(PHOTOS BY RENEA KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
NON-LEAGUE MATCHUP … Colton Robertson goes over the top of a Rossford defender to make a catch in the second half. VIEW 41 PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (September 6, 2024) – Last spring Evergreen won the NWOAL track title, mostly because of one major aspect…speed. Last Friday night on the gridiron, the Vikings game against Rossford looked more like an old Warner Brothers cartoon with the Roadrunner speeding away and the Bulldogs looking like the stumbling, bumbling coyote in a, shall we say, ‘beep-beep, goodbye’, 36-6 win.
“For us obviously our summer program is all about speed,” Viking coach Barry Bock said. “We track miles per hour, we track speed. We know we have fast kids, so we take advantage of that speed outside.”
The Vikings first scoring drive was normal enough as Max Mossing’s 13-yard run and Bryce Bolger’s pass to Colton Robertson for 18 more set up that same combo from 12 yards out to give Evergreen a 7-0 lead.
But after a Rossford punt, a series of big plays began. Bolger lofted a pass that Wil Ruetz had to slightly wait for, but when the four-event league track champ hauled it in, he was ‘beep-beep-gone’ from 74 yards away for a 14-0 first quarter lead.
Rossford got their only score of the night when Zaydin Morrison lumbered 46 yards through a gaping hole to put the Bulldogs on the board early in the second quarter and after Morrison recovered a Viking fumble, the Bulldogs seemed to have earned a momentum shift.
However, after an exchange of punts, Robertson shifted the tide with a diving pick of a Tyler Clark pass that led to a 23-yard Alex Mossing field goal.
“We had talked and said, ‘ok we gave up one big play’, let’s play our football and we were making stops, we just need someone to step up and make another play,” Bock said of Robertson’s momentum changing interception. “Colton is our best athlete on the field and he made a play at the right time for us.”
Then late in the second quarter, Ruetz basically put the game away when he leaped in front of a Clark aerial on the sideline and raced 21 yards for a score to make it 24-6.
Robertson’s catch of a short pass and romp of 66 yards set up Bolger’s push in from a yard out halfway through the third quarter for a 30-6 advantage. Quinn Eisel’s eight-yard TD catch late in the fourth put the running clock rule in effect.
For the night, Bolger was 10/18 for 215 yards and three scores. He also ran for 57 more as the Vikings totaled 315 yards in the game. Rossford ran for 190 but completed just 7-24 passing for 51 yards.
UP NEXT: September 13 – Evergreen (2-1) at Patrick Henry (2-1)
ROSSFORD 6 0 0 0 – 6
EVERGREEN 14 10 6 6 – 36
E – Robertson 12-yd pass from Bolger (A. Mossing kick)
E- Ruetz 74-yard pass from Bolger (A. Mossing kick)
R – Morrison 46-yd run (kick failed)
E – Mossing 23-yd FG
E – Ruetz 21-yd interception return (A. Mossing kick)
E – Bolger 1-yd run
E – Eisel 8-yd pass from Bolger (kick failed)
TOUGH RUN … Evergreen running back Max Mossing finds an opening in the Rossford defense.