WOODWARD — The cliches are many: Carrying the load; hauling the mail; a workman-like effort. All are meant to describe (pardon the cliche) a hard-nosed effort from a running back, especially after an outing that resulted in many yards but which required many rushes to attain.
All would adequately describe the performance of Woodward-Granger junior tailback Tanner Vermaas, who carried the ball 43 times in gaining 222 yards and scoring once Friday to help the Hawks score a 26-12 Homecoming victory over Southwest Valley in Class 1A District 8 action.
“Tanner played very well tonight and gave us a strong effort,” Hawk head coach George Ashman said. “I would say it was a good team effort, all the way around, but Tanner was certainly strong for us tonight.”
The Hawk defense came up with big plays at big times, with defensive backs twice erasing what would have been long gains on passing plays for the Timberwolves by ripping the ball loose and recovering the pigskin inside the 10-yard line on both occasions.
W-G (2-3, 1-2) was first on the board, with crisp runs from Vermaas and fullback Josh Saak leading to a 11-yard scoring strike from Brendan Bird, who found Johnnie Morgan in the corner of the north end zone for a 6-0 lead.
SW Valley (1-4, 0-2) answered on their first offensive play when Chance Cobb ran wide right, then pulled up just shy of the line of scrimmage and lobbed a pass to a wide open Tony Locke, who had been uncovered when the cornerback came up to stop the run. Locke was able to outrun the defense 63 yards to tie the game at 6-all.
After marching 73 yards on eight plays on their first drive, the Hawks answered the Timberwolves score with a nine-play, 63-yard march featuring a perfectly-placed 44-yard pass from Bird to a streaking Race Brant that put the ball on the 3-yard line. Vermaas scored two plays later, with Cole Moran’s PAT kick setting the score at 13-6.
The guests were moving the ball sharply midway through the second quarter when W-G linebacker Austin Scharlau drilled Cobb, jarring the ball loose. Scharlau finished his heroics on the play by scrambling atop the fumble as a dazed Cobb looked frantically for the ball.
The next Timberwolves possession ended in disaster when Joe Sturgeon blocked a punt that was recovered on the 8-yard line. Bird scored on a one-yard sneak on fourth down with 18.5 seconds to play in the half to give the hosts a 19-6 advantage at the break.
SW Valley used a gadget play in the third quarter when, on third-and-inches, tailback Jerad Shires stopped short of the line and lobbed a jump pass to Grant Mauer, who broke for the end zone. He was caught and pulled down forcibly just yards away from scoring, with the Hawks recovering the fumble to stifle the drive.
The guests were able to score on a one-yard Cobb run to trim their deficit to 19-12 on their next possession, but the hosts were able to respond with a seven-yard Saak run off left tackle, with Moran’s kick putting the score at 26-12.
SW Valley had another long pass connection blow up when Cobb hit Addison Bull on a deep ball in the fourth quarter, only to have the W-G secondary once again rip the ball free just shy of the end zone, with Morgan recovering.
“This makes it eight Homecoming wins in a row for us,” Ashman said. “I still believe we have not played our best football game yet, even though I am happy with how hard we played tonight.
“There are still some things we need to work on, especially not having so many penalties,” he concluded. “Even saying that, this was a nice win, and maybe this will get us going.”
In addition to Vermaas’ totals, Saak added 32 yards on nine carries and Brant six yards on two runs. Bird was 3-of-4 in the air for 67 yards, with Brant (2-56) and Morgan (11) making the receptions.
Saak had eight tackles and Nick Musich five to lead the defense.
Cobb was 6-of-15 for 154 yards passing, with the visitors totaling 86 rushing yards on 33 carries.
W-G will step out of district next week when they travel to Jewell to face South Hamilton.
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Class 1A District 8
WOODWARD-GRANGER 26, SOUTHWEST VALLEY 12
at Woodward, Sept. 25
Team    1  2  3  4 — Final
SWV Â Â Â Â 6 Â 0 Â 6 Â 0 — 12
W-G Â Â Â 13 Â 6 Â 7 Â 0 — 26
Scoring by Quarters
First Quarter
W-G — Morgan 11 pass from Bird (kick failed), 8:07.
SWV — Klocke 63 pass from Cobb (run failed), 7:47.
W-G — Vermaas 1 run (Moran kick), 4:32.
Second Quarter
W-G — Bird 1 run (pass failed), :18.5.
Third Quarter
SWV — Cobb 1 run (pass failed), 8:44.
W-G — Saak 7 run (Moran kick), :14.2.
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