Exira-EHK moves to 7-0 with 68-13 victory, Spartans need little more than a quarter to activate continuous clock
By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / October 12, 2013
CORNING – The top-ranked Spartans have now been through a stretch of schedule as tough or tougher than any other 8-Man team in the state has been forced to endure.
Heading into Friday night’s Week 7 game at Southwest Valley, Exira-EHK has faced in consecutive weeks three teams with a combined 15-1 record.
And for the third straight week, the mighty Spartans made a statement, hammering Southwest Valley on its home field in Corning with a 68-13 final that ought to go down as the most impressive performance to date from this Exira-EHK team.
The Spartans activated the continuous clock less than four minutes into the second quarter, and held a 48-0 lead at the halftime break. There was never a moment in which Exira-EHK wasn’t in control Friday night in Corning.
“I thought overall that was the best half of football we’ve played this year in every single phase of the game,” Spartans head coach Tom Petersen said afterwards. “That’s the best 24 minutes we’ve seen, and we did some good things in the second half as well.”
The 68 points is a season high, and is all the more impressive considering the Spartans’ first-string offense took a seat after the opening drive of the second half.
Spartans’ senior Trey Sander finished with five touchdowns on the night. Three of them he carried in off the rush, and the other two came on punt returns as Exira-EHK used its offense, defense, and special teams to dominate a worthy opponent with a near-perfect record.
EEHK rolled up 333 yards rushing at the half, more than 10 times the sum of Southwest Valley’s 31 yards after two quarters. In all, Exira-EHK totaled 439 yards of total offense to Southwest Valley’s 121.
And of course there were those big plays that every opponent of EEHK tries to keep a lid on. Sander finished with touchdown runs of 60, 23 and 15 yards on the ground, not to mention the two punt returns for touchdowns that came from 60 and 70 yards out.
Spartans’ quarterback Drew Peppers added touchdown runs of 50 and 41 yards, and he also returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown that drove Exira-EHK ahead 42-0 midway through the third quarter.
Big plays break out when preparation meets opportunity.
“That’s assignment football, and I thought our kids did an excellent job with that once again,” coach Petersen says. “And our offensive line continues to grow week-by-week, so we are going to continue to move forward with what we are doing. I like the way we are playing football right now, but of course there are always a number of things we need to work on.”
Drew Peppers finished the game with 166 yards on 13 carries, and Sander had 211 yards on just eight touches.
“In 8-Man Football, if you carry out assignments, then there is usually one man to beat,” coach Petersen says. “We’ve got some players who can make others miss, and our guys up front are doing a heck of a job when it comes to blocking.”
The Spartans defense also took a step forward in Week 7.
Following last week’s 49-12 victory over Coon Rapid-Bayard, the Spartans coaching staff was satisfied on the whole, except for two big plays allowed by the defense that yielded CRB’s two scores.
Coach Petersen challenged the defense during practice this week, and was satisfied with the response against Southwest Valley.
“We spend a lot of time on it,” coach Petersen says of the defense. “The way were are playing right now, I like where we are at. We are not real big, but we’ve got a lot of kids between 185 and 200 (pounds) that like to hit. We are a physical football team, and we need to continue to do so.”
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