Monday, October 17, 2011

Eli Rushes for 207 vs. Longhorns; Tigers Roll 56-6.

Worth County rolled 56-6 over South Nodaway as Eli Mullock ran for over 200 yards in just nine carries and the Tigers did nothing to hurt their district standings. The 1st string offense has begun a streak started after the first series against South Holt. After fumbling the ball away on their opening possession of that game, the Tigers have scored on every single possession when the first string has been in there. The line play continued to be strong after a slow start as Wyatt Rush continued to block well and center Logan Ridge played his best game of the year so far.

Before the game, the officials donated a portion of their paycheck to the Grant City Lions Club. Bill Calhoon of the Lions Club was present to accept the check on behalf of the club in a ceremony before the game.

South Nodaway could not get untracked on their first series as Lane Craven and Dalton Welch were there to drop Tom Fletchall for a loss of two. Jordan Harding and Dallas Greenland stopped Jake Amos for no gain on their next play and then an incomplete pass forced them to punt. The short kick gave Worth County a short field to work with at the Longhorn 30 and they took advantage. The game was a test of Worth County's speed against South Nodaway's size as the Longhorns are the biggest team that the Tigers have to face with 6'9" Zach Hilsabeck back to anchor the South Nodaway line. But the Longhorns had nobody who could match up with Eli Mullock's speed, which meant that he was usually gone if he got into the secondary.

Eli took a 28-yard hook and ladder play down to the 2. Bryce Ross rolled out and found nobody open and was sacked, and Eli only got one on the next play. But then the Tigers warmed up and Wyatt Rush sprung Eli for five yards for a touchdown to make it 6-0 with 9:11 left.

South Nodaway got a good return to their own 31, but then Lane Craven, Dallas Greenland, and Dalton Welch dropped Jake Amos for a loss of six back to the 25. A quarterback keeper only got two back and then a botched screen pass was fumbled and South Nodaway was forced to punt. Eli Mullock returned the ensuing punt for the score as he outran the first two defenders and bounced to the outside and ran past everyone else to make it 12-0 with 7:04 left in the first quarter.

South Nodaway finally got untracked on their next drive as they showed that they were one of the best teams at carrying out fakes that the Tigers have seen this year. Worth County bit several times on the fake handoffs and didn't seem to know who had the ball sometimes, which resulted in some good gains. But they would always stiffen up and stop the Longhorns when it mattered. Tom Fletchall did all he could to help his team, bouncing outside to convert fourth and two at the Tiger 35 and then converting third and 6 at the Tiger 33 with a 14-yard scramble to the 19. The Longhorns got all the way down to the 12 aided by an offsides penalty, but then Kevin Stoll forced a quarterback hurry as Fletchall threw the ball away on third down and then Wyatt Rush dropped Fletchall for a loss on fourth down as the Tigers took over on downs.

The long field only made things more interesting for the Tigers as Eli Mullock donned his Batman cap and the action looked more like a playground game instead of a football game on the next play. Eli took a jet sweep down the right side and got a crackback block from Jordan Harding. He met two defenders at the line of scrimmage and juked them. Then, he got a block from Logan Ridge, who had hustled clear over to the sideline to get his man and cut back towards the middle of the field to score. Eli got a block from Logan Ridge and cut back to make it 20-0.

South Nodaway gambled and it backfired on them, resulting in Worth County's next score. Lane Craven dropped Fletchall for a loss of four, but South Nodaway nearly rescued the situation as a Fletchall to Cody Burden flat pass set up fourth and one at the 27. But South Nodaway elected to go for it and Cody Burden was stopped inches short and the Tigers had a short field to work with. A hard count by Bryce Ross drew South Nodaway offsides, and then Eli picked up two to the 20. Dallas shot up the middle for 13 down to the seven as Wyatt Rush's block sprung him free. Eli then shot up the middle to make it 26-0 with 10:42 left in the first half.

The snapping woes that plagued West Nodaway last week hurt the Longhorns this week; with South Nodaway on their own 27, Fletchall was nowhere to be found and the center snapped the ball, which rolled clear to the 11. Kevin Stoll outhustled everyone to the ball and recovered it for the Tigers, who had another short field to work with. Three plays later, Eli Mullock was in behind a Dallas Greenland block. Worth County used some trickery for the extra points as they faked an extra point try and then scooped the ball high in the air to Eli, who ran in the extra points to make it 34-0.

South Nodaway returned it to the 37, but then got nowhere on the next series and gave the ball up on downs. Tyler Schmitz and Dallas Greenland led a host of Tigers to drop Amos. Burden picked up four more, but then Dallas Greenland blitzed and dropped Amos for a loss of two to set up fourth and seven. South Nodaway gave up the ball on downs thanks to a dropped screen pass and then Worth County only needed one play to get in. The Tigers carried out a perfect play action fake and everyone bit on the fake to Eli, leaving Aaron Patton wide open for a pass from Bryce as The General got behind the defense and took it to the house. Jordan Harding caught a short pass and broke the plane for the extra points to make it 42-0 with 6:29 left.

The Longhorns picked up a first down on their next series as Burden picked up seven, but then a botched handoff killed that drive and then Jordan Harding blew up a jailbreak screen as the Longhorns were forced to punt. They got off a good kick to the Tiger 12, but then Eli Mullock got a block from Wyatt Rush and bounced outside for a 58-yard score with 3:25 left to make it 50-0.

South Nodaway drove down the field and scored against the JV with 1:16 left to make it 50-6, but then Worth County put back in their first string and only needed two plays to put the nail on the coffin. Eli picked up five yards on his first play and then donned his Batman cape for his 6th score of the evening as he swept down the left side of the field after getting a block from Dallas Greenland on the much taller 6'9" Hilsabeck. Cody Burden got a perfect angle to stop Eli, but then Eli reversed back to the middle of the field as Burden got turned backwards by Eli's juke and the Tigers went back up 56-6 in time for the mercy rule.

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