Glenwood’s closes regular season with road win

Glenwood brought the pressure, Boone had few answers and the Rams closed the regular season in convincing fashion with a 31-3 road win fueled by a stifling defensive performance.

The Class 4A, No. 8 ranked Rams trailed 3-0 after the first quarter against the Toreadors (3-6) but scored 31 unanswered points over the final three quarters in the win.

Glenwood did it with their defense.

They held Boone to just 68 total yards of offenses while recording six sacks and intercepting two passes, one of which Benn Christiansen returned for a 28-yard touchdown.

“After the first quarter we were able to contain Boone very well on defense, including holding them to -10 yards rushing on the night,” said Glenwood coach Cory Faust. “Part of that success was our ability to create negative plays.”

 Of the Toreador’s 48 plays, 17 went for negative yards.

Grahm Newberry had seven of those tackles for loss on the night to set a new program record.  The previous record of six was held by former star defensive tackle Caleb Sanders, who is still playing professionally in the Canadian Football League.  

Max Koehler and Evan Kinney each added 2.5 TFLs. 

Offensively, the banged-up Rams got the job done with an efficient 306 yards of total offense. Gannon Cook, a freshman making his second varsity start in as many weeks, completed 12-of-22 throws for 92 yards while Brody Black paced the Ram ground attack with 115 yards and two TDs on 20 carries.

“We've had numerous people step up throughout this season as we've had some injuries, including Gannon Cook and Trey Williamson at quarterback, and Brody Black and Bodhi Langille at running back,” Faust said. “Lincoln Skarnulis has also done a nice job running the past two weeks.  His unselfishness to be a dominant blocker at his H position this year has really helped our team, but he is also a really good runner, and he's been a force at our outside linebacker position as well all season.”

Faust was quick to praise the play of “guys in the trenches” along the offensive and defensive line with the Rams’ success this season. They were typically good once against in Boone.

“They have been dominant through most of the year,” he said. “Todd Schmitt, Evan Kinney, Drake Buthe, Jordan Taylor, Josh Taylor, Nile Lundvall, and Brody May all deserve a lot of credit for the success of our team. What they do doesn't always show up in the stat column.”  

The Rams (7-2), winners of four straight, finished the regular season ranked eighth in the Class 4A poll and seventh in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) that determines playoff seeding. This is Glenwood’s 11th playoff appearance all-time and ninth since 2015. 

Glenwood will host No. 6 ranked Spencer in Friday’s opening round of the Class 4A playoffs. 

Faust said the Tigers will be a tough test for his team. They enter with a 6-3 record and averaging 24.7 points and 292 yards per game.

“They've played one of the toughest schedules in the state this year,” Faust said. “They lead class 4A in rushing attempts with a really unique flexbone option offense.  We haven't seen anything like it since we played them in 2022.   While they don't throw the ball a lot, when they do, they are dangerous, they average 19.4 yards per completion.” 

Defensively, the Tigers will load the box and really pressure the offense with a lot of man coverage. 

“We'll need to have a great week of practice if we want to be successful,” Faust said.  

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Ram Memoria Field.