Hawks Roll Over Coon Rapids-Bayard 39-14

PLAY TONIGHT IN GJ FOR PLAYOFF SPOT

East Greene upended a favored Coon Rapids-Bayard football team Friday, Oct. 14, in Grand Junction and positioned itself favorably for a possible 8-Man State Playoff spot.

EG ended years of frustration at the hands of the Crusaders with a convincing 39-14 win. The Hawks took command early and never let up.

Quarterback Tory Beger was an offensive force, passing for four touchdowns and running for another. Beger was 27 of 46 through the air with one interception for 304 total yards. He ran for 59 yards on 16 carries. Reed Ostrander had another outstanding night with 12 receptions for 135 yards and three touchdown catches. TJ Lint had 8 catches for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. Harrison Johnston caught 7 passes for 66 yards, and Broc Timm had 1 reception for 25 yards.

Johnston had an outstanding game returning a CRB kick for a touchdown and two interceptions, one returned for a 48-yard TD. Johnston added to the EG cause with a 2-point conversion, and Zach Hiller capped off the evening with a successful PAT kick.

The Hawk defense put the clamps on CRB early and did not let up. Beger led the attack with 8 solo and 5 assisted tackles with Ostrander handling 10 solos and two assisted. Hiller had 9 solo and 2 assisted; Johnston 4 and 6; Broc Timm 4 and 7; Cody Hidelbaugh 6 and 3; Alex Gordon 5 and 4; and Lint 5 and 2.

EG completely shut down the Crusaders’ passing attack. In addition to Johnston’s two interceptions, Ostrander also snagged two CRB passes. Overall, the “Hawk D” held Crusader QB Keaton Schlatter to just 9 completions in 29 attempts for 94 yards passing. The Crusaders were held to 71 yards rushing for 165 yards total. EG racked up 104 yards on the ground to add to its 304 yards passing for 408-yard offensive total for the night.

EG takes on Ar-We-Va in the final regular season game tonight, Friday, Oct. 21, at Karber Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m. EG and Ar-We-Va have identical 4-4 records, but the Rockets are 4-1 in District 7 and have already clinched a playoff spot. After the win over CRB, the Hawks are deadlocked with the Crusaders at 2-3 with each team in contention for the fourth of four playoff spots in D7. A win gives Ar-We-Va the No. 2 seed and a possible No. 1 seed if Glidden-Ralston should fall to Coon Rapids-Bayard tonight in Coon Rapids. A win would pretty much give EG the No. 4 spot.

GR, unbeaten in D7 play (5-0) and 7-1 overall, will be a heavy favorite over CRB. Woodbine is 1-4 in D7 but takes on winless Charter Oak-Ute. If CRB and EG both lose and Woodbine wins, all three teams would be tied for the No. 4 spot and the tie-breaker system would be used based on the average point differential in each team’s six division games.

Heading into tonight’s games, CRB and EG are knotted up at -2.6 tie-breaker points. Woodbine is -6.4 but a win would improve that number while losses for CRB and EG would drop them further into the minus category, so unless those two teams’ losses were very, very close, Woodbine would most likely get the No. 4 playoff spot. But if COU should make it close against Woodbine in losing, it could come down to a single point in the scores being the difference.

Boyer Valley (Dunlap) has concluded district and season play at 4-2 and 6-3, and is guaranteed no worse than the No. 3 playoff spot. If EG gets by Ar-We-Va, that would tie up the Rockets and BV at 4-2 in the league for second. The No. 2 playoff spot would be decided by the points differential tie-breaker. BV finished the season with 5.3 points while AWV has 6.67 through 5 games. AWV could lose to EG and keep the No. 2 spot, but only if the Rockets lose by 1 point. A loss of 2 points or more would cut into their total point differential and drop them below BV’s point total differential.


District 7 Standings:
Glidden-Ralston 5-0 7-1
Ar-We-Va 4-1 4-4
Boyer Valley 4-2 6-3
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-3 4-4
East Greene 2-3 4-4
Woodbine 1-4 2-6
Charter Oak-Ute 0-5 0-8

Oct. 14 Results:
EG 39, CRB 14
GR 62, COU 28
BV 48, WDB 6
AWV open

Games Tonight:
AWV @ EG
GR @ CRB
COU @ WDB
BV open

EYE ON GJ SAYS: At this point of the season there are two things at play—the actual games in GJ, Coon Rapids and Woodbine tonight and the mathematical promulgations that could determine who heads where next week for the first round of the post-season playoffs.

Either way, the Hawks really did themselves proud with a big win over CRB. It was the first win ever in 8-man football over the Crusaders. It was even sweeter to have it come on the Hawks' home field in Grand Junction.

Beger and Ostrander continue to rank high in the passing and receiving stats compiled each week and featured in the Friday morning prep preview in the D.M. Register. Each has been among the Top 10 and climbing. This week, Ostrander is No. 2 among all Iowa high school receivers with 68 receptions for 1,094 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The No. 4 seed in D7 will travel next Wednesday to the No. 1 seed in D8. Fremont-Mills (Tabor) and East Mills (Malvern) are both 5-0 in D8 and meet tonight in Malvern for the district championship. Fremont-Mills (7-0) is ranked No. 2 in the state in 8-Man Football while East Mills (8-0) is ranked No. 5.