CENTER - Tyler Elledge's merits certainly stand on their own, but having a crushing offensive line to clear the way is definitely a benefit.
Mark Twain's stealthy senior running back tore through North Callaway's defense for 242 yards and four touchdowns Friday night as the state-ranked, unbeaten Tigers tossed around the Thunderbirds with ease in a 49-12 Eastern Missouri Conference rampage.
The loss dropped North Callaway to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the EMO. Mark Twain - ranked No. 6 in Class 1 - remained perfect at 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.
"You've got to give all the credit in the world to Mark Twain," Thunderbirds head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "They controlled the line of scrimmage, which was a concern of mine. We talked about how we had to control the line of scrimmage if we were going to slow their rushing attack down, and they did a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage and we didn't respond very well."
O'Neal wanted to give his defense a shot at Elledge as soon as possible, so North Callaway deferred after winning the opening coin toss. Elledge made an instant impact, returning the opening kickoff 55 yards to the Thunderbirds' 33-yard line.
Six plays later, Elledge took his fifth carry and skipped into the end zone from 6 yards out to quickly put the Tigers on the scoreboard with 9 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
"Our defense has played well all year, so I wanted those guys to come out and get after it, and hopefully shut them down early," O'Neal said. "That didn't happen; they came out and took it to us."
Elledge extended Mark Twain's lead on its second series, slicing his way 54 yards for a touchdown at the 3:14 mark. Junior running back Terry Monroe powered his way into the end zone for the two-point conversion to make it 14-0.
The Tigers used a turnover to set up their next score, intercepting a pass by North Callaway junior quarterback Milo Henry early in the second quarter and returning it to the Thunderbirds' 3. After Elledge was stopped for no gain and senior quarterback Ethan Mack scooped up a fumble and was tackled for a 7-yard loss, Elledge answered with a 10-yard touchdown run with 7:28 to go in the first half.
Elledge had 21 of his 29 carries in the opening 24 minutes while piling up 196 yards during that span. He added his final score on a 13-yard run with 2:00 left in the third quarter. Elledge has now rushed for a stunning 1,445 yards and 17 touchdowns through just five games.
Mark Twain accumulated 399 yards rushing in 56 attempts, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.
"(Elledge) has great guys in front of him blocking," O'Neal said. "The thing about him, too, is he's very patient and waits for that seam to open, and when it opens he hits it pretty hard.
"We were filling (gaps) with our head down ... and weren't making tackles. When you miss one tackle on him, he's gone."
While the Tigers dominated the battle up front to make Elledge's work easier, their counterparts on the Mark Twain defensive line were hassling North Callaway's offense. The Thunderbirds staggered into halftime with a sparse 17 total yards and finished with just 127 overall and only four first downs, all coming in the second half.
Helped by a fumble recovery on the Tigers' opening possession of the third quarter, North Callaway's first score came on a 13-yard touchdown run by senior running back Tyler Mattes at the 7:25 mark. The Thunderbirds added their other score when Henry hit junior running back Wyatt Branson on a quick pass over the middle for a 59-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown with :26.2 to play in the quarter.
Mattes managed just 25 yards rushing in 12 attempts as North Callaway ran the ball only 16 times and was held to a lean 32 yards. Henry - sacked twice - was 5-of-12 passing for just 95 yards, the one score and the interception.
North Callaway didn't have sophomore tight end Adam Reno, a blossoming playmaker, in the second half after he tweaked a bruised shoulder he suffered in last week's four-TD performance in a 43-0 EMO victory over Montgomery County. Reno had just three carries for 14 yards and one catch for 1 yard Friday night.
"Adam Reno had that big game last week and they were definitely keying on him and took us a little bit out of what we wanted to do offensively," O'Neal said. "We tried to do some different things to get the ball to different people.
"They loaded the box on us, brought a safety into the box, and we didn't control the line of scrimmage up front offensively, either, and we didn't get to our blocks. We fixed a couple of things at halftime and looked a little better in the second half."
The Thunderbirds still haven't won consecutive games this season as they return home this week for the annual Callaway Cup showdown against South Callaway. The Bulldogs (4-1, 3-0 EMO) downed Wright City 18-7 in a conference home matchup Friday night.
"We've got to do a better job during the week preparing," O'Neal said. "We had some flat practices this week and we've got to come and prepare during the week, because you better believe South Callaway is going to prepare for us."
Ryan Boland can be reached at (573) 826-2422, or by email at [email protected].