It was well known that this year's squad was going to be a young inexperienced squad when the season started and would improve over the course of the season. It was also well known that this was an intelligent group of players that would be able to adapt on the fly in game situations. All of this played out Friday night in Butler. The Adrian Blackhawks fell to the Butler Bears 26-0.
Butler won the opening toss and deferred possession to the second half. Adrian's first drive ended with a punt. The Blackhawk defense gave up an early touchdown on broken tackles. The Blackhawks gave up another quick touchdown then settled down and stopped the Butler offense on all of their possessions until halftime. Adrian's best chance to score came late in the second quarter but they turned the ball over on downs at the goal line.
The Blackhawks trailed the Bears 13-0 at the half. The team looked like a young team with its first real live game action. They staggered and stumbled out of the gate but got their footing defensively and played really well the rest of the game. Two plays with multiple busted tackles netted Butler two early touchdowns that would prove to be all the scoring they would need.
Towards the end of the first half the weather became an issue. When lighting began to strike ahead of an storm line moving in the game was delayed then ultimately postponed until Saturday at 6pm.
The time off did not have much effect on either side. The second half was played much like the first half except in reverse. The Butler Bears scored early in the fourth quarter when Dylan Morris found paydirt on a one yard run. Kaleb Kauffman's kick was good extending the Butler lead to 20-0. The final score of the game came with 3:13 on the clock. Adrian was pinned on the half yard line. Butler's defense was able to get in the backfield and disrupt the play resulting in a fumble that Ben Holt fell on for the touchdown.
On the surface it can be hard to come away with any positives on the game. However, taking a look at the players on the field you can see freshmen and sophomores contributing in positive ways. You can also see juniors and seniors that are either stepping into leadership roles or expanding on them from last year.
Just like Head Coach Matt Cochran had said before the season started this team is young but intelligent. They will get better as the year goes along. There were players from surrounding towns that were able to come down and watch Adrian play the second half against the Bears. They may have seen the final score but they did not see the fight the team had in them from the beginning to the end. Once Adrian adapts on offense teams who sleep on this squad will falter. The team is a work in progress and will improve as the season progresses.
Coach Cochran's comments: "Pretty tough game right out of the gate. Butler is a good team, and they force you to make mistakes. They are a seasoned ball club and will win a lot of games this year. We have a lot to work on. Defensively, at times I thought we played tough. We cannot miss 25 tackles and be successful, though. Offensively we have to establish an identity. We could not get anything rolling. We also had too many penalties. However, we are young. We will work hard, learn, and get better every week. Some of our kids need experience. We have Drexel this week and that is the start of the WEMO conference games. They are a good team. We will have to be focused and play hard-nosed Blackhawk football if we want to come away with a win."
The Blackhawks travel to Drexel to take on the Bobcats. It will be Adrian's first game in WEMO action. Drexel defeated Appleton City Friday night to get their conference record to 1-0. Needless to say this early season matchup has season-long implications. Game time is set for 7pm.
First Quarter Summary:
Butler - Tanner Diehl 29 yd run (kick failed)
Butler - Diehl 30 yd run (Kaleb Kauffman kick)
Fourth Quarter Summary:
Butler (9:54) - Dylan Morris 1 yd run (Kauffman kick)
Butler (3:13) - Ben Holt fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed)
Butler won the opening toss and deferred possession to the second half. Adrian's first drive ended with a punt. The Blackhawk defense gave up an early touchdown on broken tackles. The Blackhawks gave up another quick touchdown then settled down and stopped the Butler offense on all of their possessions until halftime. Adrian's best chance to score came late in the second quarter but they turned the ball over on downs at the goal line.
The Blackhawks trailed the Bears 13-0 at the half. The team looked like a young team with its first real live game action. They staggered and stumbled out of the gate but got their footing defensively and played really well the rest of the game. Two plays with multiple busted tackles netted Butler two early touchdowns that would prove to be all the scoring they would need.
Towards the end of the first half the weather became an issue. When lighting began to strike ahead of an storm line moving in the game was delayed then ultimately postponed until Saturday at 6pm.
The time off did not have much effect on either side. The second half was played much like the first half except in reverse. The Butler Bears scored early in the fourth quarter when Dylan Morris found paydirt on a one yard run. Kaleb Kauffman's kick was good extending the Butler lead to 20-0. The final score of the game came with 3:13 on the clock. Adrian was pinned on the half yard line. Butler's defense was able to get in the backfield and disrupt the play resulting in a fumble that Ben Holt fell on for the touchdown.
On the surface it can be hard to come away with any positives on the game. However, taking a look at the players on the field you can see freshmen and sophomores contributing in positive ways. You can also see juniors and seniors that are either stepping into leadership roles or expanding on them from last year.
Just like Head Coach Matt Cochran had said before the season started this team is young but intelligent. They will get better as the year goes along. There were players from surrounding towns that were able to come down and watch Adrian play the second half against the Bears. They may have seen the final score but they did not see the fight the team had in them from the beginning to the end. Once Adrian adapts on offense teams who sleep on this squad will falter. The team is a work in progress and will improve as the season progresses.
Coach Cochran's comments: "Pretty tough game right out of the gate. Butler is a good team, and they force you to make mistakes. They are a seasoned ball club and will win a lot of games this year. We have a lot to work on. Defensively, at times I thought we played tough. We cannot miss 25 tackles and be successful, though. Offensively we have to establish an identity. We could not get anything rolling. We also had too many penalties. However, we are young. We will work hard, learn, and get better every week. Some of our kids need experience. We have Drexel this week and that is the start of the WEMO conference games. They are a good team. We will have to be focused and play hard-nosed Blackhawk football if we want to come away with a win."
The Blackhawks travel to Drexel to take on the Bobcats. It will be Adrian's first game in WEMO action. Drexel defeated Appleton City Friday night to get their conference record to 1-0. Needless to say this early season matchup has season-long implications. Game time is set for 7pm.
Butler - Diehl 30 yd run (Kaleb Kauffman kick)
Butler (3:13) - Ben Holt fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed)
Game Stats
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