The Greene County Rams played their third consecutive homecoming football game Friday evening. All three games, against the Webster City Lynx in Webster City Sept. 16, as hosts of the Iowa Falls-Alden Cadets last week, and Sept. 30 against the Boone Toreadors, had the same result – a loss for the Rams.
As in previous games, the Ram defense proved stronger than the Ram offense. The good news is that Ram sophomore quarterback Clint Dennhardt shows improvement every week. Against the Toreadors Dennhardt unofficially accounted for 216 yards of offense, 140 in the air and 76 yards rushing.
Ram fans had a short-lived chance to cheer on the Rams’ first possession in Boone. Play started on the Rams’ 15 yard line. A penalty moved them back to their own 11 yard line, but Jake Berns rushed 23 yards out to the 34 yard line and a first down. Berns lost two yards on the next play and at second and 12 Trey Tucker broke loose and ran 68 yards to the end zone.
Unfortunately for the Rams, there was a holding penalty at the Ram 43 yard line and with the penalty it was third and 11 on the 33 yard line.
That was the only first down for either team in the first quarter as the Ram defense played tough.
The Toreadors came up with their first first down early in the second quarter and they owned the quarter. A short trot into the end zone by Kaden Sherrard with 10:55 to play in the second quarter and a good PAT kick put the Toreadors up 7-0.
The Rams went out on downs and Boone started their next drive on the Ram 49 yard line. Five plays later senior quarterback Tanner Schminke carried the ball 33 yards into the end zone. With the PAT the score was 14-0 with 6:13 to play in the half.
On their next possession the Rams’ Chase Stoline returned the kickoff 25 yards out to their own 32 yard line. Dennhardt passed to Nick Schroeder for seven yards and Logan Lansman received a pass and ran for a 50 yard gain. With the aid of a penalty against Boone the Rams were first and goal on the 6 yard line. Dennhardt scrambled to keep track of a high snap and the ball was back on the 15 yard line. The Rams finished their possession with a Nick Schroeder 32-yard field goal attempt that was blocked.
The Toreadors took just one minute to score their next touchdown, covering 84 yards in four plays capped with a 35-yard Schminke run and the PAT. The score was 21-0 with 3:47 to play.
The Ram offense took a minute off the clock and went out on downs. The Toreadors played another verse of the Second Quarter Song and covered 85 yards in eight plays, primarily on the ground. It was a short pass to Mason Hulse that scored the fourth touchdown for the quarter and after the PAT the score was 28-0.
The third quarter started like the first quarter with the Ram defense holding Boone. The Rams got the ball on their own 12 yard line. With a drive that included two complete passes – a 32-yard pass to Stoline and a 42-yard pass to Schroeder – the Rams were as close as the Toreadors’ 11 yard line. They lost yardage on the next two plays back to the 26 yard line. A pass to Lansman put the ball on the 19 yard line at fourth and 17. The Rams didn’t punt on fourth down. Dennhardt rushed for 15 yards, not enough for the down, and the Toreadors had the ball on their own 4 yard line.
Schminke rushed for 26 yards, passed to Kade Morain for a 52 yard gain and then ran into the end zone on the next play to put the Toreadors up 34-0, 35-0 with the PAT. That set the clock running continuously with 3:21 to play in the third quarter.
The Rams punted to finish their next possession, with sophomore Austin Delp doing the chore. Boone got the ball on the Rams’ 44 yard line and Mason Hulse took over the QB position from Tanner Schminke. The Toreadors had moved the ball to the Rams’ 12 yard line with a first and 10 when Trey Tucker recovered the ball after a bad snap to Hulse.
That gave the Rams the ball on their own 27 yard line. This time they put together a successful drive. It took seven plays to cover the 63 yards, including a 17-yard run by Dennhardt and an 18-yard run by Tucker. Dennhardt added another 12-yard run to get to the 2 yard line and Tucker took it the last two yards. With 4:01 to play in the fourth quarter the Rams finally were on the scoreboard. Schroeder was on the sideline due to injury so the Rams tried a 2-point conversion as they did against Webster City, a game Schroeder missed with a back injury. Tucker carried the ball for a successful conversion and the score was 28-8.
That halted the continuous clock but the last four minutes of the game still went quickly and neither team scored again.
The loss put the Rams at 0-5 for the season, 0-3 in Class 3A District 2. The Toreadors are 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in district play.
Dennhardt passed for 142 yards, completing eight of 14, his best completion rate for the season. He and rushed for 76 yards on 15 carries. Tucker rushed for 25 yards, Berns added 18, and Towers had two yards rushing. The Rams totaled 264 yards of offense.
Lansman had 52 yards receiving, Schroeder had 49, Chase Stoline had 36 and Tucker had five.
Defensively, Jake Berns had seven solo tackles and four assists. Towers had five solos and two assists, and Bryce Burkhardt and Anthony Jacobsen both had five solo tackles. Hunter Ruth had four solo tackles and two assists.
Boone’s Schminke had 128 yards in the air and 190 yards rushing. The Toreadors totaled 373 yards of offense.
The Rams play next week on their home field against the Gilbert Tigers.
