Wolverines explode for 71 points in win
MALVERN - East Mills scored early and often en route to a 71-12 rout of Griswold in an 8-player, District 9 matchup Friday night in Malvern.
Wolverine quarterback Ethan Meier teamed up with Davis McGrew on a 16-yard touchdown pass 20 seconds into the game and the Wolverines never looked back – scoring 34 points in the first quarter and 49 before halftime.
The Wolverines were efficient on offense, completing 10-of-11 passing attempts for 168 yards and five touchdowns and rushing for 194 yards on 25 carries. East Mills finished the night averaging over 10 yards per play on offense.
“We knew they (Griswold) were young on the back end,” East Mills Coach Kevin Schafer said. “We mixed it up, throwing some short – we tried to get kids in open space.”
Meier proved to be a dual-threat challenge for the Tigers’ defense as the East Mills’ senior signal caller completed 7-of-8 pass attempts for 157 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 98 yards and a TD.
“Ethan passed the ball well, the receivers got open and the offensive line gave him time (to throw),” Schafer said.
East Mills’ defense gave up some yards to Griswold at various times in the game, but the Wolverines also forced some timely turnovers that led to Wolverine touchdowns. First-quarter fumble recoveries by Wyatt Franks and Meier set up subsequent TD passes of 9 and 36 yards from Meier to McGrew and Mason Crouse.
A strong defensive stand deep in Griswold territory ended with the Tigers botching a punt attempt and giving the Wolverines possession of the ball on the 2 yard line. McGrew carried the ball into the end zone on the next play to give East Mills a five-touchdown lead late in the first quarter.
East Mills’ two touchdowns in the second quarter came on a 44-yard aerial from Meier to Peyton Embree and a 3-yard bootleg by Meier.
With the clock running continuously, young players on both squads saw action in the second half. Zach Thornburg scored on a pair of runs and a scoring pass from Meier in the second half.
“I thought our JV (junior varsity) kids played well,” Schafer noted.
Individually, McGrew was East Mills’ top receiver, hauling in three catches for 51 yards and a pair of TDs. Defensively, the Wolverines were led by Tyler Prokop who tallied 7.5 tackles.
With the victory, East Mills improved to 2-1 on the season but the schedule does get tougher in the coming weeks as the Wolverines hit the road to take on Cumberland-Anita-Massena (CAM) this week before hosting Fremont-Mills for homecoming on Sept. 24.
Schafer said both CAM and Fremont-Mills are physical teams that will pose challenges for the Wolverines.
Griswold fell to 0-3 with Friday night’s loss. The Tigers take on Stanton this week.
Scoring Summary
Griswold 00 00 06 06 – 12
East Mills 34 15 14 08 – 71
Game Summary
EM – Davis McGrew, 12 pass from Ethan Meier (pass failed).
EM – Brodyn Wray, 5 run (pass failed).
EM – McGrew, 9 pass from Meier (Ryan Stortenbecker kick).
EM – Mason Crouse, 36 pass from Meier (Stortenbecker kick).
EM – McGrew, 2 run (Crouse pass from Meier).
EM – Peyton Embree, 44 pass from Meier.
EM – Meier, 3 run (Crouse pass from Meier).
GRS – Nick Jennum, 58 pass from Kamron Brownlee (pass failed).
EM – Zach Thornburg, 32 pass from Meier (Stortenbecker kick).
EM - Thornburg, 1 run (Stortenbecker kick).
GRS – Peyton Cook, 23 pass from Brownlee (run failed).
EM – Thornburg, 32 run (Jackson Embree run).