PORT BYRON - Ethan Holt knew the Cato-Meridian football team was better than its 27-point loss in last week's opener.

On Saturday, he helped prove it.

Ethan Holt rushed for 219 yards and a touchdown as the Blue Devils beat local rival Port Byron 36-16.

“Ethan was fantastic on both sides of the ball,” Blue Devils head coach C.J. Hannon said. “He really played his heart out, both with the ball and making tackles. The whole line did a fantastic job.”

Holt ran in two two-point conversions and got it done defensively as well, finishing with seven tackles and one sack.

The Blue Devils' first touchdown came just a few plays into the game. A.J. Rothenburg made the first of two touchdown receptions on a 57-yard pass from quarterback Preston Dennison to put the first points on the board.

“The fact that we scored early helped to release some of the pressure,” Holt said.

“We wanted to go in and smash them up,” Rothenburg said. “We knew it was one of the biggest games of the year. I was worried that we were over-confident and wanted to make sure that we stayed with what we practiced.”

Rothenburg had five tackles and one sack as well.

Dennison passed for 96 yards, throwing two touchdowns and running in two.

“It all started with our line,” Dennison said. “They played a great game, Ethan (Holt) had a great game as well. The receivers really caught the ball today and the linebackers and defensive line really stepped it up.”

As a neighbor and a rival, the Port Byron game was one that was circled on both teams' calendars.

“It was a good win,” Hannon said. “We knew Port Byron was making improvements and were better than last week so we wanted to play our best. We were confident at the half knowing that we were controlling at the line of scrimmage. The whole line did a fantastic job with Benne Kline and Cody Humberstone leading the way. This is definitely positive after coming off the tough loss last week, it is a step in the right direction.”

After an opening 22-8 loss, Port Byron didn't have the comeback game it envisioned, but improvements were still made.

“We didn't play that bad,” Port Byron sophomore Caleb Green said. “But it still feels bad. We thought it would be close but they overpowered us on the line.”

With the Blue Devils leading 22-8 at the half, Port Byron managed to stage a brief rally in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run from quarterback Toby Fitzsimmons. He also ran in the two-point conversion, but it was the Panthers last score of the game.

“We have to pull it all together on both sides of the field,” Fitzsimmons said. “We are a strong team, we just have to play harder and put it all together.”

Also scoring for the Panthers was Robert Yeomans, who recorded the first touchdown for Port Byron in the second quarter on a 10-yard pass from Fitzsimmons.

The Panthers travel to Bishop Ludden while the Blue Devils head to Jordan-Elbridge, both game to be played on Friday.

“A win will be tough against Ludden,” Port Byron's Zach Kudla said. “We want to show just how tough we can be and show the other teams that we are Port Byron and we will stick it to you. Our goal is to play together as a team, we are only losing a couple of seniors next year so we need to get it together.”

The Blue Devils also have a tough game ahead with the 1-1 Eagles.

“Jordan-Elbridge will be a tough team,” Hannon said. “We will have to play our hardest to beat them. We need to keep improving.”

Cato-Meridian 14 8 14 0-36

Port Byron 0 8 0 8-16

First Quarter

C-M - Rothenburg 58 pass from Dennison (kick failed)

C-M - Dennison 7 run (Holt run)

Second Quarter

PB - Yeomans 10 pass from Fitzsimmons (Fitzsimmons run)

C-M - Rothenburg 20 pass from Dennison (Dennison run)

Third Quarter

C-M - Dennison 1 run (Holt run)

C-M - Holt 1 run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

PB - Fitzsimmons 10 run (Fitzsimmons run