Castlewood tops Centerville, advances to Class 9A state semifinals for the first time since 2017
Castlewood's Kamden Keszler (0) carries the football against Centerville on Oct. 29, 2026, in Castlewood. (Jon Akre / 605 Sports)
CASTLEWOOD — For the first time in nine years, Castlewood is semifinal-bound.
No. 3 Castlewood rolled past Centerville, 62-22, Thursday in the Class 9A state quarterfinals.
“It feels amazing,” Castlewood head coach Nick Ernst said. “These boys have wanted it since I arrived a year and a half ago. These guys have talked about getting to this level.”
While it's been since 2017 since Castlewood (10-0) reached the semifinals, it hasn’t been without a number of losses in the quarterfinals. In fact, Castlewood had reached the quarterfinals in each of the previous six seasons but couldn’t get over the hump until Thursday night.
“We talked about it all week, that’s our reputation,” Ernst said. “Our reputation is to get to that second round of the playoffs and lose. Different set of guys though on the football team, different set of guys on the coaching staff. And I tell you what, these guys heard that reputation, they got tired of it by this morning, but they used it.”
The Warriors kicked off their seventh consecutive quarterfinal matchup with a bang, scoring the first 32 points of the game with the help of four straight turnovers, including three interceptions.
Senior Kamden Keszler forced a Centerville turnover on downs with a pass deflection before setting up a one-yard touchdown scamper.
“It was a hard-fought win,” Keszler said. “We had some ups, we had some downs. But I think all of us bounced back mentally and physically very well. We played a great game.”
Cooper Thu and Trevor Everson added back-to-back picks to setup Keszler touchdown passes to Will Aderhold and Carson Kelly, while Keszler snagged an interception of his own, returning it for a score as well.
After another Centerville turnover on downs, Keszler hit Everson for a 52-yard touchdown pass, his third passing score and fourth total touchdown of the first half.
“It’s all a credit to my team,” Keszler said of the offensive success. “My line, I love them so much. All of my guys blocking for me. Credit nothing to me, my whole season I’m crediting everything to my team, my coaches, the fans. I just love them all.”
Down 32-0, Centerville finally reached paydirt on the final play of the first half on a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior Zach Childress to Luke Petersen. The two would connect on the two-point conversion to cut into the halftime deficit.
For a Tornado squad that averaged 45 points a game, coach Ernst says he was pleased with how his defense held up against the heavy passing-style offense.
“We felt like all week we said, ‘Hey, these guys can only score on us one way and that’s the passing attack’,” Ernst said. “They gave us a good challenge. We haven’t seen a passing attack all year. We’ve got some things to clean up but all-in-all, we held a team that scores 45 points a game to 22 so I can’t be too upset.”
Everson scored from 23-yards out followed by a pair of Keszler touchdowns, a one-yard scamper and another passing score from five yards away to Aderhold. Centerville adjusted in the second half with a pair of Childress touchdowns to Petersen from 21 and 49-yards away, respectively.
A Carter Ogle 25-yard rushing score pushed the Warriors over the 60-point mark, while a fourth and final interception by Westen Moorhouse sealed the quarterfinal win.
“We were going to switch up some defenses, give them different looks,” Keszler said of the defensive effort. “Their passing game is elite. Probably best in the state. Just getting depth and reading the quarterback’s eyes. We played a good game on defense. It could’ve been better, but we’ll live with it.”
Keszler finished with seven total touchdowns in the win, including four passing, two rushing and a defensive score to help Castlewood overcome the quarterfinal hump.
“It means everything,” Keszler said. “Coach heard on the radio that we haven’t won since 2017. He said take it personal, so we all have that chip on our shoulder. We were going to get this win no matter what.”
Up next, the Warriors will hit the road to face another undefeated foe in No. 2 Freeman on Nov. 6.
“That’s a team that’s loaded at every position, two-deep,” Ernst said. “They’ve got a great coaching staff. And now luckily for us, we get to go down to Freeman in a battle of two 10-0 teams. But we look forward to being road warriors this week.”