It was a special night for South Callaway. Not just because the fall sports seniors were recognized before the game, but the Bulldogs delivered a 41-28 win against conference rival Montgomery County and are now 2-2 after dropping their first two games.
Senior Trace Helsel ran for 262 yards and scored five touchdowns on the ground, and the Bulldogs were stout with their coverage on special teams and defense.
Head coach Zack Hess said it felt great to beat Montgomery County (2-2, 1-2 EMO) after the previous two meetings, when the Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 94-41, and to win in front of South Callaway's home crowd.
"It's always nice to get a win in conference, and it's hard to win football games," Hess said. "We lost to Montgomery County the last two years, but we also didn't help ourselves. Tonight, we did a really nice job of taking care of the football, playing good special teams and playing solid defense."
Neither team wanted to give up an advantage in the first half as the game was tied at 14 with 2:13 to play until halftime. South Callaway (2-2 EMO) established its running attack with Helsel scoring three touchdowns and Montogomery County quarterback Adam Czerniewski rattled off some big plays with his legs and his arm.
The Bulldogs struck first with a seven-play, 73-yard drive to take the early 7-0 lead. South Callaway trusted its rushers until the final two plays saw junior Jacob Martin went to the outside for a 20-yard run and Helsel went inside for his first score on a 32-yard run.
Montgomery County and Czerniewski marched it down the field for nine plays and 67 yards until Cierniewski took it himself for 18 yards to the left side to tie the game at 7.
Helsel and the Bulldogs rang in the second quarter in a big way with three running plays, including a 47-yarder from Helsel. South Callaway jumped ahead 14-7 after Helsel's second score five plays later. Hess said there have been many great running backs in South Callaway's system, and Helsel is the latest that helped the Bulldogs wear down Montgomery County early in the game so those long runs could eventually come.
"Trace got a lot of carries tonight (33), and he's the type of player that can wear a defense down," he said. "The tackling kind of goes downhill a little bit later in the game. I also think our offensive line was part of that as well. They did a great job up front and were very physical and start to wear down the defense."
The Wildcats failed to convert on fourth down and had to give it to the Bulldogs at midfield, but Montgomery County didn't budge for another three-and-out. After there was some disagreement on whether the Wildcats muffed a punt, they were still downed at their own 8.
Skies were clear for Montgomery County as Czerniewski connected with his favorite receiver Ty Leu, as he shook off the Bulldog defender, for 73 yards and a touchdown. The game was knotted at 14 with the Wildcats about to take possession again after a South Callaway three-and-out.
The momentum quickly shifted back South Callaway's way as Montgomery County definitively muffed a punt, and the Bulldogs had the ball back at the Wildcats 25-yard line. The Bulldog offense rewarded the tenacity of the special teams with some tenacity of its own as Helsel pounded it in for his third touchdown and snatched the 21-14 halftime lead.
Hess said the special teams and secondary was key for South Callaway as the coverage was great, outside of a few big plays. That special teams play near the end of the first half though played a huge role in giving South Callaway the advantage from that point onward.
"I love special teams. I think it's really important and a lot of football teams and coaches overlook it," he said. "(That play) is an example of how important it is because it's a momentum play. That's a momentum killer for the other team a big boost for us."
Not much changed for the South Callaway offense in the third quarter as Helsel scored his fourth on a 10-yard run, but Montgomery County couldn't advance into Bulldog territory. Seniors Sam Buckner and Chrisjen Davis made some memories on senior night with a circus catch that set up a fourth-and-1 situation, which the Bulldogs converted easily. Helsel continued to have a senior night to remember as he scored his fifth touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter - his ninth in two games - to make it 34-14.
The skies were cloudy for the Wildcats as Czerniewski threw an interception to junior JT Thomas, and the Bulldog secondary wasn't allowing any more big passes. Meanwhile, South Callaway started to run away with it as senior quarterback Sam Buckner ran it in from 34 yards out for a 41-14 lead.
Leu was able make an impressive catch of his, diving in the back of the end zone, to give Montgomery County its first of two touchdowns in the second half. The Wildcats had no choice but to force it down the field as another pass in the end zone resulted in their second interception, and the Bulldogs were able to pick up the win.
The Bulldogs knew going in that stopping Czerniewski and the Wildcats' dynamic offense was going to be a great challenge, Hess said, but taking away Montgomery County's ability to run - giving up only 96 rushing yards and sacking Czerniewksi three times - so its offense was more susceptible to mistakes helped secure the win.
"We considered (Czerniewski) a dual-threat, running back/quarterback," he said. "We keyed on him as a running back, we got him into situations where we felt they were going to do certain things and we switched up our defense to fit those types of things."
South Callaway is scheduled to go back on the road Oct. 1 against Van-Far (0-4, 0-4 EMO). For now, the Bulldogs don't have an opponent for next week but are currently looking for one.