OGDEN — Woodward-Granger posted a margin of victory Friday of 28 points.
While that advantage was considerably less than the 43-point gap W-G (2-0) recorded in an opening 49-6 win over Madrid, Friday’s 42-14 triumph at Ogden (1-1) was perhaps even more impressive, for several reasons.
For one, the Hawks were in complete control throughout the game, and led, 36-0, before putting reserves onto the grid. For another, quarterback Trevor Simmons threw for 189 yards.
Although a tidy sum, 189 yards is not exactly a world-on-fire total — unless you are the quarterback at W-G, long known for not putting the ball in the air. The 189 yards was the most in a single game since Cole Ashman, son of head coach George, burned Earlham for just over 200 yards in 2014.
Simmons was 12-of-16 with a touchdown, a 25-yard connection with Christian Husmann, who pulled in five aerials for 98 yards. Dylan McCaulley caught three passes for 46 yards, John McKeever two for 22 yards, Kade Polich one for 22 yards and Worth Henry one pass for a single yard.
The Hawk ground game, running behind a veteran and powerful offensive line, chewed up 261 yards on 37 attempts, an average of more than seven yards per rush.
Jake Lego ran 17 times for 170 yards and Kade Polich for 53 yards on 14 hauls. Each scored twice on the ground, with Simmons adding a touchdown and 34 yards on five runs while McKeever had one carry for four yards.
Senior quarterback Kolby and junior tailback Kaden Moorman led the Ogden attack.
Kolby Moorman was 12-of-23 for 100 yards and two touchdowns through the air and added 76 yards on 24 rushes while Kaden Moorman rushing 23 times for 90 yards.
Jack Christensen (7-43, 1 TD), Tyler Tolan (3-44, 1 TD), and Lane Snedden (2-13) caught passes for the hosts.
Simmons scored on a six-yard run, with Carter Moran adding the conversion run as W-G posted an early 8-0 lead. Lego ran 11 yards for a score and kicked the PAT in the second frame, with Polich plowing in from a yard away and Lego ran in the conversion as the lead went to 23-0.
Lego’s nine-yard TD and PAT kick pushed the score to 30-0 in the third quarter, all but cementing the victory, with Husmann stepping into the end zone with a 25-yard TD pass from Simmons early in the fourth quarter.
Tolan caught a 21-yard TD pass for the hosts to put the score at 36-8, with a 10-yard TD snag from Christensen moving the scoreboard to 36-14.
Polich capped the scoring in the game with a five-yard plunge as W-G set the final at 42-14.
The W-G defense was led by 11 tackles from Polich, who had 11 total tackles. McKeever had eight tackles, Simmons and Dane Polich 6.5 apiece and Worth Henry six stops. Garrett Burkhartt had 5.5 stops from his defensive tackle position, with Jack Muesberger making 2.5 tackles and a sack. McKeever and Kaden Seeman also had sacks, with Kade Polich making a stop behind the line of scrimmage while Simmons recovered a fumble.
Justus Rude and Denver Hoskins had 7.5 stops apiece for Ogden, with Kolby Moorman adding seven tackles and Lane Snedden 6.5. Hoskins and Keegan Tews each fell on a Hawk fumble.
W-G travels to AC/GC to face the Chargers, a 43-7 winner over Central Decatur Friday, with Ogden traveling to Earlham, a 40-0 loser to Van Meter Friday.
