WATERLOO – A stronger presence at the line of scrimmage opened the door for Grundy Center football to run over Waterloo Columbus, 41-7, at T.J. McLaughlin Field in Waterloo on Friday.
The Spartans (2-0) amassed 387 yards of total offense, including 197 yards on the ground. Pete Lebo rushed for 94 yards and three touchdowns and Hayden Geerdes added two scores on 78 yards rushing.
“It was all about the mental knowledge and getting the technique down,” Spartan lineman Elliott Vokes said. “Make sure we got our steps in, know who to block and get them blocked.”
Each of Grundy Center’s first five drives ended in a touchdown, while the Spartan defense held Columbus to 20 yards of total offense in the first half, leading to a 35-0 advantage at halftime.
The Sailors’ offensive numbers were helped by a 94-yard passing touchdown from Bryce Noland to Carter Hogendorn against Grundy Center’s JV unit in the fourth quarter, but the Spartans were otherwise dominant against a Columbus team depleted by injuries.
“Our pad level was much better in flashes this week,” Grundy Center head coach Travis Zajac said. “We played especially high last week [against Aplington-Parkersburg], especially at the line of scrimmage, and we were getting moved around a lot. … We do have a lot of younger kids that haven’t played a ton of varsity ball on the offensive and defensive line, and this is all part of their growth and maturation.”
Grundy Center quarterback Judd Jirovsky threaded the needle on a touchdown pass to Eli Wegmann in the first quarter to start the scoring. From there, Pete Lebo found the openings in the Sailors defense and hammered them for three touchdown runs. With the game largely in hand, Geerdes stepped in to give Lebo a breather for his first two touchdowns of the season.
“The guys did a great job up front,” Lebo said. “I rely on them so much, and I just have to be patient and let them work. I trust they can do the job and then I just try to get outside as fast as possible, try to make a move.”
Vokes, listed at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, is one of the senior leaders on the line of scrimmage.
“I just make sure I know what I’m supposed to be doing and do it to the best of my ability,” Vokes said. “Tonight definitely felt better as a unit, there was a lot more communication and the blocks were made.”
Aiden Betts and Cooper Keller made six total tackles and Cash Combs added four tackles. Betts, Combs and Breck Jass had a sack each and Betts and Britt Meyer each made a fumble recovery for the Grundy defense.
Grundy Center and Dike-New Hartford meet in Dike on Friday, with both teams 2-0 after D-NH broke through late for a 7-0 win at Aplington-Parkersburg in Week 2. The last meeting between the teams was Grundy Center’s 28-7 Class 1A championship win over the Wolverines in the UNI-Dome last November.
“It’s an electric atmosphere every time we play them, wherever we play them,” Zajac said. “I know how well coached they are, how prepared they’ll be. It’ll come down to who can execute better, and it should be a lot of fun to go up there and play on Friday night.”
Lone touchdown enough for Wolverines
Aiden Walston’s 17-yard touchdown reception from Peyton Pokorny in the third quarter was enough for Dike-New Hartford to escape Ed Thomas Field with a 7-0 win over Aplington-Parkersburg on Friday.
D-NH prevailed in the defensive battle for its eighth-consecutive win over the Falcons in the rivalry series, and the lowest-scoring matchup between the teams since a 7-6 A-P victory on Sept. 2, 2005.
Walston hauled in the touchdown on fourth-and-17 with 1:56 left in the third quarter. The Wolverines capitalized on penalties and clock control in the fourth quarter to deny the Falcons.
Pokorny finished 7-of-11 passing for 56 yards with a touchdown and an interception and added 46 yards rushing on six carries; Devlin Davis rushed 13 times for 51 yards.
Lane Girsch made three tackles for loss with a team-leading 6 ½ tackles for D-NH.
Rebels all over Warriors, 78-6
Gladbrook-Reinbeck returned six Meskwaki turnovers for touchdowns in a 78-6 throttling of the Warriors at “The Pit” in Gladbrook last Thursday.
Dreyson Morgan had two fumble recoveries for touchdowns and Mason Heise added a third. Hudson Clark picked off Meskwaki twice for touchdowns, Brayton Dripps once. Clark added a 64-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
In terms of traditional offense, Trevor Mathern completed a 7-yard touchdown to Clark and Chad Gutknecht, Treyvon Herron and Bennett Sieh all added rushing touchdowns for the Rebels.
Kael Blohm led the Rebels with 6 ½ tackles on Thursday, including five tackles for loss.
G-R travels to Colo-NESCO on Friday.
JAKE RYDER SPORTS 