WOODWARD — The theme for Homecoming this week at Woodward-Granger was “The Greatest Show on Turf.”
Whether intentional or not, the double entente could have served either as a circus reference or an ode to what would hopefully be a powerful running game from the W-G football team. Both played out Friday, as the Hawks ran the ball 61 times for an impressive 553 yards and eight touchdowns, entertaining the home crowd with a 70-14 victory over the Woodward Academy.
W-G (4-2, 1-1) put the ball in the air just three times in the game, with Keith Braunschweig competing one pass to Bryce Achenbach for a 13-yard game. One pass fell incomplete, and the other was intercepted on a third-and-long pass in the end zone by Maurice Myles.
Academy quarterback LaShaun Dowell was 3-11-1 for 13 yards and Kadence Marple 1-of-2 for minus-five yards. All four completions went to Paris Lane, who finished with eight yards on four snags.
W-G wasted little time in establishing the ground game, as Achenbach ran for 47 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later Tate Lettow burst over from 13 yards away for a quick 6-0 lead.
The second Hawk drive ended at the one-yard line with a turnover on downs, but on the first snap Dowell was dropped by Reese Jamison and Achnebach while trying to escape the end zone for a safety.
Homecoming king Gabe Yingst tore free up the middle for a 35-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left in the period, with an Achenbach two-point run moving the score to 16-0.
Hawk head coach George Ashman said before the game he wanted to control the game on the ground and “get back into doing things the right way” to return to “having good habits” after W-G had suffered consecutive losses to spoil a 4-0 start to the season.
“I wanted to see us take care of ball and play hard defensively and we did,” he said afterward. “Hopefully we reminded ourselves tonight of how to do things the right way and that we can take that down to Pleasantville (next Friday) and get a win on the road.”
Yingst bulled over from seven yards out and then added the conversion early in the second frame as the score went to 24-0, with Achenbach stepping in front of a Dowell pass and taking this theft 36 yards for a TD. He added the conversion, moving the scoreboard to 32-0.
Marcello Della flashed tremendous speed for the Knights (2-4, 0-2) on the ensuing kickoff, eluding two would-be tackles near the 20-yard line and then racing past the coverage for a 94-yard score. The conversion failed, leaving the score at 32-6.
The halftime score was 38-6 after Kade Polich stomped to pay dirt on a three-yard dive, all but settling the issue.
A running clock was started at the 9:36 mark of the third stanza after Yingst carried two tacklers three yards into the end zone, with Achenbach adding the conversion, with an eight-yard Yingst TD and Jamison conversion lifting the margin to 54-6.
Polich broke loose for a 45-yard TD 44 seconds into the fourth quarter, with a Lettow conversion flipping the scoreboard to 62-6, but Della would make it 62-14 two minutes later by stepping into a crease and streaking free for a 54-yard TD.
W-G had been playing reserves for some time, and the starters were ecstatic on the sideline with 6:15 to play when they watched 130-pound freshman Dylan Bird bounce off right tackle and jet 61 yards down the near sideline for the final Hawk TD. Jon McKeever capped the scoring with a two-point conversion.
The offensive explosion put the W-G cheerleaders to work, the squad able to fight off the chill in the air by having to perform 356 jumping jacks during the contest.
Della ran 12 times for 46 yards to plead the Knights on the ground, with Dowell carrying nine times for 40 yards.
The Hawk defense made seven tackles for negative yardage and added two sacks to help limit the Knights. Yingst had five tackles, Achenbach, Jamison and Polich 4.5 apiece and Cale Pritchett and Lettow four each while Jay Dorenkamp fell on a fumble.
Yingst carried 14 times for 142 yards and four TDs, with Lettow adding 109 yards and a TD on 18 runs while Achenbach tallied 91 yards on 11 totes. Bird (2-64, one TD), Polich (3-54, two TDs), Jamison (6-41), McKeever (2-15), Jared Manning (1-15), Jackson Potter (1-3), Dustin Harney (1-0) and Braunschweig (2, minus-8) also carried the pigskin for the Hawks.
W-G visits Pleasantville October 5. The Trojans (1-5, 0-2) were blanked, 35-0, by Pella Christian Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0z9uAu7yos
[…] W-G was a 70-14 winner over the Woodward Academy in their Class 1A District 7 meeting. Homecoming king Gabe Yingst did his part, scoring four touchdowns and gaining a game-high 142 yards on 14 rushes while making five tackles on defense. […]