LE GRAND — The Mustangs put down the toilet paper and picked up their playbooks. Not even Homecoming week was going to prevent the East Marshall football team from getting another win.

Sophomore tailback Kaden Grant had career-highs of 28 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown, and senior wide receiver Blake Neuroth had six grabs for 146 yards and another score as East Marshall dismantled East Buchanan 31-8 for the program’s first Homecoming win since 2021.

The Mustangs (4-2) improved to 2-2 in Class A District 4 play with their second-straight win, stamping out East Buchanan (2-4, 1-4) in convincing fashion.

“It’s big, it’s been a while since we’ve done it,” said Neuroth, who got East Marshall on the board first with a 35-yard touchdown reception midway through the second quarter. “We’ve been working hard. We’ve been keeping each other contained here with the TP-ing and stuff.

“We kept the team in a couple more nights than we normally do for Homecoming, so we just really focused this week and worked hard because we wanted to put on a show for the fans.”

It took a while to get to Neuroth’s curtain-raiser. East Marshall’s first two possessions ended with interceptions in or near the end zone, and East Buchanan didn’t get until its third drive. That ended with Grant’s interception of a Keenan Pals pass late in the first quarter, and East Marshall eventually got on the scoreboard first.

Once the Mustangs figured out how they wanted to attack East Buchanan’s defense, they were off and stampeding.

“Coach (Scott) Wheater and his staff figured out how to block it a little better than we thought we were going to block it during the week, and if we give Kaden a chance, he can move,” said East Marshall head coach Greg Lee. “His confidence is growing and growing. Tonight was by far his best game. He just hasn’t had an opportunity.”

East Marshall entered the game ranked ninth in Class A in passing yards, while East Buchanan was second on the same list. It was the first time the Mustangs faced a pass-first opponent, but they stood up to the challenge well.

Neuroth said it was important to keep the Homecoming week shenanigans to a minimum to be ready for the Homecoming contest.

“It’s the best start to the season we’ve had in the four years I’ve been here, and we hadn’t done Homecoming thing until now,” he said. “Our team, we’re all really together right now. We’re doing everything together — we’ve got a lot of chemistry going on. We’re lifting, we’re watching film — everything’s together.”

Once the Mustangs put it together on the field, the visiting Buccaneers were in trouble.

Neuroth reeled in a long pass from Boswell at the goal line to give East Marshall its 7-0 lead, and the Buccaneers went three-and-out on their ensuing possession.

East Marshall marched 40 yards on 10 plays with their next drive, and Grant got across the goal line to make it 14-0 with 1:12 left in the first half.

“(Running the ball) was sort of the gameplan, but I wasn’t really sure about how we were going to do it,” said Grant. “I didn’t see if I had to cut back or not, but it’s great when the line gets out there. It’s easy to run if they block it.”

East Marshall’s tendency to pass was pulled back in after two early interceptions and the offensive line’s ability to get to the edge and block the toss sweep. Once Grant got going, the passing game opened up for Boswell.

The Mustangs received the second-half kickoff and trampled down the field, going 60 yards in nine plays with Eli Burns capping the drive with a 33-yard field goal.

Pals was picked off by Burns on East Buchanan’s next play from scrimmage, and Boswell connected with Cody Weaver for a deep slant three plays later that Weaver took between the safeties for a 51-yard touchdown dash.

The Buccaneers followed with their best drive of the night, but a fourth-and-2 pass from Pals to Tristan Cornell was broken up at the last second by Neuroth. The Mustangs used the momentum swing to score yet again, capping an eight-play, 65-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown blast for senior offensive lineman Wyatt Stalzer — his first career touchdown.

“That’s less work for me,” Grant smiled.

East Buchanan took its ensuing possession to paydirt, and East Marshall ran out the clock from there.

“We hadn’t played anyone quite like that, so I think we had a little trouble catching up to it,” Lee said of East Buchanan’s passing attack.

Pals finished 14-for-24 for 125 yards with two interceptions, and the Bucs had just 210 yards of total offense.

East Marshall amassed 340 yards of total offense behind Grant’s career-best game on the ground. Boswell finished 9-for-16 for 201 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Mustangs go on the road to face No. 6 Wapsie Valley next week. The Warriors boast the fourth-leading overall offense in Class A and allow only 12.8 points per game on defense.

East Marshall 31, East Buchanan 8

E.BUCH 0 0 0 8 — 8

EM 0 14 10 7 — 31

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

No scoring.

Second Quarter

EM — Blake Neuroth 35 pass from Jaxson Boswell (Eli Burns kick), 7:41.

EM — Kaden Grant 1 run (Burns kick), 1:12.

Third Quarter

EM — FG Burns 33, 7:30.

EM — Cody Weaver 51 pass from Boswell (Burns kick), 6:19.

Fourth Quarter

EM — Wyatt Stalzer 1 run (Burns kick), 8:47.

EB — Keenan Pals 4 run (Brady Hogan pass from Pals), 5:05.

TEAM STATISTICS

EB EM

First downs 12 15

Rushes-yards 25-85 40-139

Passing yards 125 201

Comp-Att-Int 14-24-2 9-16-2

Total offense 49-210 56-340

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 3-23 3-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — EB: Pals 13-45, Tristan Cornell 8-27, Leo Manson 4-13; EM: Grant 28-114, Neuroth 1-12, Boswell 6-6, Stalzer 2-6, Carson Curtis 1-5, Mason Duncan 1-0, Max Slifer 1-(minus-4).

PASSING — EB: Pals 14-24-125-2; EM: Boswell 9-16-201-2.

RECEIVING — EB: Kyle Peck 5-37, Hogan 3-36, Tri. Cornell 3-29, Manson 2-17, Trey Cornell 1-6; EM: Neuroth 6-146, Weaver 2-53, Burns 1-2.