HUXLEY — The rain relented for most of third quarter last Friday, and the break in the downpour was just what the Ballard football team must have been looking for.
Bomber quarterback Max Stoltz connected with Reece Huen on touchdown passes of 53 and 52 yards to help the hosts turn a 7-6 halftime advantage into a 20-6 lead after three periods en route to a 27-6 victory. Ballard threw for 177 yards and rushed 48 times for 208 while Perry had just 23 yards in the air and 67 on the ground on 26 carries.
The nearly 300-yard disparity in total offense was due, in large part, to Ballard having more than 25 additional snaps from the line of scrimmage, an onslaught that eventually wore down a Perry defense that, for the most part, provided a stout effort.
The following video highlights appear courtesy of Perry offensive coordinator Matt Hardy.
1.) Ballard’s Kenton Brekke grabbed the opening kickoff and spurted through a hole in the middle of the Perry coverage unit until he was hit from the side by Reece Dunlap (18) and coughed up a slick football, which Mark Campos (28) recovered for the Bluejays.
2.) Linebacker Grant Eklund split the guard/tackle gap and shot into the backfield to pull down Hunter Wright for a two-yard loss on this first quarter play.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7zdq7xY3j0
3.) Stoltz receives late pressure from defensive end Janier Puente (27) and underthrows Tyler Ihle, who was being tightly covered by Dunlap. The Bluejay junior turns just in time to locate and ball and make the interception.
4.) Middle linebacker Campos blitzes into the backfield and buries Wright just as he receives the hand off from Stoltz.
5.) Defensive tackle Tyler Soll (67) recognizes Huen (7) is slanting down the line of scrimmage for a screen pass and stays home, wrecking the play and forcing an incompletion.
6.) Puente bursts into the backfield and meets Wright five yards behind the line of scrimmage, stripping the ball loose. By the time Stoltz can turn and find the pigskin, Devon Archer (64), playing the other defensive end, dives onto the fumble for Perry.
7.) Dunlap (18) receives an open-field block from Campos (28) before making Gannon Manfull (15) miss at the five-yard line en route to a 10-yard touchdown scamper that put Perry in front, 6-0, in the second quarter.
8.) Adan Medina (5) burst into the backfield to trip up Wright, who is finished off by Archer (64) for a loss of several yards.
Perry (2-1, 0-1) hosts Boone (2-1, 1-0) in a Class 3A District 2 battle at Dewey Field Friday. The night has been designated “Tackle Cancer Night” and fans of both teams are asked to wear pink to the contest. Cheerleaders will pass through the crowd collecting donations, with all proceeds from t-shirt sales and the bucket brigade donated to The Children’s Cancer Connection of Iowa.
