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At times it was like watching a video game last Friday as the Wolverines watched Shenandoah loft long touchdown pass after long touchdown pass in their 55-14 non-district loss.
The Mustangs scored touchdowns on eight of their first nine possessions in the first half to aid in the win. Shenandoah led 32-6 after the first quarter after scoring three touchdowns on passes of 68, 72 and 45 yards. The lead swelled to 55-6 at halftime and the running clock was activated early in this game.
The Mustangs won their first game of the season in three tries. Shenandoah had played two close games to begin the year, both losses to Clarinda and West Central Valley. The Wolverines came into the game after a 22-6 loss at home to Central Decatur in a game that was a one-score game until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Shenandoah made it difficult on the Wolverine offense. NV/OM had 141 yards of total offense with 138 of those on the ground. Quarterback Eli Harris was under heavy pressure all night as there were Mustangs in the Wolverines’ backfield a lot. Shenandoah collected nine tackles for loss in the game as a team among six different players. Harris completed two of his eleven pass attempts for three yards. He did throw his first interception of the season in the game. Titan Foster led NV/OM in receiving with one catch for seven yards.
The Wolverines averaged 4.9 yards per carry on the ground in the game. Paul Berg led Wolverine rushers with a career-high 107 yards on seven carries with a touchdown. Kasen Hansen was next with 15 yards on six carries.
Defensively, the Wolverines gave up the most yards they have in any game so far this year as the Mustangs totaled 588 yards of total offense. Shenandoah quarterback Joey O’Rourke passed for 433 yards on 14 completions with five touchdown passes. Junior Cole Graham had nine receptions for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Zane McManis rushed for a team-high 56 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns.
Lawson Jackson and Titus Hamer led NV/OM in tackles in the game with each collecting five. Garrett Welsch had 4.5 and Trent Warner fourTy Strode and Caleb Christensen each had 3.5 tackles.Jackson added 3.5 tackles for loss and Ashton Honnold had 1.5.Hamer, Paul Berg, and Warner each had one tackle for loss.
The Mustangs scored their most points in a football game since Shenandoah scored 52 points in a 52-14 win over Riverside on September 20, 2019, nearly six years to the day. Nodaway Valley scored two touchdowns in the ball game.
The first was in the opening quarter on a 5-yard Ashton Honnold run on the Wolverine’s third possession of the game.The other score came in the third quarter on a 75-yard run by Paul Berg.
The point total equaled the Wolverine’s high point total in eight games last year and was the first time they have scored 14 points in a game since a district loss last year on September 22 at South Hamilton.
The Wolverines will return home for the next two weeks. This week Woodward-Granger comes to town while the following is homecoming as South Hamilton is in town. Woodward-Granger comes in 2-1 having pulled off a big upset over Class A No. 2 Madrid in week one. The Hawks are led on offense by a balanced attack.