Rams outscore Atlantic, 63-48 in ‘wild’ opener

After nearly hanging half-a-hundred on Atlantic in the first half, Glenwood needed two fourth quarter touchdowns to finally put away the pesky Trojans, 63-48, in a wild and wacky season-opener Friday night at the Glenwood Athletic Complex.

 The 111 combined points is among the most scored in the history of Ram Memorial Field.

“Wild game. Weird game,” said Glenwood Coach Cory Faust. “Obviously, we were not happy with how we played defense or some of our special teams, but I take the blame for that as head coach. I know we can play better – I know we have better players than that. We’ll play better next week.”

Statistically, the game wasn’t as close as the final score suggests, but the opportunistic Trojans stayed in the contest by taking advantage of Glenwood special teams break-downs, defensive lapses and a trio of third-quarter turnovers.

The Rams’ offense started the season on fire - scoring five touchdowns in the first quarter, starting with a 34-yard TD toss from quarterback Ben Carlo to wide receiver Myles Longmeyer on their first offensive series of the game.

The Rams’ momentum didn’t last long, however. On the ensuing kickoff, the Trojans’ Benton McLaren wormed his way through a pack of black-clad defenders and raced 75 yards to the end zone.

Glenwood reclaimed the lead on its next possession, with Carlo capping the scoring drive on a 2-yard keeper.

The Rams were up 14-7, but their lead was short-lived as the Trojans took the ensuing kickoff to the house - again. This time, it was Ethan McNeal doing the honors. He fielded the kickoff on a bounce on his own 7 yard line and darted 93 yards down the Atlantic sideline for the Trojans’ second TD of the night.

Tied again, the Rams wasted little time in reclaiming the lead. Haze Stephens put the Rams back up on a 51-yard blast to the end zone with 3:39 to play in the opening quarter.

The ensuing kickoff brought more drama, but this time it was the Rams making the big play as Dylan Powles recovered the fumbled pooch kick at the Trojan 23 yard line. On the next play, Joe Leick found paydirt running past a slew of Atlantic defenders.

Glenwood’s offense didn’t let up. Before the first quarter came to a close, the Rams added a fifth touchdown – a 23-yard scamper by Powles.

Both teams scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. Carlo teamed up with Longmeyer on a 28-yard touchdown pass and Powles scored from three yards out in the final minute of the first half. 

Atlantic scored second-quarter touchdowns on an 18-yard run by Jake Wailes and a 42-yard TD pass from quarterback James Brauer to Zander Killion.

Glenwood led 49-28 at halftime, but the Rams allowed things to get dicey in the third quarter by turning the ball over on three consecutive possessions. The Trojans cashed in on two of the turnovers and cut their deficit to 49-42 on the first play of the fourth quarter – a 7-yard scoring toss from Brauer to Killion.

Faust addressed the turnovers after the game.

“It was a little bit of fatigue, maybe, a little bit of people not quite doing the right thing,” he said. “We were just a little bit off and we’ve got to value the ball better, for sure.”

In between the turnovers, Glenwood defensive back Brad Hughes thwarted a potential Trojan scoring threat with an interception deep in Ram territory.

Sparked by an electric kickoff return to the Atlantic 25 yard line by Leick, Glenwood’s offense got back on track in the fourth quarter. The return set up another Powles touchdown run, this time from 18 yards out. Minutes later, the junior running back would score for a fourth time on a 32-yard blast to put the Rams up by three scores again.

Brauer and Killion teamed up on a 24-yard TD pass with 4:51 left in the game, but the Rams ran out the clock in the final minutes to ice the win.

The Rams amassed 551 yards of total offense, including 403 on the ground. Stephens finished the night with a team-high 140 yards rushing on 16 carries while Powles finished the night with 136 yards and four touchdowns on a dozen touches. Carlo completed 11-of-18 pass attempts for 148 yards and two touchdowns. His top receiver was Longmeyer who hauled in seven receptions for 136 yards and a pair of scores. Defensively, Leick recorded a team-high 5.5 tackles. Another notable stat – place kicker Jace Tallmon was a perfect 9-for-9 on extra point attempts.

Take away the turnovers and Faust liked what he saw from his offense.

“We like our line play and we like our running backs,” he said. “We were without Ethan Eiseman as a receiver tonight, we could really use him back in the line-up, but we feel like we’ve got three, maybe even four really good running backs.”

Atlantic tallied 99 yards rushing and 170 passing. 

 With their first win in the books, the Rams are now focused on Harlan. The Cyclones come to town Friday night after being upset in their season opener by Class 1A Underwood, 33-29.

Despite the season-opening loss, Faust knows Harlan presents a formidable challenge for the Rams.

“We need to get better,” he said. “Every week is its own one-game season. We’ve got to play better than we did the previous week all year, so nothing changes there.”

Friday night’s kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ram Memorial Field.

Atlantic            14    14    07    13 – 48

Glenwood       35    14    00    14 – 63

GLN – Myles Longmeyer, 14 pass from Ben Carlo, Jace Tallmon kick.

ATL – Benton McLaren, 75 kickoff return, Zander Killion kick.

GLN – Carlo, 2 run, Tallmon kick.

ATL – Ethan McNeal, 93 kickoff return, Killion kick.

GLN – Haze Stephens, 51 run, Tallmon kick.

GLN – Joe Leick, 23 run, Tallmon kick.

GLN – Dylan Powles, 23 run, Tallmon kick.

ATL – Jake Wailes, 18 run, Killion kick.

GLN – Longmeyer, 28 pass from Carlo, Tallmon kick.

ATL – Killion, 42 pass from James Brauer, Killion kick.

GLN – Powles, 3 run, Tallmon kick.

ATL – Wailes, 7 pass from Brauer, Killion kick.

ATL – Killion, 7 pass from Brauer, Killion kick.

GLN – Powles, 18 run, Tallmon kick

GLN – Powles, 32 run, Tallmon kick.

ATL – Killion, 24 pass from Brauer, kick failed.