The Greene County Ram football team got its second win in Class 2A District 8 in Jefferson Sept. 23, beating the Clarinda Cardinals 43-12. The Rams are now 4-1 overall, 2-0 in district play. The Des Moines Register rankings have the Rams 10th in Class 2A football. Clarinda is 2-3 overall and 1-1 in District 8.
The Rams had 483 yards of offense, with 263 yards passing and 220 yards rushing. The Cardinals mustered 269 yards of offense – 107 yard passing and 162 yards rushing.
The Rams received the opening kickoff and wasted no time. Camden Strennen returned the kickoff 10 yards to the Ram 22 yard line. The needed 78 yards were all picked up on rushing plays, including a 36 yard run by Patrick Daugherty that moved the ball from the Clarinda 48 yard line to the 16 yard line. He rushed on the next play for another seven yards, and Strennen finished the drive with a nine-yard run across the goal line. Nathan Behne’s PAT kick was good and the home team had a 7-0 lead with 10:36 remaining on the clock.
Behne’s kickoff after the TD was a touchback, putting the ball on the Cardinals’ 20. They made it out to their 31 yard line but were penalized for holding, moving the ball back to their 15 yard line. They finished the drive with a punt at fourth down and 26 yards to go from their 15 yard line.
The punt gave the Rams good field position, starting their drive on the Cardinal 45 yard line. It took just six plays to score the next TD. The drive a pair of passes by quarterback Gabe Ebersole with Nick Stream as the receiver. It was Patrick Daugherty who finished the drive with an 18 yard rushing play. Behne’s PAT was blocked. The score was 13-0 with just under 6 minutes on the clock.
Behne’s kickoff was again a touchback, starting the Cardinals on their 20 yard line. They picked up only two yards before punting at fourth and 8 from their 22 yard line. The Rams’ drive took them to the Clarinda 31 yard line. At fourth and 12 on the 31 Ebersole tried a long pass to Richard Daugherty in the end zone. The pass was incomplete and the Cardinals had the ball again.
On the Cardinals second play from scrimmage Richard Daugherty intercepted a Wyatt Schmitt pass and made it to the Cardinals’ 48 yard line to start the Rams’ possession. The first quarter ended with the Rams at third down and 10 on the Clarinda 12 yard line. The Rams were penalized for holding on the first play of the second quarter and coach Caden Duncan called for a field goal. Behne was good on the 29-yard attempt, giving the Rams a 16-0 lead.
However, before a minute had ticked off the clock the Cardinals were on the score board after Tadyn Brown returned the kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. The Cardinals were unsuccessful with a two-point conversion and the score was 16-6 with 11:37 to play in the second quarter.
Richard Daugherty proved that if the visitors could run on a kickoff, so could the home team. He returned the kickoff after the TD 68 yards, starting the Rams’ possession on the Clarinda 27 yard line. Patrick Daugherty ran for three yards, Ebersole ran for 20, Patrick Daugherty ran the next two yards, and Ebersole finished the short drive with a 2-yard sneak across the goal line. With Behne’s PAT the score was 23-6 with 9:51 to play in the second quarter.
The Cardinals used a lot of clock on their next possession, moving the ball from their own 34 yard line down to the Ram 9 yard line in 10 plays. The were as close as first down and goal on the Ram 9 yard line. The Ram defense held to reclaim possession for the Rams on the Ram 3 yard line.
The Rams spent the next four minutes running 14 plays that gained the 97 yards needed for a TD. Richard Daugherty followed a quarterback sack that had put the ball at second and 20 on the Ram 15 yard line by catching an Ebersole pass for a 44-yard play, putting the ball in Cardinal territory. Later in the drive Patrick Daugherty ran for 27 yards before going out of bounds on a third and 10 play from the Cardinals’ 28, putting his teammates at first and goal on the 1 yard line. He finished the drive at second and goal, making the score 29-6. With the PAT the score was 30-6.
Clarinda received the second half opening kickoff, returning it to their 24 yard line. They scored in eight plays on a drive that included 25 yards in penalties against the Cardinals and 15 yards against the Rams. Schmitt connected with Isaac Jones on a 36-yard pass play that put the ball on the Rams’ 8 yard line. Brown scored the TD on the next play. The Cardinals again tried a 2-point conversion and failed. The score was 30-12 with 9 minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Rams scored in the third quarter when they covered 81 yards in just five plays, including a 29-yard Ebersole to Jack Hansen pass and capped by a 46-yard Nick Stream run to the end zone in the sophomore’s first varsity start. The PAT was blocked, but the Rams were up 36-12 with only seconds left in the third quarter.
Clarinda ended their next possession with a 52 yard punt from their own 25 yard line, starting the Rams on the Ram 23. The Rams ended their 12-play possession with a pass from the Clarinda 23 yard line to Jesse Miller for a TD. With Behne’s PAT the Rams were up 43-12 with 5:47 left in the game. That was the final score.
The Rams played the entire game without a turnover.
Ebersole was 11 of 16 passing. Stream was the top receiver with 80 yards, with Hansen at 74 yards, Miller at 56 yards, and Richard Daugherty at 44 yards.
Patrick Daugherty led in rushing with 133 yards, followed by Strennen with 53 yards and Ebersole with 21 yards.
Cody Allen led in tackles with seven, two of them solos. Strennen made 6.5 tackles with three solos, Patrick Daugherty made 6 tackles with one solo, and Ebersole made 5.5 tackles with four solo.
The Rams play in Red Oak Sept. 30 and then in Shenandoah on Oct. 7. They’ll finish the regular season at home vs Clark Community on Oct. 14.
