Balanced Wolverines win in 54-0 shutout

East Mills used a balance offensive attack and a smothering defensive effort in a 54-0 victory over Clarinda Academy in Eight-person football Friday in Malvern.

The Wolverines (6-2) ran for a season-high 151 yards and got a 200 yard passing performance from quarterback Michael Schafer in their final home game of the season.

East Mills co-head coach Kevin Schafer said considering the sloppy condition of the field, he was very pleased with his team’s offensive execution.

“We felt like we could mix it up offensively and we did that,” Schafer said. “We didn’t line up and run out of a lot of power formations, we ran mostly out of spread formation but it kept their defense spread out.”

The Wolverines led 28-0 at halftime and 42-0 at the end of the third quarter. With the continuous clock running due to the “mercy rule,” the junior varsity took over for all of the fourth quarter.

“We were able to get  some starters out and get subs in during the fourth quarter and they Academy had some turnovers that gave us some great field position and allowed our junior varsity to score.”

Seniors Nate Richardson and Trevor Glockel both caught their first touchdown passes of the season in the second half.

“That was kind of neat to see this late in the season, to get them a touchdown was great for them,” Schafer said.

Defensively the Wolverines never let the Eagles get comfortable or use their speed to get to the edge, limiting them to 66 total yards for the game. East Mills also forced four turnovers and registered their second shutout of the season.

“They had a very quick, elusive quarterback but they didn’t throw a lot so we really rallied to the ball well and didn’t allow any big plays,” Schafer said.

East Mills heads out of the road for its final regular season game at Essex Friday. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.