Top-ranked Exira-EHK blanks G-R 41-0; will face Newell-Fonda Thursday in state semifinal
By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / Nov. 9, 2013
EXIRA – There might be something unique about this year’s Spartans’ squad.
In the 8-Man game, where points are put on the board at a pace that better resembles basketball than gridiron football, top-ranked Exira-EHK is getting it done with defense.
Friday night’s 41-0 shutout over No. 10-ranked Glidden-Ralston offered more testament to that, as Exira-EHK pitched its second shutout in three playoff tests this tournament run.
The opening round win over CAM 65-0 was one thing, but keeping an opponent off the scoreboard in the state quarterfinal is a different kind of animal.
“Our defense did its job, and everyone took care of their own responsibilities, and did what we were coached to do,” senior linebacker Trey Sander said afterwards. “When all that happens, good things tend to happen.”
Exira-EHK was able utilize the fast start they’d been hoping for, needing just three offensive plays to jump out 14-0.
After that, the Spartans defense went to work both in the trenches and the backfield, frustrating Glidden-Ralston and stalling drives with three turnovers on downs in the opening half.
“We pressured their quarterback on a consistent basis and the kids were there to make plays,” Spartans head coach Tom Petersen says. “It’s assignment football.”
Seizing the early lead put pressure on G-R’s offense to play catch-up, and the physical hammering both sides was applying to the line of scrimmage coerced the Wildcats to try work through the air.
“We wanted to try to make them one-dimensional, we wanted to make them pass the ball,” coach Petersen says. “That was our goal, get out of the gates and then hopefully they would have to throw that ball. That’s what happened.”
Exira-EHK took a 21-0 lead into the halftime break, and scored twice more in the third quarter after Sander punched one in from one-yard-out at 5:20, and Nick Peppers caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from his brother Drew with 3:18 left in the frame.
About two-and-a-half minutes into the fourth, Drew scored on a quarterback keeper from one-yard-out to drive the Spartans ahead 41-0 and kicked in the continously running clock.
The victory moves Exira-EHK’s record to 11-0 on the season as the team returns to the UNI-Dome for the second straight season. Last year, the semifinal ended in disappointment, and the first loss of the season. Eventual champs Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn outran the Spartans 61-22, and afterwards coach Petersen questioned whether his team’s mindset that day was to play football, or vacation in Cedar Falls.
That will be an underlying theme of the week for the Spartans, no doubt.
“Don’t be content,” coach Petersen says. “When you get up there, it’s a little bit different feeling. Hopefully, we are going up there with a purpose, rather than just to experience it.”
“I’m proud of our kids. Glidden-Ralston is a heck of a football team, and we are fortunate to be where we are at. But also, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I expected us to be in this position. The kids have worked extremely hard to get here, and just hope they are not content.”
Sander echoes his coaches beckon to take things a step further this November at the UNI-Dome.
“This was a goal from the beginning,” he said. “But when we go there (this time), we don’t want to come back empty handed. Last year, it was really surreal going in there, but now we know what to expect.”
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