GC FOOTBALL: OH, SO CLOSE

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor 

sports@beeherald.com

@BrandonJHurley

Jefferson –

A strong, offensive second quarter display wasn’t enough for the Greene County football team in their home-opener Friday, Sept. 9, as the Rams dropped a tight, 18-12 battle at the hands of district two foe, Dallas Center-Grimes. 

It was a tale of two halves for the Ram offense which tried to piggy-back off a spirited defensive performance. After falling behind 10-0 early in the first quarter on back-to-back scoring drives (a 44-yard touchdown run by running back Nathan Brown and a 36-yard field goal), the Rams’ defenders locked in holding the Mustangs scoreless for the remainder of the half.  

Quarterback Clint Dennhardt and company got to work, running off 12 straight points to take a two-point halftime lead.

“We made a few adjustments and I think then we settled in, and when they found out that Trey Washington (DC-G’s backup QB) was playing, they realized it was going to a normal game,” Greene County head coach Dean Lansman said. 

Outside of the 248 rush yards the Ram defense gave up – 205 yards by Nathan Brown – Greene County kept the DC-G pass game in check, as Washington only completed four passes for 22 yards and no touchdowns. 

A trio of plays changed the course of the game midway through the second quarter. After pulling within four on a Nick Schroeder touchdown catch from Dennhardt just under the eight minute mark, defensive lineman Bryce Burkhardt picked off a pass from Washington not two plays later. The senior rumbled all the way inside the DC-G five-yard line before he was taken down. 

But before the Rams had a chance to take the lead, the snap was fumbled on the very next play and the Mustangs recovered, dashing any hopes of a score. 

The Rams wound up scoring on their next drive (another connection from Dennhardt to Schroeder on a fade route), but instead of a two-score lead, they entered the break up just 12-10. 

With the advantage their first half time lead of the season, Lansman tried to keep his kids calm and focused on finishing the game. 

“We always tell them it’s a 0-0 ball game at half and we need to control the clock as much as we could,” the coach said. “We felt really good at half time and we made a couple adjustments.”

But the Dallas Center-Grimes coaching staff made a few tweaks to the game plan as well, and came out with an amped up defense, getting the Rams to go three and out on their first possession. The two squads traded three outs for most of the quarter as penatlies also plaqued the Mustangs in a fairly quiet third frame. 

“I noticed on the first two drives their defense had a little more intensity,” Lansman said. “They started bringing an extra guy and that gave us fits. Some nice adjustments were made and we got a little stagnant.”

An advantageous Mustang defense man-handled the Greene County offense over the final two quarters, holding the Rams without a point and forcing several three and outs as they struggled to find momentum. 

DC-G finally scored the half’s first and only points with 18 seconds left in the third on a one yard touchdown by Brown to put the Mustangs up 18-12. Brown continued to work the clock in the fourth quarter, as his bruising running style wore on the Rams and kept the defense on the field. 

The defeat moved the Rams to 0-3 on the year and 0-1 in Class 3A district 2. 

Schroeder finished the game with five catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns. 

The 6-3 senior now has nine catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns.  Trey Tucker ran for 62 yards on the ground and has tallied 313 rush yards for a 7.5 yards per carry average. 

Tucker led the Rams defensively with 13 tackles aided by Joe Towers who contributed 10 tackles. Jake Berns recorded nine tackles of his own. 

The Rams inch closer and closer to victory each week, as the margin of defeat has dwindled after each game, 34 in week one, 29 in week two and now six.  As the defense grows, Lansman is convinced the offense will as well. Though the score may not have shown it and they struggled big time in the second half, the offense has began establishing a bit of consistency and Dennhardt has found a go-to receiver in Schroeder. 

The duo has connected for three touchdowns and nine receptions over the last two weeks. 

Lansman is pleased with the week-to-week development he’s seen so far. 

“Up front, the (offensive line) is starting to gel, they are getting comfortable. That takes awhile to happen,”  Lansman said. “The growth of the kids that had no experience before this season has been great. When you’re jumping into the heart of district play, that’s what you need to see.” 

Greene County is on the road Friday as the face Webster City (2-1, 0-1) for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off. 

THE GOOD: 

* The Greene County defense only gave up eight points over the final 40 minutes of the game. After allowing 34 points in week one, the Ram defense has only given up 32 points total in the last six quarters. 

* The defense forced two turnovers (an interception by Byrce Burkhardt and a fumble recovery by ) and held the Mustang pass offense to just four completions and 22 yards and no touchdowns. DC-G gained just 263 total yards in the game. 

“I think we have kids on the defense that makes us fast and they make some good reads,” Greene County head coach Dean Lansman said. “It seems like they are really hungry and have a nose for the ball. They played extremely well and I think they keep that intensity up.”

* The pass offense was clicking in the first half as Dennhardt connected with Schroeder for two touchdowns, both on fade routes to the corner of the end zone . 

* The Rams clawed back from a 10-point deficit in the first quarter to take a 12-10 lead into the break. 

“We were able to give (quarterback) Clint (Dennhardt) some time and they went man-to-man on Nick (Schroeder) and we knew if they did that we would have success,” Lansman said. 

THE BAD: 

• The Rams allowed DC-G running back Nathan Brown to gain 205 yards on the ground and control the clock in the second half. The Mustangs ran for 248 yards for the game and held the ball for much of the final two quarters, keeping the Ram offense off the field. 

• The Ram offense struggled mightily in the second half and could not move the ball over the final two quarters after putting up two touchdowns in the second quarter. They failed to cross midfield in the last 24 minutes, failing to get an upper hand in the field position battle. 

• After an interception return down inside the five yard line a few plays after closing the game to 10-6, the Rams’ offense gave it back to DC-G on the very next play on a fumble. In a game of inches, the Rams could have definitely used that touchdown in a six-point loss.