Titans top Glenwood in district opener

Lewis Central scored three fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away from Glenwood 31-0 in a clash of Class 4A, District 6 rivals Friday night at the Glenwood Activities Complex.

Frustrated most of the night by the Titans’ stifling defense, Glenwood’s offense never got on track. The Rams were held to a season-low 195 total yards of offense and never advanced the football past the LC 20 yard line. The Titans took advantage of three Glenwood turnovers.

“It did look like they were doing some different things (defensively) than what we had seen on film, so you have to credit them,” said Glenwood Coach Cory Faust. “We had some self-inflicted wounds early in the game. I felt like we were in good shape at halftime, only being down 10-0, but then we just weren’t able to sustain any drives.”

The Titans had field position in their favor for most of the first half, but didn’t get on the scoreboard until midway through the second quarter on a 4th-down, 9-yard touchdown pass from Eric Corrill to Billy Gerry.

Trailing 7-0, Glenwood was nearing the red zone on its ensuing possession, reaching the Titan 21 yard line, but a tipped pass was intercepted in the end zone by Lewis Central’s Jude Mortensen to thwart the Rams’ scoring threat.

Taking possession of the ball at the Glenwood 20 yard line, the Titans mounted a methodical march down the field, reaching the Rams’ 2 yard line before settling on 19-yard field goal by Carter Thielen seconds before halftime.

Glenwood got the ball to start the second half, but went 3-and-out. After a defensive stop, the Rams offense started showing signs of life and moved the ball down the field inside the Lewis Central 35, but the drive stalled after a holding penalty.

The Ram defense responded again on Lewis Central’s next series, but a 60-yard punt by the Titans gave the Rams the ball back at their own 6 yard line in the final minute of the third quarter.

Glenwood started the fourth quarter with a third-and-4 at their own 12 yard line and a 17-yard scramble by quarterback Ben Carlo got the Rams out of a hole at their own 29. Three plays later, however, Mortensen picked up his second interception on the night to set the Titans up at the Glenwood 39.

Five plays later, running back Jacob Jefferis punched the ball over the goal line from 2 yards out. The extra point made it a three-score game at 17-0 with 7:39 left in on the clock.

Following a third interception by Lewis Central on the Rams’ next possession, Jefferis and the Titans would go on to score two more touchdowns in the final 6 minutes of the game to account for the final margin.

Statistically, Glenwood totaled 95 yards rushing and 100 passing. Haze Stephens was the Rams’ leading carrier with 47yards on 11 carries. Ethan Eiseman and Myles Longmeyer had 37 and 26 receiving yards respectively. Chase Razor had one reception for 22 yards.

Dylan Powles was a force for the Rams on defense, recording a team-high 11.5 tackles and two quarterback sacks. 

Lewis Central (3-2 overall and 1-1 in district play), tallied 101 yards on the ground and 264 in the air. Jefferis finished the night with a game-leading 105 yards rushingon 21 carries. Corill completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 221 yards and Braxton Parks hauled in 10 receptions totaling 135 yards.

The 31-0 loss marked the first time the Rams have been shut out since a 19-0 loss to Harlan in 2014. Despite the disappointing defeat, Faust said he’s confident his squad will bounce back.

“You’ve got to hang together,” he said. “It’s never as bad as you think it is, even when it seems it’s the worst it can be. We’ve been in situations like this before. I think the last time we were in the dome in 2016, we had lost two games kind of early in the year and we barely made it into the playoffs and we made it to the UNI-Dome.

“We’ve got good kids. I think they’ll rebound. We’ll fight and we’ll get better.”

The Rams (3-2, 0-1) continue district play this week on the road at Denison-Schleswig. The Monarchs are 2-3 on the season and 1-0 in District 6.

Scoring Summary 

LC             00   10   00   21 – 31

GLN          00   00   00   00 – 00

Game Summary

LC - Billy Gerry, 9 pass from Eric Corrill (Carter Thielen kick).

LC – Thielen, 19 FG.

LC – Jacob Jefferis, 2 run (Thielen kick).

LC – Jefferis, 15 run (Thielen kick).

LC – Jefferis, 2 run (Thielen kick).