The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Longhorns dominate Wellington
It wasn’t pretty, but Lutheran West capped off their homecoming festivities with a 21-0 shutout victory against Wellington in a Patriot Athletic Conference crossover matchup at Alumni Field on Sept. 22.
The win puts the Longhorns (32, 1-1 PAC) back on track after a brief two-game skid.
“We had a tough one last week and we were a little worried about Wellington. We had to get back to Lutheran West football, and we struggled a little bit but hopefully we are back to our winning
ways,” Longhorns coach Frank Petroff said.
Both offenses found themselves struggling to garner any offensive momentum, including consecutive three-and-outs to start the game, as well as a bevy of negative yardage plays that left both sidelines searching for answers in the first quarter.
Early in the first, the Longhorns came away with a near pick-six as Nolan Ragland nearly intercepted a pass on the Wellington 5-yard line, which would have made it a cake walk into the end zone for the sophomore defender. Unfortunately for Ragland, the ball slipped its way out, summing up the first quarters missed opportunities.
“We were trying everything, and it starts up front. We were making mistakes that were just killing us and we haven’t done those mistakes all season long,” Petroff said.
The Dukes (0-5, 0-2 PAC), searching for their first win, spent much of the night starting deep in their own territory, paired with penalties and a collapsing offensive line, it made for a long night for Dukes coach Roy Moore.
“We just go outmanned,” Moore said. “They had a great defensive front. We just couldn’t block it for whatever reason. We’ll go look at the film and see how we can correct it and get it better, but this is as good as an effort for 48 minutes that we have put together in the first five games,” Moore said.
The Dukes offense finished with minus-39 rushing yards and 45 passing yards.
Midway through the second, Lutheran West grabbed its second first down of the game with a 31-yard pass from quarterback Rory Zakareckis to Shawn Naim. The large yardage gains were coming at a premium and this one paid off big time, setting up an Owen Albers one-yard touchdown run, giving the Longhorns a 7-0 lead.
Albers, who is coming off of a broken finger, is just getting back into the offensive flow. He had six carries for 13 yards and one touchdown.
After showing virtually no offense in the first half, the Longhorns wasted no time in the third quarter, as junior Gerald McHenry returned the kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 14-0.
McHenry, who also tallied nine carries for 22 yards, described his big play.
“I just saw a big hole to my right and then I trusted my team that they’d block. They blocked for me and I just took off,” McHenry said.
Due to a wrist injury to freshman quarterback Jayden Skinner, Moore brought in Mason Wright. The senior provided the dismal offense with a few sparks, including runs for nine and 16 yards and 29 yards through the air.