Wolverines improve to 3-0 with second shutout of season

MALVERN - For the second time in three games East Mills’ dominating running game and smothering defense shutout their opponent as the Wolverines improved to 3-0 on the season with a 44-0 victory over Nishnabotna in Eight-Man, District 8 football Friday.

From the start, East Mills wanted to be fast and physical on both sides of the ball. And it showed as the Wolverines gained 211 yards rushing in a 24-0 halftime lead and then limited the Blue Devils (0-3 overall, 0-1 in the conference) to just 76 yards after halftime.

“I think we could have been more physical early in the game but in the second half we came out and executed a lot better,” said East Mills coach Andy Irwin.

East Mills wasted little time getting on the scoreboard when Josh Hopkins raced 36 yards for a touchdown just 35 seconds into the game on the third play from scrimmage.

After securing the two-point conversion, the score would remain at 8-0 until later in the opening frame when Cavin Darnold sprinted through the Blue Devil defense for his first of four touchdowns on the night. The 60-yard scamper and another two-point conversion gave East Mills a 16-0 lead with 2:27 to go in the opening frame.

Darnold and Hopkins combined to rush for 279 yards and three touchdowns. Hopkins finished with 112 yards on 14 carries and Darnold would finish his night with 167 yards rushing on 13 carries. In addition to his two touchdown runs, Darnold hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Logan Currin.

Having two strong running backs creates many a headache for opposing defenses, Irwin said.

“It’s a luxury for us because it’s difficult for teams to say we’re going to focus on Darnold because Hopkins is there and can run on you,” he said. “So it’s a matter of keeping at that and keeping with our blocking schemes. I think our line has done a very good job.”

East Mills would add another scoring strike with 1:41 remaining in the half when quarterback Currin and Darnold hooked up for the first of their two scoring combinations in the game. The 24-yard touchdown toss and ensuing two-point conversion put the Wolverines up 24-0 at the half.

After forcing a Blue Devil turnover on their opening drive of the third quarter, Darnold found the endzone three plays later. East Mills missed the two-point conversion but was in control leading 30-0 when Irwin began to liberally substitute.

Nishnabotna would either turn the ball over or punt on their next five possessions.

For the game, East Mills out-gained the Blue Devils 350 to 211. Blue Devil quarterback Josh Haning was harassed into 10-of-24 passing for 96 yards and an interception a week after the junior threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns in a wild 64-48 loss to Adair-Casey

“They did a good job blocking us,” Irwin said. “They run a nice little lead play and do it well and that’s no surprise. But we made some adjustments and kind of started stuffing that. We did a much better job tightening up on the short routes. We didn’t feel the deep routs were going to be there so we could tighten up more.”

The shutout out was the Wolverines’ second this season. In three games this year, a stingy Wolverine defense has held opponents to less than 2.4 yards per rush while allowing just one touchdown and forcing 12 turnovers. In its three game win streak, East Mills has out-scored opponents 132-9.

“That’s the thing we work on every week,” Irwin said. “We want to keep teams out of the endzone. That’s something we did really well today because they had opportunities and the kids stepped up and said no. A lot of what we do is letting guys go to the ball and trusting the guys you’re working with is going to do his job and when you hit, that’s when turnovers happen.”

East Mills heads to Stanton for a 7:00 kick off this Friday.

Scoring Summary
EM  16  08  12 08  44
N    00  00  00  00  0

Game Summary
EM – Josh Hopkins, 36 run (two-point conversion good).
EM – Cavin Darnold, 60 run (two-point conversion good).
EM – Logan Currin to Darnold, 24 pass (two-point conversion good).
EM – Darnold, 14 run (conversion failed).
EM – Currin to Darnold, 37 pass (conversion failed).
EM – Luke Stortenbecker, 2 run (two-point conversion good).