The Greene County Rams trailed the Class A Wolverines of Nodaway Valley for most of the game Friday at Linduska Field, but managed a fourth quarter TD to claim a 22-19 homecoming win.
The Wolverines received the opening kick-off and were held on downs. The Rams took possession of the ball on their own 31 yard line. They were at second down and eight on their 33 when they fumbled and Wolverine Adam Ayase recovered the ball on the Ram 28 yard line. A penalty against the Rams for a horse collar tackle moved the ball to the 16 yard line. Wolverine quarterback Nathan Russell connected for a pass in the end zone and with 7:01 to play in the first quarter, the visitors were up 6-0. The PAT kick didn’t clear the goal posts.
Joe Carey replaced Bryce Stalder as QB on the Rams’ next possession, which started on the Ram 35 yard line The Rams picked up a first down on their 46 yard line. The Rams were on the Wolverines’ 49 yard line when Carey’s pass was intercepted and returned 60 yards for a Wolverine TD. The PAT again wasn’t good, but the Rams were down 12-0.
Stalder was back as QB when the Rams went in again on offense. They worked their way in 15 plays from their own 31 yard line down to the Wolverine 18, but couldn’t make the needed play at fourth and 3 and lost possession. The Wolverines were still on their 18 when Max Riley intercepted a pass, putting the ball back in Ram hands on the Wolverines’ 40 yard line. On the first pass Nate Black ran for a touchdown, and with Nathan Behne’s PAT kick the score was 12-7 with 10 minutes left in the half.
The Wolverines put up their third TD for the game on a 42-yard pass to Tony Ayase with 7:03 to play in the half. This time the PAT was good and the score was 19-7.
Carey was Ram QB on the next drive. The Rams started on their own 41 and picked up a first down at the Wolverine 48. The possession ended with the Rams punting at fourth and 12 on the 50 yard line. The Wolverines also ended their next possession with a punt.
With Stalder in as QB the Rams started on the Wolverine 30 yard line. At third and 4 Stalder faked a pass, then kept the ball and trotted to the Wolverines’ 15 yard line. A pass to Jaxon Warnke resulted in a TD, but the Rams were called for holding on the play, nullifying the touchdown. They started over at first down and 22 yards to go on the Wolverines’ 27 yard line. On fourth and 11 from the 16 Stalder again connected with Warnke for a TD. That time there was no penalty. Behne’s PAT was good and with 1:16 left in the half the Rams were down 14-19. That was the half-time score.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. The Rams had the ball first and picked up a pair of first downs. They were on the Wolverine 48 when the ball was fumbled. Stalder was able to recover the fumble, but the play moved them back to their own 47 yard line. They punted at fourth and 13 from the Ram 49.
The Wolverines punted at fourth and 7 from their 20 yard line, and the Rams had the ball again on the visitors’ 46 yard line. At second and 10 Black rushed for a first down at the 36 yard line. Carey was in as QB and was intercepted again, this time giving the Wolverines the ball on their own 38 yard line. The possession ended with a punt, as did the Rams’ next possession.
The Wolverines claimed two first downs in the possession that started with 53 seconds to play in the third quarter. They punted with about 9:30 left in the game, and the Rams were at first and 10 on their own 11 yard line. With the help of a 23-yard pass to Zach Goff, who had been crowned a homecoming king during halftime, the Rams had a first down on their own 49 yard line. At fourth and six on the Wolverines’ 47, QB Stalder faked a punt and then passed the ball 12 yards to Riley, putting the ball on the Wolverine 35 on first down. The Rams kept at it and scored on a four-yard TD run by Jackson Morton. The Rams were successful with a 2-point conversion, they were up 22-19 with 3:35 to play in the game. That was the final score.
For the game, the Rams totaled 235 yard of offense. Stalder completed 11 of 21 passes for 108 yards. Carey completed one of seven passes for seven yards, giving the Rams a total of 115 yards through the air. The Rams tallied 120 yards of offense on the ground, with Black contributing 90 of them and Stalder adding 29. Two Rams combined for a loss of eight yards rushing.
Morton led the Rams in tackles with 6.5, five of them solo tackles.
Wolverine quarterback Nathan Russell completed 10 of 21 passes for 100 yards. Tony Ayase rushed for 40 yards and his younger brother Adam rushed for 28 yards. QB Russell rushed for -17 yards. All told, the Wolverines picked up 55 yards on the ground for a total of 155 yards of offense.
The Rams are scheduled to play Sept. 25 in Red Oak. The Tigers are 0-4 while the Rams are 2-2. The Rams will return to Linduska Field to host Clarinda on Oct. 2, and then finish the shortened regular season Oct. 9 at Shenandoah.
