March 28, 2024

Chargers’ run game too much for Wolverines

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A snowball effect of early turnovers and an effective rushing attack employed by Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center meant Nodaway Valley found itself playing from behind early on. Despite a strong effort, the Wolverines were unable to recover.

The Chargers moved to 3-0 on the season with a 54-0 win in Greenfield last Friday, almost exclusively using their punishing wishbone offense to move up and down the field.

“Simply put, they were the better team. I told my kids after the game though that I would not trade the purple and black for the black and yellow,” NV head coach Flynn Heald said. “We’re just trying to teach the kids that we have to take ownership of what happened.”

NV was whistled for a holding penalty on its first offensive play of the game, putting itself in first-and-20 situation. The Wolverines would punt on that drive and ACGC marched 75 yards on the ensuing possession and jumped in front on the scoreboard first. They would score again quickly, intercepting a Nate Russell pass and taking it back for a score.

“For a team that runs 73 plays a game and considering we only got 29 plays of offense in, that’s just not what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re going to have to try to go back to the board and see what we can do better this upcoming week,” Heald said. “What gave us a lot of trouble was that wishbone. It’s not that we weren’t game planned for it, but up front, they had three or four kids up front that I can recall being way, way, way bigger than our guys. I don’t think this is an indication of our team, our staff or our community and we’ve gotta get better this week.”

ACGC fullback Gavin Conelison rushed 21 times for 135 yards and three touchdowns. Charger senior Kolby Jacobe had 10 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown. Reid Rumelhart, a sophomore, had the team’s fifth touchdown. ACGC intercepted three of NV’s passes in the game.

Heald shared a story with his players after the game about his own playing career, of when his Cedar Rapids Washington team in 2012 took a loss to Linn-Mar. Heald’s Washington team had a chance to redeem itself when it played Linn-Mar again in the playoffs and the result was much different.

Nodaway Valley (2-2) travels to play West Central Valley, Stuart (0-3), this Friday. The Wildcats are coming off of a 48-6 loss last week to Southwest Valley, where they avoided a third-straight shutout this season.

“We’ve gotta be better up front. We have a 15-year old quarterback and mistakes are to be expected. We’ve gotta be able to complete the passes, move the chains,” Heald said. “I always tell the kids to make the routine plays routine. You don’t have to make big plays or always be the guy looking to take the shot down the field. Take what’s given to you, make the routine plays routine and we’re going to be fine.”