WAYNEòòò½ÊÓƵ” Even in games where the margin on the scoreboard and on the stat sheet favor one team, big plays can swing a contest.
Wayne made them when it counted.
The Pioneers defeated county-rival Tolsia, 38-14 last night at overcast but muggy Pioneer Field.
Wayne (1-0) held the Rebels to just five first half yards, but led just 22-14 midway through the third period. Tolsia scored on one kickoff return before halftime, then had a big return into Pioneer territory to begin the second half. Eli Blackburn capped the drive with an 11-yard run to get the Rebels (0-1) within a score with 6:51 left in the third period.
But Wayne answered quickly with a touchdown march of its own, capped by sophomore Rylan Murdockòòò½ÊÓƵ™s 26-yard scoring running to push the lead back to 30-14 just three minutes later and cruised from there.
The Pioneers used a steady running game to control the flow of the game. Senior Kobe Vanhoose ran for 116 yards on 19 carries and two scores to lead the Wayne offense. Ten different Pioneers carried the ball for 322 total yards on the ground. Murdock had two touchdown runs in the win.
Blackburn had a spectacular night for Tolsia. In addition to the kickoff return touchdown (65 yards) and scoring run, he also had an interception in the end zone and a fumble recovery. But the Rebels mustered just 86 total yards on the night.
Of Wayneòòò½ÊÓƵ™s 52 carries, four went for negative yardage, and only Murdockòòò½ÊÓƵ™s 26-yard backbreaking TD run went for more than 14 yards.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
