Week 4 recap: STREAKING TOWARD THE TOP

By Brandon Hurley

Sports Editor
sports@beeherald.com

A frustrating week one loss is well in the past.

Three straight wins have vaulted the Greene County football team into the weekly Associated Press rankings for the first time this fall.
The Rams entered the Class 2A top 10 this week at No. 8, sporting a 3-1 overall record.

Greene County’s latest victory was a week three 55-0 obliteration of Des Moines Christian Sept. 17, an impressive district-opening win on the road.
The Rams have outscored their last three opponents by a ridiculous margin of 131-3, a span which includes a pair of 50-plus point shutouts.
Greene County has not lost, nor have they allowed a touchdown, since falling to 10th-ranked AC/GC (1A) in week one on Aug. 27, a string of 12 consecutive quarters.
The Rams blitzed the Lions last week, energized by the opening game of Class 2A, District 8 play. Head coach Caden Duncan was impressed with the thorough passion and success throughout the contest. The Rams led by 20 at the break, then exploded for 35 points over the final 24 minutes, thrilling their head coach.

“We had a new level of focus and physicality,” Duncan said. “It started by having a few really solid practices during the week and that carried into Friday.”

Greene County’s rushing attack was lights out the entire game, compiling 411 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, led by Jackson Morton, who scored touchdowns on four of his eight carries, tallying 114 yards for a per carry average of 14.3 yards.
Nathan Black was yet again remarkably efficient, scoring a pair of touchdowns while rushing for 86 yards on 16 carries.

Patrick Daugherty had another nice night on the ground, toting the rock just four times but compiling 78 yards, improving his team-leading per carry average to 20 yards on just nine carries (180 yards total). Black has run the ball for 250 yards and four touchdowns (6.1 yards per carry) while quarterback Bryce Stalder leads the team in rushing with 251 yards and five touchdowns after producing 80 yards and a touchdown last week.

The Greene County defense also continued its remarkable play, holding Des Moines Christian to 74 yards of total offense, highlighted by negative 15 rushing yards. The Rams also forced a pair of turnovers, an interception by Richard Daugherty as well as a short, scoop-and-score six-yard touchdown by Bradyn Smith on a six yard fumble recovery.

The Ram defense has pitched a shutout for the last five quarters of play, while they haven’t allowed a touchdown in their last 12 quarters of action. Coach Duncan believes Greene County’s latest blowout was perhaps their most complete to date, highlighted, of course, by their impressive defense. The unit uses the potential of another shutout as a rallying cry.

“Our tackling has been pretty solid and overall, we have just been very physical and aggressive,” Duncan said. “Guys are flying around on defense and they are taking pride in that side of the ball. 
They don’t want the other team to score any points, and they love to keep the ‘goose egg’ in the opponent’s score box.”

Jesse Miller led the way defensively with three sacks, part of Greene County’s season-high nine quarterback takedowns. Sophomore Michael Rumley contributed 2.5 sacks of his own while senior Blake Hamman tallied 1.5 sacks in addition to Smith’s single sack.
Greene County is averaging 40 points per game through four weeks of the regular season while allowing just eight points per game, though they haven’t surrendered more than three points in a single contest since week one.
Statistically, Greene County is one of the top teams in all of Iowa.

The Rams are tied for first in Class 2A with 23 total touchdowns along with Estherville-Lincoln Central while they are also first in total rushing touchdowns with 17. Greene County is ranked fourth with 1,002 rushing yards, a shade behind Okoboji’s state-leading 1,215 yards on the ground.
Defensively, the Rams lead Class 2A with 12 sacks while their six interceptions are tied for fourth-most in the state.

Stalder’s nine total touchdowns are tied for 11th in the state while Stalder and Morton are both tied for 14th with five rushing touchdowns. Richard Daugherty’s three interceptions are tied for third in the state. Miller’s three sacks are tied for fourth-most in the state as well.
Greene County’s three-game winning streak is a reward for perseverance and a trust in their own abilities.

“We have had better focus and physicality in practice, as well as in games,” Duncan said. “We have also executed better on both sides of the ball with fewer mental errors. (The) coaches have challenged the players to decide how good of a team we want to be, and they have stepped up.”