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Fearless Rams shutout Terror |
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Saturday, 30 August 2008 |
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Photo by Joseph Bell Johnsonburg senior tailback Zane Zelehoski runs along the line looking for an opening against Otto-Eldred in the first half of last night's 40-0 victory. The Rams open the season with a 40-0 blanking of Otto-Eldred. Johnsonburg took a 34-0 lead into halftime, and cruised to through the second half.
By Joseph Bell
Record Staff Writer
DUKE CENTER – An all around onslaught by the Rams from all corners of the football field made the Otto-Eldred Terror see nothing but zeros across the scoreboard during a 40-0 rout at the hands of Johnsonburg last night.
The Rams jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as senior fullback Mark Myers scored from two yards out. The score capped off an otherwise slow first quarter.
Driving down the field early in the second quarter, Johnsonburg senior starting quarterback Ren Yonker was sacked by Terror senior guard Shawn Woloszyn with 10:50 to burn in the half. Despite the setback, Johnsonburg senior running back Zane Zelehoski later rumbled 25 yards down the field to give the Rams a 14-0 lead after Myers' second extra point.
However, a long pass by Otto-Eldred junior quarterback Shawn Barnish seemingly put the Terror back into the game.
According to Johnsonburg head coach Tom Launer, the Rams still tend to give up the occasional big play.
"We gave up one big play but we held up at the line," Launer said. "We're really happy with how we played."
A few missed tackles enabled Terror junior tight end Zach Williams to stretch a short grab into a 67-yard gain.
Further victimizing the opposing quarterback, Yonker picked off Barnish at the Johnsonburg 8-yard line and ran it back 92 yards in the middle of the second quarter. An illegal procedure penalty during the extra-point attempt pushed the Rams back on the try and Myers missed the subsequent attempt, giving Johnsonburg a 20-0 lead.
On the ensuing Otto-Eldred drive, the Terror stumbled to fourth-and-four and punted with 4:59 left in the second quarter near midfield.
Zelehoski, already with one rushing score to his credit, ran the punt back 86 yards.
"We played the whole game tonight and scored on defense, offense and special teams," Launer said. "We had excellent ball control. It was a total team effort."
The Terror slipped up again, literally, as Barnish slipped on the grass while throwing the pigskin on third-and-15 with 4:24 to play in the half. Zelehoski returned the punt 15 yards to put the Rams in excellent field position before senior tailback Craig Carrow scored a rushing touchdown from 10 yards out with 1:51 left in the half.
Otto-Eldred nearly spoiled the shutout on the kickoff return as Terror junior running back Drew Coscia tore up a 30-yard return, halted only by a possible touchdown-saving tackle by Myers in the open field.
However, Yonker again came up big with an interception just inside the out-of-bounds line with 0:54 left in the half.
"Ren (Yonker) had a monster game for us," Launer said. "Seth (Peterson) and Matt (Galsick) ran down the field and, around the 10-yard line, threw outstanding blocks to make that interception return happen."
With a 34-0 lead, the Rams began to exercise downhill running behind junior fullback Trey DeCecchis, who nearly eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the game. DeCecchis crossed the goal line with 4:24 to play in the fourth quarter to give Johnsonburg an insurmountable 40-0. Myers' extra-point attempt was wide, capping off a four-for-six special teams performance.
Despite the win, Launer said he noticed some areas which need improvement.
"Some defensive coverages, we kind of messed up on, and we had some missed tackles," Launer said. "Offensively, it went pretty well."
However, the Rams were cited with several penalties throughout the game.
"Hopefully it was because it was our first game," Launer said. "The kids are going to make mistakes."
There also appeared to be some gaping holes in the Rams' kickoff return coverage.
"We'll definitely need to work on kickoff coverage," Launer said. The Rams' special teams unit was often victimized by Coscia, who is only a junior on the Terror roster.
"(Coscia) is a good returner," Launer said. "Otto-Eldred never let up and I give their coaching staff a lot of credit."
Despite starting the season 1-0, Launer said his team is still right where they were last year.
"We had one win last year. We expect to improve and iron things out," Launer said. "And this is the same bunch of kids who went 1-8 last year, so we hope to play it out and improve."
Another issue Launer ran into was coping with several starters who cramped up during the game.
"We had three starters cramp up and that kind of surprised me," Launer said. "We try to hydrate them an hour before the game and give them Gatorade at halftime."
The Rams have the long week as they will not play again until Saturday, Sept. 6, at Sheffield Area High School at 1:30 p.m. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 09 September 2008 )
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