Ground game powers MCW past St. James
Trending
TRIMONT - St. James' best opportunity to score came with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. Martin County West had controlled the game, leading 22-0 after a trio of rushing scores by Pierce Rohman, Maddex Faber, and Kaedin Lange.
The Saints came up short on a fourth-and-goal after quarterback Quinton Kern couldn't connect with Sawyer Olson on the outside. It left Martin County West's offense with 96 yards to drain the remaining clock and put an exclamation point on another victory. The Mavericks leaned on a rushing attack that got them here. After nine plays, four minutes and a 45-yard touchdown scamper from Lange, head coach Tom Elliot watched what he called a "statement drive."
Martin County West's 360 rushing yards paved the way for its dominating 30-0 victory over St. James on Friday night in Trimont. Rohman led the team with 189 yards. Lange added 137 more. The Mavericks averaged an impressive 7.7 yards on 47 touches, with five different players getting a carry.
"When you are churning out yards at a pretty good clip, that's what can dictate the offense," Elliot said. "We were able to sustain a lot of first downs. We got stopped a couple of times, but all in all, we were just very efficient in the run game, and that's kind of what we leaned on."
A pair of turnovers on downs from each team set Martin County West up at the St. James 37-yard line in the first quarter. Runs from Lange and Rohman inched the Mavericks right behind the goal line. Lange did the rest for his first of two touchdowns.
Martin County West was once more short on a fourth down after its 10-play drive. The Maverick defense again did its part with another short-yardage stand to give the ball back to their offense, this time for a second touchdown before the halftime horn.
Rohman ripped off consecutive 15- and 10-yard runs to score a second Martin County West touchdown with 1:55 left in the second quarter. Despite the failure to score on two promising drives prior, a 14-0 lead showed just how commanding the Mavericks were on both sides of the field.
"It wasn't the cleanest win," Elliot said. "They stopped us on fourth down a couple of times. Those things are going to happen, but I'm happy with how the kids recovered from that by getting stops on defense to get the ball back into our possession."
The Mavericks received good field position after a punt return placed their offense at the Saints’ 19-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-goal on the one, Faber used a fake handoff that set up his rollout run to the left side of the end zone with 1:28 left in the third. Rohman secured the two-point conversion with his speedy rush to the right.
Rohman, Lange and Faber all did their part on the ground. Outside of scoring touchdowns, the dynamic each one carries in the backfield forces opposing defenses to consistently stay on their toes. It adds another element to Martin County West's offensive approach.
"It makes us incredibly dynamic and very hard for others to pinpoint exactly what we are going to do and when we are going to do it," Elliot said. "It's tough on the defenses, and we are very fortunate that we have four or five guys who we are extremely comfortable carrying the football. ...It keeps the defense off balance and gives us the ability to hurt them in a variety of ways."
Martin County West's final defensive stand on its own goal line helped secure its fourth shutout in six games. St. James finished Friday's contest with 99 yards of total offense, most of which came from its final drive midway through the fourth quarter.
Hank Olson led the team with eight tackles, one of which was a sack. Jackson Wilmes and Faber had six tackles, while Rohman, Lixon Forsberg and Kade Fennern each had five.
"The defense is playing well, and we are doing really well in the trenches. The front four are doing a fantastic job of keeping our linebackers clean, and the defensive backs are doing a pretty good job," Elliot said. "We had some tough matchups against St. James. They had two or three guys who were incredibly gifted, height- and weight-wise. They were able to get some passes on us, but we always had guys there."
Elliot's team now has a 5-1 record with two regular season games remaining. The loss to Mayer Lutheran on September 11 was followed by four straight wins by an average margin of 38 points.
This start to the year is one of the better ones Elliot has seen during his head coaching tenure. With United South Central and Cleveland coming up in the next few weeks, there is excitement to see how his Mavericks can continue competing.
"This is one of the best starts that we've had in my tenure, and I'm extremely excited to see what the future holds," Elliot said.