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BACK TO THE BASICS

Dodgers dominate in Homecoming rout

By Eric Pratt, Sports Editor 5 min read

Fort Dodge's senior class took it upon themselves to get back to basics and find their physical touch again on Friday night versus Storm Lake.

The end result was a lopsided Homecoming victory and a little bit of history in the process.

The Dodgers played angry and kept their gameplan simple in racking up 42 first-half points and large chunks of rushing yards from the starters in a 42-9 rout of the Tornadoes. The payoff was a celebration of fireworks, ringing the school's victory bell and securing the program's third consecutive winning season for the first time in 74 years.

Senior Will McElroy swept his way into FDSH's Top-10 for career rushing with a brilliant 15-carry, 189-yard, two-touchdown performance in the first half alone. The Dodgers (5-2 overall, 1-2 in 4A, District 1) amassed 278 yards on the ground at well over 11 yards a pop as they found their rhythm again following consecutive losses to No. 2 Sergeant Bluff-Luton and fifth-ranked Spencer.

"We were facing adversity. The question was, what were we going to do about it?" said McElroy, who had TD jaunts of 40 and 10 yards before intermission in helping build a 42-0 lead. "Were we going to let doubt keep creeping in, or were we going to get our confidence back?

"We had a great week of practice. No one was panicking. We just had to find what had been working for us again, get better every day and concentrate on going 1-0 each week from here on out."

McElroy wasn't the only Dodger back to take advantage of the team's dominant offensive line play. Working behind senior Korben Davis; juniors Brody Maehl, Koy Nichols and Bryce Tessandori; and seniors Kellin Crouse and Aidin Grady - who helped fill in for injured sophomore Max McQuillen - Fort Dodge imposed its will at the point of attack in overwhelming the Tornadoes (1-6, 0-3). Senior Ezrah Barkhaus, senior Tru McBride and freshman Jerry Crockett also ripped off big runs.

"I just liked that we were really physical on both sides of the ball," Dodger head coach Nik Moser said. "We had lost that a little, especially (in the Spencer setback). Hey, we weren't very good.

"We had to go back to the drawing board after six straight pretty rough quarters. All of us. And the only way you really regain your confidence is by executing and bringing the fight and the energy to your opponent. We did that (last night)."

McElroy added, "it's easy to run the ball behind the line when it's playing like that. All credit goes to them. After last week, we all had to show we could not only (rebound) physically, but mentally."

Moser even noted the efforts of the receivers for their blocking prowess.

"Everyone got in on it," Moser said. "And they had a few chunk yardage plays (on offense), but we got the stops when we needed and started swarming to the ball again."

Fort Dodge's defense came up with a pair of goal-to-go stops at the 1-yard line to keep Storm Lake off the scoreboard until the second half. McBride, meanwhile, found junior Cael Adams (24 yards) and Crockett (40) for touchdowns - the first receiving scores for both players in their respective careers.

The Dodgers were up 28-0 at the end of the first period, racking up 259 total yards and 13 first downs from scrimmage in the opening 12 minutes alone. A 15-yard McBride TD scramble with 11:42 left until halftime employed the mercy-rule running clock very early.

Seniors Sam Moser, Jayce Skow and Kason Echevarria all recovered fumbles for Fort Dodge. Senior Kyree Rochon got the ball rolling by the opening kickoff 55 yards, and McElroy sprinted to paydirt from 40 yards out two snaps later.

Senior Conrad Greathouse made all six of his extra-point attempts for the Dodgers.

Standout David William, normally a star wide receiver, lined up at quarterback for Storm Lake and had 276 yards from scrimmage. William, who will join Moser and McBride at Wayne State College in Nebraska next year, passed for 175 yards and ran for 101 more.

Fort Dodge last had three straight winning football seasons in 1950, '51 and '52.

"We obviously don't want to stop here, but it's always good to acknowledge something like that from a historical point of view," Moser said. "A lot of football has been played here in the last 20 years alone, so to do something we haven't in over seven decades is a big deal.

"The seniors were challenged to lead the team and they responded. Now we've got two really big weeks coming up."

In order to stay in the 4A playoff picture, the Dodgers must next take care of business this Friday at Le Mars (3-4). The Bulldogs dropped a 38-14 decision to SB-L last night.

FDSH's regular-season finale is on Oct. 23 versus Sioux City West (4-3). Spencer pulled away from the Wolverines on Thursday, breaking a halftime tie and winning by a 28-14 count.

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