Fast start sends LeRoy-Ostrander to win

Staff

Published Sunday, September 30, 2007

By Mike Simmons, staff writer

GLENVILLE — It’s often said that when a coach has to resort to rebuilding a football program it’s more like running a marathon than a sprint. That’s what is happening with the Glenville-Emmons football team, which despite losing Friday night’s homecoming 48-8 to LeRoy-Ostrander, still showed there is hope for the future.

“What can you say, we are outsized and outnumbered and we’ve been struggling with that all year,” said Wolverines head coach Derek Nelson. “I am so proud of these guys, they never give up. They work their heart out for me and for Glenville-Emmons and it showed in the second half tonight.”

The Cardinals showed they were the more experienced team right from the start when they scored on just their fifth offensive play, a 37-yard run by Jordan Rosedahl. After a G-E four-and-out L-O took four plays before it was dancing in the end zone once again with a 14-0 advantage.

While the young Wolverines threw two interceptions, had to punt and fumbled the snap on another punt the Cardinals running game pounced on them for three more scores before the half to lead 34-0 at the break.

The second half started out the same as the first when the Cardinals scored on their first two possessions for a 48-0 lead with just 3:48 remaining in the third quarter.

Leading by 48, the Cardinals inexplicable tried an on-side kick that failed and only resulted in getting the Wolverines fired up. G-E took that anger out on the field and came up with its best drive of the night, a 11-play gem, all Logan Hansen carries that ended on a 5-yard touchdown run that made the score 48-8 heading to the fourth. Hansen led G-E on the ground with 80 yards on 25 carries.

With the game out of reach the Wolverines went to their bench and the young players proved to have a ton of heart and played well against L-O junior and senior subs.

On the Cardinals’ last two drives of the night the Wolverines were forced to use eighth-grader Trent Thoms who outdid himself despite his age with three tackles in his first varsity action.

G-E’s second string offense once again came in late in a game in which the outcome was already determined and gave the Wolverines hope that a winning season is not far in the future.

With the loss, G-E remains winless at 0-5 and will be on the road next Friday when they travel to Nicollet who they have beaten two consecutive years.

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