Rams trample Denison
DENISON - Glenwood rushed for a season-high 390 yards and scored the game’s first 31 points in a 52-14 victory on the road at Denison Friday.
“This was our most complete game,” said Glenwood coach Cory Faust. “I thought we were pretty solid in all three phases for the most part. We’ve been really struggling on offense, especially in the first half of games. So I thought it was big we forced a turnover on their second possession and we were able to punch it in. That kind of got the monkey off our backs.”
After the teams traded punts on their first possessions, the Rams recovered a fumble inside the Monarchs’ own 10 yard line. Two plays later Andrew Blum made it 7-9 on a quarterback keeper.
Blum added another seven yard TD run later in the quarter to put Glenwood out in front 14-0. Five minutes later that lead swelled to 21-0 on Noah Carter’s two yard plunge.
Another Monarch fumble scooped up by Eli Bales and returned to the Denison 23 resulted in a 27-yard Alex Nusser’s first varsity field goal and a 24-0 lead.
Blum, who finished 2-of-6 passing for 48 yards on the night, connected with Cody Buresh from 44 yards out to give the Rams a commanding 31-0 lead with less than two minutes to go in the half.
A 53-yard Cooper Silvius scamper and another Blum rushing TD put the lead to 45-7 late in the third quarter and kicked in the “mercy rule” running clock.
The Rams totaled 438 yards in the game, with 390 coming on the ground. Glenwood averaged better than seven yards a rushing attempt and saw four rush players score a touch down and rush for more than 40 yards led by Silvius’ 158 yard rushing night.
“We have a really good offensive line and we like the guys we have that can run the ball so we go into games feeling like we can take what’s there,” Faust said. “We feel like we can have balance when we need to but the run game was definitely worth it so we stayed with it. This is the kind of offense we are capable of doing consistently. When we execute well and don’t have unforced mistakes we can continue to score on people.”
Silvius’ 158 yard was a career-high. The junior entered having carried 21 times for 136 yards this season. Faust said his team’s improved ability to execute its option game helped everywhere on offense.
“One of the key for us in this game was we are to get the ball pitched probably better than we have the last couple years,” Faust said. “It something we’d been lacking. We were able to get the ball out on the perimeter against Denison. Andrew Blum helped that out a lot with his decision making and a lot of credit goes to the line but Cooper is a good player and got us some big running plays.”
The Ram defense limited the Monarchs to 71 yards on the ground. Most of their 226 yards passing came after halftime.
“You have to credit Denison, they have some good skill guys and they did some different things formatioally. They really challenged our defensive backs. But overall I really liked how we played.”
Glenwood returns home this week for homecoming. The Rams host Atlantic in Friday’s District 7 game. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.