GUTHRIE CENTER — Two regional schools renewed a friendly rivalry last Friday as Nodaway Valley/OM traveled to state-ranked Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center.
The Chargers entered the game ranked fourth in the last Radio Iowa Class A football poll. The Chargers became that way because of their devastating ground attack that shifts back and forth between various option formations, including the wishbone.
The Chargers used that ground attack to amass 357 yards rushing on 37 carries and had a per-rush average of 9.6 yards, which led to a 54-0 win. The two teams hadn’t played since the 2022 season.
The first quarter gave the Wolverines hope of staying alive in the game early as they started each of their three drives in the opening period with an average field position of their own 30 yard line.
Quarterback Titan Foster threw for 50 of his game-total 77 yards in the first half and AC/GC led 7-0 with about five minutes elapsed in the first when Brexton Schneider scored on a 38-yard run. On the final play of the quarter, Ryder Cline broke off a 40-yard run, which led to the Chargers leading 14-0.
NV/OM was bitten by the turnover and penalty bug in the second quarter, coming away empty on three full and one partial drive. Two ended with interceptions and another a punt. All three led the Chargers to having short fields to start drives well into Wolverine territory and this resulted in three scores for them.
Thomas Skram scored on a six-yard run, lineman Jack Sheeder plunged for a two-yard run and Joe Crawford caught a 13-yard pass from Skram, which gave the Chargers a halftime lead of 34-0.
AC/GC scored twice in the third and once in the fourth to finish out the scoring.
“We felt that we had a good game plan. Our first couple of drives we moved the ball well, but they are a very good football team and they made some adjustments,” Nodaway Valley/OM head coach Jack West said. “We picked up a few first downs and had some passes. In the first half, we executed the game plan well.”
West said that too many penalties and key turnovers hurt his team’s chances.
“When you have those against a good team you really make it hard on yourself. There is no room for errors,” West said. “The turnovers didn’t help either.”
The Wolverines had 77 passing yards, all from sophomore quarterback Titan Foster.Foster was 5-for-17 in the game and threw three interceptions. Four players caught a pass in the game, including Keyin Steeve with two, Bram Dahl, Remington Woosley and Caleb Christensen with one each. The rushing attack was largely shut down by the Chargers as the Wolverines didn’t have positive overall yardage despite 22 carries.
Defensively, the Wolverines were led in tackles by Christensen with eight while Steeve and Woosley each had five stops. Bryan Gonzalez and Ryer Groves each had tackles for loss in the game. Erik Jensen recovered a fumble.
Crawford led AC/GC in rushing yards with 111 on five carries and a touchdown. Six different Chargers scored a rushing touchdown. Skram passed only once for an 18-yard score. It was only his third pass attempt this season in three games. He rushed for 38 yards on four carries and scored a touchdown.
NV/OM plays at home Friday against AHSTW. The Vikings are 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the district after falling 32-21 at home last week to rival Oakland Riverside. The win for AHSTW was a 54-13 win at Red Oak.
“They are a good team and well coached,” West said of the Vikings. “They play a physical game up front on their lines and have really good skill position guys on offense.”
The Vikings are tied for second in the district with the most touchdowns as a team and are second in passing yards in the district. Sophomore quarterback Dayton Osbahr has passed for 393 yards on 24 completions with three touchdowns.
Two Vikings have rushed for over 100 yards led by senior Drew Lee with 254 yards, a 9.8-yard average, and three scores. Senior receiver Collin Harder leads in receptions with 218 yards on 10 catches and a touchdown.
Defensively, six Vikings have double-digit tackle totals led by senior Gatlin Gettler with 18.5, junior Sam Sturm with 17.5 and senior Drew Lee with 17.
The Vikings have only punted four times in three games this year with an average of 34 yards per punt.