‘Not a rivalry yet:’ Superlarks keep Rebels in check
Published 6:21 pm Saturday, October 31, 2020
Dan Boe carries the ball for Southland. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Nick Boe carries the ball for Southland. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland’s Brendan Kennedy fights for an extra yard against Grand Meadow. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Grand Meadow’s Taylor Glynn, left, and Luke Speer, right bring down Southland’s Noah Sayles in Grand Meadow Saturday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Grand Meadow’s Daniel Smith is brought down by Southland’s Noah Sayles as Karter Jax closes in. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Grand Meadow’s Evan Oehlke winds up for a pass against the defense of Southland’s Ethan Forthun (11) in Grand Meadow Saturday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Grand Meadow’s Ben Kraft carries the ball against Southland in GM Saturday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austndailyherald.com
Grand Meadow’s Daniel Smith, left and Dusty Copley, right celebrate a fourth quarter touchdown in Grand Meadow Saturday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Grand Meadow head football coach Gary Sloan speaks to the Superlarks after the win. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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GRAND MEADOW – The Superlarks’ first string defense may have allowed their first points of the season, but they didn’t allow much else.
In a battle of physical, unbeaten teams, it was Grand Meadow that prevailed with a 22-11 win over Southland Saturday afternoon.
GM led just 15-11 at halftime and it took some patience for them to finally put themselves in a winning position. The Superlarks (4-0 overall) had three possessions start inside Southland’s 40-yard line to start the second half, but they all came up empty.
The Superlarks finally got things going when they used an 11-play, 53 yard drive that was capped by a leaping grab by Dusty Copley for a seven-yard score from Evan Oehlke with 10:10 left in the game. GM, which shares wrestling, cross country and track and field with Southland, has now beaten the Rebels in back-to-back years after Southland switched to nine-man football last year.
“We didn’t want to let up that many points in the first half, but we were happy,” GM senior Ben Kraft said. “We just had to keep communicating and we had to grind it down their throat. That’s what we did. I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry game, but everyone’s been wanting us to play for a while. We’re cross town teams, but it’s not a rivalry yet.”
The GM defense dominated the second half of the contest as they didn’t allow the Rebels to run a play inside their 25-yard line.
“They’re a good team and we knew that going in,” Kraft said of Southland. “We communicated well on the line and we let the skill positions do the rest.”
Southland’s first drive of the game went deep into GM territory, but Dusty Copley picked off a pass at his own 10-yard line. After the turnover, Copley made a one-cut and dash 90-yard TD run on GM’s first play of the game.
Even though the Rebels (3-1 overall) had run on their first five plays of the game, Copley was expecting a pass and he made a quick reaction to grab an interception. He credited his ensuing 90-yard scamper to the guys in front of him.
“I want to thank my line because they did everything,” said Copley, who ran for 114 yards. “They hit their blocks and the wide receivers hit their blocks too. I just had to run behind them.”
The Superlarks looked to be well on their way to a double digit halftime lead when Taylor Glynn scored on a nine-yard run to make it 15-0 with 4:13 left in the first half, but Southland put together an eight-play 64 yard drive that was capped by a five-yard TD by Nick Boe to get within 15-8 with 1:45 left. Boe’s TD was the first points allowed by the Superlark first string defense this season.
On GM’s ensuing possession, Karter Jax picked off a screen pass that led to a 30 yard field goal by Ethan Forthun that brought the Rebels within 15-11 at the break.
While the Rebels made things interesting, they were never able to put together any effective drives in the second half.
“I think we got caught in Grand Meadow being the four-time state champs and I think we got rattled. They’re a great football team and they were more out-physicaled us up front,” Southland head coach Shawn Kennedy said. “The great thing about this game is we can learn from it. We need to settle down and move the ball when we need to. We should want it.”
GM forced four turnovers in the win.
SCORING SUMMARY
Southland 0 11 0 0 – 11
GM 8 7 0 7 – 22
First quarter
(GM) Dusty Copley 90 run (1 plays, 90 yards) (Ben Kraft from Taylor Glynn) 8:54
Second quarter
(GM) Taylor Glynn 9 run (Evan Oehlke kick) 4:13
(S) Nick Boe 5 run (Noah Sayles run) 1:45
(S) Ethan Forthun 30 field goal (7 plays, 9 yards) (8 plays, 64 yards) 0:00
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
(GM) Copley 7 pass from Evan Oehlke (Oehlke kick) (11 plays, 53 yards) 10:10
GM STATS
Rushing: Dusty Copley, 13-for-114, TD; Daniel Smith, 12-for-51; Evan Oehlke, 9-for-10; Taylor Glynn, 3-for-5, TD;
Passing: Evan Oehlke, 5-for-11, 50, TD; Glynn, 0-for-1, INT
Receiving: Smith, 1-for-29; Copley, 3-for-17, TD; Ben Kraft, 1-for-3
Defense: Dusty Copley, 1 interception; Cameron Sneed, 1 interception, 1 sack; Taylor Glynn, 1 interception
Penalties: 2-for-18
SOUTHLAND STATS
Rushing: Noah Sayles, 11-for-59; Nick Boe, 14-for-53, TD; Brendan Kennedy, 8-for-37; Harrison Hannah, 5-for-6; Dan Boe, 1-for-1
Passing: Harrison Hannah, 9-for-17, 67, 2 INT; Dan Boe, 3-for-5, 23, INT
Receiving: Dan Boe, 6-for-57; Kennedy, 2-for-23; Sayles, 2-for-7; Eli Wolff, 2-for-7; Ethan Forthun, 1-for-5
Defense: Karter Jax, 1 interception, 1 sack; Dan Boe, 1 interception
Penalties: 1-for-15
