. Cory Smith added four catches for 21 yards and Caleb Kusserow had three grabs for 19 yards.

Tate Riang led the Bobcat ground game with 15 carries for 70 yards.

Ben Frazier paced Waterloo West’s rushing attack with 18 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Dean ended 11-for-19 passing for 152 yards with one touchdown. Courtney Gladney made six catches for 67 yards, and McMurrin had two grabs for 62 yards and a TD.

Marshalltown returns home for next week’s 7:30 p.m. game against Ames (2-4). The Little Cyclones beat Ottumwa, 62-23, on Friday night.

“Our message every single week is making sure we’re getting better every single day,” Goodvin said, “truly looking in the mirror and being honest with yourself. You’ve got to be truthful and that’s the only way you’re going to improve. That’s our focus and it doesn’t matter if we’re 6-0 right now or whatever because it’s the same message.”