Miscues cost Glenwood in home loss to Bishop Heelan

Miscues and missed opportunities proved costly for Glenwood Friday night as the Rams suffered a 21-7 setback in their home opener against Bishop Heelan (Sioux City).

The Rams lost four fumbles and failed to cash in on multiple red zone scoring opportunities against the No. 10-ranked Crusaders.

“We’ll look at the film, but my initial reaction is that they’re not better than us. They played better tonight, but man, we shot ourselves in the foot a whole bunch,” Glenwood coach Cory Faust said. “That’s partially on me. We’ve got to practice better. We’ve got to take care of those fundamental things.

“If we snap the ball on special teams and out of the shotgun, if we don’t fumble the ball and we get better at pass pro (protection), we probably dominate this game.”

Heelan scored the first points of the game on its opening possession. The Crusaders marched 60 yards in five plays to go up 6-0 on a 1-yard run by Tommy Schiltz. Cole Mayberry blocked Heelan’s extra point kick to keep the deficit at six points.

Mayberry set up the Rams’ lone touchdown later in the first quarter – this time by blocking a Crusader punt, which gave Glenwood the ball at the Heelan 21 yard line. The Rams scored three plays later on a 9-yard run by Cooper Silvius. Alex Nusser’s extra point kick put Glenwood up, 7-6.

A Silvius interception on Heelan’s ensuing possession gave Glenwood the ball back at the Crusader 29, but the Rams failed to cash in on their good field position and were forced to attempt a 41-yard field goal attempt that went wide left.

Glenwood reached the red zone early in the second quarter thanks to a roughing-the-kicker penalty against Heelan and a 33-yard scamper by quarterback Zach Carr, but once again the Rams would fail to put points on the scoreboard.

The Rams were still clinging to the one-point lead until late in the half when the Crusaders took advantage of an errant snap on a Glenwood punt attempt. The Crusaders pounced on the ball at the Glenwood 16 yard line. The Glenwood defense responded with a strong stand to keep Heelan out of the end zone, but the Crusaders’ Jesus Pena connected on a 27-yard field goal in the final minute of the half to put the visitors up, 9-7.

The recovery of a Glenwood fumble on the second half kickoff set up the Crusaders’ next score – a 17-yard pass from Brant Hogue to Dawson Fenton. A missed two-point conversion kept the score at 15-7.

Glenwood looked like it was going to answer the Heelan touchdown later in the third quarter as the Rams pushed the ball inside the Heelan 20 yard line, but a fumble recovered by the Crusaders on their own 15 yard line ended the scoring threat.

The Rams reached the Heelan 6 yard line on their next offensive possession, but came away without points once again thanks to a holding penalty and errant snap on a field goal attempt.

The teams traded turnovers to start the fourth quarter before the Crusaders put some distance between themselves of the Rams by  scoring the final touchdown of the night – a 24-yard touchdown pass from Hogue to Camden Lee.

Down 21-7, the Rams showed some offensive life late in the game, but another fumble eliminated any chance of a miraculous comeback.

Faust said he expects a strong week of practice from his team and improved play both offensively and defensively when the Rams host Carroll Kuemper Friday night.

“I thought our guys defensively played really well tonight,” he said.  “I thought our defense overall kept us in the game, but there’s definitely some things they can get better at, too.”

Statistically, Glenwood outyarded Heelan, 291-289. Carr was the Rams’ offensive leader, rushing for 55 yards and completing 9-of-24 passes for 177. Ryan Blum caught four passes for 29 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Eli Bales had an interception and a fumble recovery and Silvius recorded an interception.

For Heelan, Hogue completed 11-of-26 passes for 134 yards, while Schiltz rushed for 117. The Crusaders improved to 2-0 with the victory, while Glenwood’s record slipped to 1-1.

Scoring Summary
BH  06   03   06   06 – 21
G    07   00   00   00 – 07

Game Summary
BH – Tommy Schiltz, 1 run (kick failed).
GLN – Cooper Silvius, 9 run (Alex Nusser kick).
BH – Jesus Pena, 27 field goal.
BH – Dawson Fenton, 17 pass from Brant Hogue (pass failed).
BH – Camden Lee, 24 pass from Hogue.