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Wolves feast on Johnsonburg |
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Saturday, 04 October 2008 |
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Photo by Joseph Bell Johnsonburg quarterback Ren Yonker, right, tries to elude Kane defenders Bert Leonard (23) and Shane Todd (33) during last night's loss.
By Joseph Bell
Record Staff Writer
KANE – Having celebrated his birthday on Thursday, Johnsonburg head football coach Tom Launer's special birthday wish was a win over the Kane Wolves. After last night's 30-0 loss in Kane, Launer's wish will have to wait at least another season.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Wolves scored on the first play in the second frame with a 4-yard run by senior quarterback Kenny Kane.
Roughly one minute later, the Rams were pinned to their own 1-yard line after Johnsonburg senior running back Zane Zelehoski slipped while fielding the kickoff return. After a few unrewarding plays, Kane senior Ross Nicholson sacked Johnsonburg senior quarterback Ren Yonker in the endzone for a safety and a 9-0 lead.
The Wolves continued to pressure the visitors by taking the free kick back to the Rams' 34-yard line and threatened to score again, forcing Launer to burn a timeout after a 12-yard run by Nicholson put the Wolves on the 22-yard line with 10:46 to play in the second quarter.
"I was trying to get them fired up and just light a fire under them because it seemed like we were taking plays off, we just didn't have any answers tonight," Launer said.
Immediately following Launer's timeout, Kane senior running back Andrew Olson sprinted 22 yards in for the score and a commanding 15-0 lead.
The Wolves added another safety at the 2:02 mark after stopping Johnsonburg senior fullback Mark Myers in the endzone before dancing to the locker room with a 17-0 halftime lead on Homecoming.
After a three-and-out forced the Rams to punt in the third quarter, Johnsonburg was victimized by a roughing the kicker call near the 10-minute mark, giving the Wolves excellent field position once again.
"We had too many penalties and that's been a problem for us all year, way too many penalties tonight and I don't know, we worked on the penalties and I told them just now that they have to be more disciplined and we can't be holding or grabbing the face mask and stuff like that," Launer said.
The Wolves continued rolling down the field before Nicholson walked in a 5-yard touchdown trot and also added the extra point for good measure, giving the home team a 24-0 lead.
Kane senior running back Mark Ross added a touchdown run with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter to give the Wolves an insurmountable 30-0 lead against the punchless Rams.
"We couldn't defend against them, you could see that, they ran sweep after sweep, then ran up the middle and we worked on that all week in practice and we didn't have an answer for it," Launer said. "They didn't run a play out there that we didn't work on in practice this week. They did nothing that surprised us, they just executed their offense very well."
Desperate for points in the fourth quarter, Johnsonburg went with a passing attack and Yonker was picked off twice, both by Kane junior defensive back Bert Leonard.
"We couldn't throw, we couldn't run and we couldn't throw because they were beating us off the line of scrimmage, they were just manhandling us, and we didn't have time to throw the ball," Launer said. "We weren't opening up any holes for the running game and their line just manhandled us and out-muscled us tonight."
While Kane improves to 4-2 on the year, the Rams suffer their first loss, dropping to 5-1 this season.
"I told them our season is far from over and we control our own destiny, especially if we win out. You won't see the same football team next week (against Brockway) and I'll be very disappointed if you do. I think we have to rebound and start playing football again the way we know we can play and we can still have a very successful football season," Launer said. "We just have to forget about this football game, this game is history, we didn't play very well and Kane played very well. Just forget about it and start again Monday." |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 13 October 2008 )
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