The Adrian Blackhawks took the field Friday night versus the Drexel Bobcats with the intent of reversing the misfortunes from the previous week against Butler. To do that they would have to take an undersized line and shut down a powerful running game that had amassed a staggering 500 yards on the ground last week against Appleton City. Adrian would do just that on their way to a 41-8 victory.
It was clear early on that Adrian came into the ball game with a sense of determination. They mixed in a good passing performance with a good rushing performance of their own to defeat the Bobcats. Senior Gage Steen was 5 of 9 passing for 94 yards. Senior Zak Dabney had two receptions for 52 yards. Senior Adam Cochran had 2 receptions for 32 yards and fellow Senior Devin Darby had one for 10 yards. Steen would lead the Blackhawks rushing with 112 yards. Sophomore Wyatt Reynolds almost cracked the century mark with 94 hard fought yards on 16 carries. Junior Zach Shannon had 23 yards on two carries. Freshman Hunter Steen saw his first action at quarterback on the varsity squad when his older brother's helmet came off on a play. Gage, by rule, had to leave the ball game for one play, leaving the door open for Hunter to see the field. Hunter's first run was a nice one down the left sideline but was called back on a holding penalty.
The Blackhawks found paydirt first when Gage Steen scored on a 1 yard run with 2:04 remaining in the first quarter. Steen would find the endzone again soon into the second quarter when found the endzone from one yard out. Adam Cochran has been very consistent kicking this year and was good on both extra point kicks. Drexel narrowed the gap on a Chandler Eastwood 16 yard pass from Daniel Shipps with 3:26 to play in the half. Keegan Nichols cracked the endzone on the two point conversion. Although Adrian had dominated the game to that point the Bobcats were only a touchdown and extra point away from leading the ballgame. Gage Steen avenged that touchdown two minutes later finding a seam and darted 38 yards to score with 1:16 on the clock before halftime. Cochran, again, was good on the extra point attempt.
The Blackhawks had the game well in hand when Drexel lost their leading rusher from the week before. Ty Woltcamp suffered a season ending leg injury just before halftime. Nobody wishes injury on another player. Without Woltcamp the Bobcats were down two starting positions. Adrian extended its lead scoring three second half touchdowns. Steen scored his fourth touchdown on the night on 20 yard run with 1:23 on the third quarter clock. Wyatt Reynolds found a hole and ran passed the Bobcat defenders on a 53 yard run with 7:04 to play in the ballgame. Cochran was good on both extra point attempts. Zach Shannon had a nice 21 yard run less than a minute later for the final points of the night.
The offense was very balanced, which was a great look for the team. The real story, however, was the play of the defense. The defensive line took on a very tough task being asked to neutralize Drexel's running game.
"Great effort tonight. After last week, I really didn't know what to expect." said Head Coach Matt Cochran. "We challenged the kids this week. Last week we played soft. It was a totally different team this week. I want to make note of the defensive line. Everybody notices the players who make the tackles. We asked our defensive line to basically bear crawl through their offensive line. They weren't going to make many tackles - if any. However, it prevented their linemen from pulling and allowed our linebackers to make tackles. The line did an outstanding job with this - Ryan Baker, Parker Deal, Jimmy McDonald, Josh Collins, and Dylan Bell. This was a good win for us, but we can't dwell on it. We have Midway this week, and it should be a great match up. Playing teams like Midway are what high school football is all about. Come out and support your Blackhawks on Friday."
Adrian travels to Freeman, MO to take on the Cass Midway Vikings. Game time is set for 7pm on September 4th. Midway has a matching 1-1 record and coming off a 33-14 victory over the Archie Whirlwinds. The Vikings lost their opening game to the Osceola Indians 21-14.
Adrian and Midway have a rich football tradition of very good games. The matchup between the two schools is often circled on the calendar before the season starts as a game to be seen. This year will be no different.
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