March 29, 2024

No. 10 Chargers top Wolverines

GREENFIELD — Class 1A’s 10th-ranked Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center used size, speed and good discipline to its advantage Friday in a 52-6 win at Nodaway Valley/O-M.

The Wolverines were happy with many of the things they did, they just struggled to sustain drives and stop a punishing run game employed for much of the game by the Chargers.

“We came out a little flat. We weren’t quite ready and they came out and hit us in the mouth. We responded, and once we got going we were fine,” said head coach Seth Comly. “That’s just a really good team, they were ready to play and we weren’t quite there until later in the game.”

The Chargers set up shop on offense following a Wolverine interception early on in the game and marched downfield, primarily with their rushing attack, to give senior Gavin Cornelison the ball at the 1 yard line for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead following a successful PAT.

ACGC added touchdowns of 52, 1, 1, 13 and 20 yards from Miles Kading, Brock Littler and the last two from Cornelison, respectively, to lead 35-0 with 4:56 remaining in the second quarter.

The 35-point continuous clock was enacted in the second half as the Chargers held a 42-0 lead at halftime. A safety with 10:03 to go in the game pushed the score to 44-0.

The Wolverines got on the board with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter when second-string quarterback, senior Chase Walker, found Jon Gebbie on an 82-yard touchdown pass, and Walker said he enjoyed the moment.

“It was really kind of a crazy experience. I’ve never played quarterback before and at the beginning of the year ‘QB Chase’ was always a big joke,” Walker said. “During a JV game earlier in the season, Coach [Nathan] Block put me in. I threw an interception and it wasn’t a very good thing, but the next JV game I played pretty well, so they brought me out today.”

Nodaway Valley/O-M committed two turnovers but was penalized just three times for 25 yards.

Russell was 17-of-28 through the air with two interceptions. Walker had one rushing attempt for three yards and Boston DeVault one attempt for two yards. Gebbie had one catch for 82 yards, Caelen DeVault seven catches for 39 yards and Tyson Ross three catches for 23 yards.

NV/O-M had 153 yards of total offense to ACGC’s 388, averaging 3.7 yards per play.

“I like what I see [on offense]. We showed a lot of promise once we started getting traction,” Comly said. “Especially against a team that’s been dominating everybody they’ve been playing, I think we showed a lot of promise with our offense. It shows we can play with anyone, we’ve just gotta come out and execute our jobs.”

Boston DeVault paced the defense with nine tackles, Caelen DeVault had eight and Matthew Weber six.

“[ACGC is] big up front, and if you don’t have the size to match them they’re tough to battle,” Comly said. “They methodical and really good at the few things they do. Kudos to Coach [Cody] Matthewson up there. He’s building it and it shows. He’s got a good team. They’re really good at what they do. They’re a team that’s been doing that for awhile now, and we’ll get there.”

Nodaway Valley/O-M (2-3, 0-2 in 1A-7) gets ready to face a road trip to Van Meter Friday, Oct. 1.

The Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 in 1A-7) lead Class 1A in defensive touchdowns and are second in offensive touchdowns, punt return yards and PATs. The Wolverines, on the other hand, are second in pass attempts, third in pass completions and fourth in total sacks. Adam Ayase leads 1A in sacks (6), Avery Phillippi leads in tackles for loss (16) and Caelen DeVault has the second-most receptions in the class (29).

“Every loss is a rough one, but you’ve gotta take it with a grain of salt because you’re back in in the next day getting ready for the next week,” Cooney said. “We did a lot of things well and a lot of things bad. Every tough game is a way to get better. It depends on the person who’s playing. If you take it as a lesson you’ll get better every time.”

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson has served as News Editor of the Adair County Free Press and Fontanelle Observer since Oct. 2017. He and his wife Kilee live in Greenfield. In Greenfield and the greater Adair County area, he values the opportunity to tell peoples' stories, enjoys playing guitar, following all levels of sports, and being a part of his local church.