SIOUX CITY — It was cold. It was wet. It was windy.

It didn’t matter to the Fort Dodge football team.

The Dodgers tuned out the miserable conditions Friday at Olsen Stadium on the campus of Morningside University, putting on a clinic in the trenches and defensively in a 48-6 drubbing of Class 4A, District 1 foe Sioux City West.

Sophomores Dreshaun Ross and Noah Daniel rushed for 119 yards a piece in the first half as Fort Dodge (4-4 overall, 2-2 in the district) caved in the Wolverines (0-8, 0-4) with a flurry of second-quarter points. The Dodgers rushed for 267 yards and picked up 15 first downs by the intermission, with West limping into the locker room at negative-3 yards from scrimmage and behind 34-0.

“We did what we came here to do,” FDSH head coach Nik Moser said. “We wanted to get in, get out and take care of business effectively and efficiently.

“It was good to get Dreshaun back (after missing nearly two games with an ankle injury), and we wanted Noah to be more involved in our gameplan. He ran the ball with a purpose. We have two talented sophomores there, and our offensive line set the tone by controlling the line up front.”

The Dodger defense recorded eight tackles for loss in the first half alone, relentlessly harassing Wolverine quarterback Sincere Douglas and his West teammates. Fort Dodge was already up 28-0 late in the second quarter before the Wolverines were able to finally move the chains for the first time.

Senior cornerback Grant Williams returned an interception 51 yards for a score in the last touchdown before the break, and Dodger teammate Jesse Egli – another sophomore – did the same on the opening play of the third period from 27 yards out to invoke the continuous clock rule.

Senior Ty Adams had a 29-yard TD reception from junior Royce Pederson. Daniel hit paydirt twice – from 4 and 52 yards out – and Ross reached the end zone as well.

“We wanted to establish the run first and foremost, and we were at (nearly 10 yards per carry from the starters), so it was good to be the more physical, confident team,” Moser said. “Our goal was to come over here, get better and have fun doing so. Get our swagger back, so to speak. I’d say we accomplished that.”

Senior Malaki Pettigrew scored the first varsity touchdown of his career on an 8-yard jet sweep pass from Pederson midway through the third period. Dodger reserves played the vast majority of the second half.

West had 31 carries for just 24 yards. The Wolverines didn’t complete a single pass until midway through the fourth quarter, and managed only 79 yards of total offense.

Now Fort Dodge turns its attention to the 2023 home finale against Spencer (2-6, 2-2). The Tigers, who have played one of the tougher schedules in 4A, routed Storm Lake last night for their second consecutive win by a final of 61-0.

“They’re much better than their record indicates, and they’ve beaten us the last two years,” Moser said. “We’d like to finish with a winning season. Our seniors have talked all year long about being culture changers. This is a great opportunity now for them to go out and leave their mark on Senior Night at Dodger Stadium.”

Friday’s contest was played in a steady mist, with winds occasionally gusting over 20 miles per hour and temperatures in the upper-40s.

FD SCW

First Downs 18 6

Rushes-Yards 37-289 31-24

Passing 9-15-0 2-13-2

Passing Yards 110 55

Total Offense 399 79

Punts-Avg. 1-34.0 5-37.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards 10-80 7-75

Fort Dodge 6 28 14 0 – 48

SC West 0 0 0 6 – 6

Scoring Summary

Fort Dodge – Dreshaun Ross (4-yard run), 6:31 left first quarter. Pass failed.

Fort Dodge – Ty Adams (29-yard pass from Royce Pederson), 9:35 left second. Parker Schillerstrom kick.

Fort Dodge – Noah Daniel (4-yard run), 5:48 left second. Schillerstrom kick.

Fort Dodge – Daniel (52-yard run), 3:24 left second. Pederson pass to Cal Hartman.

Fort Dodge – Grant Williams (51-yard interception return), 1:33 left second. Kick blocked.

Fort Dodge – Jesse Egli (27-yard interception return), 11:45 left third. Schillerstrom kick.

Fort Dodge – Malaki Pettigrew (8-yard pass from Pederson), 5:42 left third. Schillerstrom kick.

West – Tavien Manning (14-yard pass from Sincere Douglas), 7:23 left fourth. Run failed.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Fort Dodge: Dreshaun Ross 11-119, Noah Daniel 12-119, Jamarius Gibbs-Green 2-17, Tyler Jacklowsky 6-16, Brayden Reimers 3-13, Grant Williams 1-9, Royce Pederson 1-3, Team 1-(minus-7). SC West: Shamar Harrell 9-22, Sincere Douglas 6-8, Jayson Joseph 4-4, Christian Castro-Garcia 1-(minus-2), Calex Banta 11-(minus-8).

Passing – Fort Dodge: Royce Pederson 9-14-0-110, Brayden Reimers 0-1-0-0. SC West: Sincere Douglas 2-10-0-55, Turner Joy 0-3-0-0.

Receiving – Fort Dodge: Malaki Pettigrew 3-32, Ty Adams 1-29, Noah Daniel 1-22, Tytrell Mosley 4-21. SC West: Tavien Manning 2-55.