Dragons pile up 50 points Friday

The Adrian football team turned in a dominating performance during Friday’s home opener.The Dragons ran for 491 yards and finished the game with 591 total yards during a 50-6 rout of Ortonville.Defensively, the Dragons pounded the Trojans into submission. The stingy AHS defense limited Ortonville to 156 yards and seven first downs in what turned into a lopsided contest."I think we surprised them," said Adrian coach Randy Strand, who considered the Trojans to be one of the Little Sioux Conference’s top teams heading into the contest."It probably was one of the hardest hitting games I’ve ever seen. We’ve had some big hits in games before, but not as many as we had in this one."It was Adrian’s physical play on both sides of the ball that enabled the Dragons to open a 30-0 halftime lead.The Dragons led 21-0 after scoring the first three times they possessed the ball in the first quarter.Adrian moved the ball 76 yards in four plays with Glen Kruger scoring on a 40-yard run at the 8:38 of the first period. Adam Diekmann added the extra point to make it 7-0.The Dragons marched 60 yards in 10 plays the second time they controlled the ball. Quarterback Cody Kontz capped the drive with a three-yard run, and Jesse Brake carried in a two-point conversion to make it a 15-0 game at 3:12 of the first quarter.Kontz came up with a big play defensively when he intercepted a pass on Ortonville’s 48-yard line as the first period progressed.Kontz then hooked up with Tyler Wagner for a 52-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the possession, making it a 21-0 game.Adrian’s assault continued in the second quarter when a 30-yard punt return by Diekmann set up a 33-yard drive during the team’s fourth offensive possession. Joey Bertrand capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown run at the 9:48 mark of the stanza, and Diekmann added the extra point to give AHS a 28-0 cushion.The Dragons capped their 30-point first half by receiving a safety when a bad snap rolled out of the back of the end zone when Ortonville was trying to punt the ball with 7:42 left in the first half.After Diekmann intercepted a pass in the third quarter, the AHS offense moved the ball 67 yards in six plays with its second possession of the third quarter.Brake scored on a seven-yard run to make it a 36-0 game with 3:26 remaining in the third period.An interception by Brake set up an eight-play, 68-yard drive ending with Bertrand finding the end zone at the end of a three-yard run at the 11:29 mark of the fourth quarter. Diekmann’s extra point extended the lead to 43-0.Ortonville ended Adrian’s shutout bid when Trojan quarterback Kole Mastel tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Travis Radermacher with 2:25 left in the game.Adrian’s Tony Thier blocked Ortonville’s ensuing extra-point attempt, and he booted an extra point after Tanner Loosbrock capped the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds remaining in the game."We beat them with our play on the offensive and defensive lines," Strand said."They didn’t stop us. We stopped ourselves, which is something we have to get better at because we had too many fumbles."The 2-0 Dragons host 0-2 Fulda Friday.Team statisticsAdrian: 491 rushing yards, 100 passing yards, 591 total yards, 22 first downs, seven penalties for 65 yards, four turnovers.Ortonville: 59 rushing yards, 97 passing yards, 156 total yards, seven first downs, six penalties for 55 yards, four turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Brake 10-102, Brandon Diekmann 6-71, Bertrand 15-111, Kruger 9-71, Brett Nowotny1-15, Kontz 5-50, Thier 4-39, A.Diekmann 1-10, Loosbrock 2-14.Passing: Kontz 3-10 for 100 yards.Receiving: Wagner 2-81, Ryan Lonneman 1-19.Defense: Will Lutmer 10 tackles and two sacks, Mitchell Cox eight tackles and one sack, Lonneman one sack, Zach Reker nine tackles, Kontz one interception, A.Diekmann one interception, Brake one interception, Matt Gades one fumble recovery.