Wolverines Shut Down Ramblers
By EDDY GIFFORD
Sports Writer
Photo by Eddy Gifford – The Wolverines’ Carter Christiansen lunges for the end zone after being hit and scores early in the second quarter against the Ramblers of LaFayette. The Wolverines travel to Dalton this week to face Christian Heritage in their first region game of the season.
The Dade County Wolverine football team traveled to LaFayette on Friday, Aug. 30, for their final non-region game of the season. Dade County has an open date this Friday, Sept. 6, and then will travel to Christian Heritage on Friday, Sept. 13, for their first Region 7 Class A D1 game of the season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., at the Dalton school.
The Wolverines were welcomed to LaFayette by a thunderstorm and a lightning delay that lasted about 30 minutes.
Dade County lined up for kickoff to the host Ramblers about 8 p.m. and a perfectly executed on-side kick gave them the ball near the 45-yard line. A good drive by the Wolverines put them on the board first when Evan Koger scored with 8:06 remaining in the first quarter and the Jackson Blankenbaker kick put the Wolverines on top 7-0.
Late in the first quarter, the Ramblers fumbled at the 17-yard line and Dade recovered setting up their second touchdown of the opening quarter. Koger scored again on a short run and Blankenbaker’s kick made it 14-0 with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter.
The Wolverines scored again with 8:28 remaining in the first half when Carter Christiansen was hit at the three-yard line and managed to dive into the end zone for the score. The Blankenbaker kick made it 21-0.
On LaFayette’s next possession, they fumbled again with Dade recovering and quickly scoring again when H Garmany threw a strike to Braydan Jones. The Blankenbaker kick put the Wolverines on top 28-0 with 7:16 remaining in the first half.
Midway through the third quarter, Garmany and Jones hooked up again, this time on a long touchdown pass and after the Blankenbaker kick Dade County led 35-0.
The third quarter ended with the Wolverines on top 35-0, so the fourth quarter was played with a running clock. The big lead also allowed the coaches to get a lot of players in the game for some much-needed experience for the younger players and DCHS came away with a big 35-0 win.
Koger led the Wolverine offense with 21 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns while Garmany completed seven of 13 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Christiansen had eight carries for 35 yards and a touchdown while Jones had five receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
The Wolverine defense had an outstanding night holding the Ramblers to just 120 yards total offense, 97 rushing and 23 passing yards.
Photo by Eddy Gifford – The Wolverine defense closes in for the tackle against the LaFayette Ramblers last week as they dominated the host on both side of the ball. The defense held the Ramblers to just 120-yards of total offense in the game. The Wolverines picked up their first win of the season 35-0.
The Wolverine defense was led by Christiansen with eight tackles, three pass breakups, and one caused fumble; Jace Anderson with seven tackles, two pass breakups, one caused fumble, one for loss; Ryker Stanley with four tackles, one assist, three tackles for loss, two pass breakups, one caused fumble, one quarterback hurry, and one interception. Also, Evan Avans had five tackles, one tackle for loss, one for loss, and one pass breakup; Bryson Shrader had three tackles, one pass breakup; Jeff Shavers had two tackles, one assist; and Conner Sharp had two tackles.
The only downside to the big penalties for 85 yards, something they will need to work on before region play starts.
Be sure to make the short trip to Dalton on Friday night Sept. 13 to support the Wolverines in their first region game of the season. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Christian Heritage High School is located at 1600 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Dalton, Georgia.
