Ironmen trounce Mustangs
DANVILLE — Midd-West went into Friday’s game wanting to limit Danville’s passing attack.
Fortunately for the Ironmen, they didn’t need it to succeed, capitalizing on a great rushing performance by Ty Stauffer in a 62-6 win.
And though he wasn’t scoring early for the Ironmen, he was certainly the catalyst for a team that scored a touchdown on each of their first seven possessions. Stauffer had four runs of 20-plus yards, his longest going for 51 on the first offensive snap of the game.
“That’s all the [offensive] line. They really put it together tonight,” Stauffer said. “Last week, holes weren’t open that normally are, but this week, they created holes the size you can drive a truck through.”
Stauffer, though, wasn’t held out of the end zone for too long, rushing for three touchdowns in 8 minutes, 19 seconds, to close out the scoring for the first half.
All told, he rushed for 203 yards on 13 carries.
“It’s good to get Ty going. He’s worked extremely hard in the offseason,” Danville coach Mike Brennan said. “He’s a diligent worker, a tough kid and he’s got skills. He’s a workhorse for us.”
The Ironmen (2-0) were efficient offensively, needing no more than six plays on any scoring drive.
The lanes stayed open in the second half with Aaron Johnson going untouched for a 59-yard scamper for a one-play drive.
Johnson also showed his separation skills in the first quarter, reeling in a 65-yard touchdown pass from Zach Gordon while in stride.
“Defensively, I thought our guys were really aggressive,” Midd-West coach Lance Adams said. “Danville’s running game really was more than we could handle. We didn’t want them throwing the ball, but they didn’t have to. When they did, they also did that successfully.”
Three times they only need a pair of snaps before adding six. The opening drive started with Stauffer’s longest run before Gordon found Carson Persing for the game’s first points.
On Danville’s first possession of the second quarter, Stauffer started things with a 41-yard rush and finished matters with a 10-yard score on the ensuing play.
Then after setting up shop at the Mustangs’ 18-yard-line on an interception by Jack Smiley, the Ironmen again called Stauffer’s number. He took the second snap six yards for his second rushing touchdown.
His hat trick went for seven yards as the Ironmen started in great field position following an interception by Cameron Kiersch.
Kiersch also had a 24-yard interception return in the second quarter.
Despite not needing to throw the ball around a ton, Danville had its success there, too.
Gordon finished a perfect 5-for-5 with 148 yards and three touchdowns. His other passing score was a nine-yard completion to Persing in the opening frame.
The Ironmen didn’t have an incompletion until the fourth when a receiver dropped a sure pass and later caught a would-be touchdown out of bounds.
“Overall, I thought our O-line did a great job and took control from the very beginning,” Brennan said. “I was happy with the [offensive] performance in all fazes.”
And though Danville’s defense didn’t have much downtime, they didn’t show any signs of tiredness. The Mustangs (0-2) were held to 26 yards on 20 carries rushing. Quarterback Christopher Regester was on his heels all night, having nowhere to go with the ball (three interceptions) or outside the pocket (averaged one yard per carry.)
“Our defensive staff does a great job in preparing the kids,” Brennan said. “Our kids are competing on every snap.”
The Mustangs’ lone score came on an 11-play, 71-yard drive. A dropped interception, a costly penalty by Danville and a fourth-down conversion led to Ethan Schlief finishing it with a 4-yard run.
The Mustangs have committed nine turnovers in the first two contests.
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