Bragging rights, 2nd place go to Falcons
BREMEN — Bragging rights and second-place in the Northern Indiana Conference North/south Division were on the line Friday, when area rivals Glenn and Bremen met up at Don Bunge Field.
Playing nearly flawless on both sides of the ball, it was the Falcons that came away with the impressive 42-0 victory over the Lions.
“We’re a good football team,” said Glenn head coach John Barron. “We’ve only been beaten by two undefeated teams (NIC N/S 1st place SB Riley, Class 3a No. 13 Knox). I like my guys. They play hard and they are coachable. Our staff has done a great job with them and we executed everything we wanted to.”
It didn’t take long to get going either. In fact, it took just five plays on the Falcons’ first possession to find the end zone, covering 66 yards. The key play was a 38-yard scamper by quarterback Chase Miller to the 2. Sophomore running back Blake Wright bolted in from there on the next play and after a failed two-point conversion try - about the only thing that went wrong all night for Glenn - the score was 6-0 and stayed that way the rest of the quarter after three alternating punts.
Most of the action took place in the second quarter. Glenn (4-2, 2-1 NIC N/S) opened the frame by completing an 11-play, 55-yard march and a two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead. One of just three completed passes the whole game for the Falcons went for 13 yards on a 3rd-and-11 to keep that drive alive and runs for double-digit yards by Mason Kobelt and Blake Wright were also key plays. Wright’s covered the last 11 yards for his second TD of the game.
Bremen (3-3, 1-2 NIC N/S) was intercepted by Miller on its second play of the quarter and seven plays later, Glenn was in the end zone again. Kobelt’s 41-yard run on the first play of the series took care of most of the 51 yards needed to score and his 6-yard rush finished it.
Glenn’s defense then caused a three-and-out by Bremen and scored its fourth touchdown just 36 seconds later. a perfectly executed screen pass to Kobelt covered 41 yards, bringing the ball to the Lion 7 and Miller went off left tackle to paydirt. The second of Miller’s four PAT kicks made it 28-0.
One of the only other blemishes on Glenn’s night occurred the next time it had the ball when Bremen’s Reece Greene intercepted a pass, but with the clock winding down towards halftime, the Falcons’ Ty’ronn Larkin did the same to a Lions pass and worked his way through would-be Bremen tacklers for a 55-yard pick-six touchdown that would send the game to a running clock for the entire second half as the gap became 35 points by intermission.
Glenn snatched its third INT - and second for Miller - three plays into the third period, then ran 13 plays before time ran out. Six plays after that, the Falcons had their sixth and final TD as Walter Drews punched in it from one yard out to complete the 19-play, 73-yard drive.
Kobelt led Glenn in rushing with 113 yards on 14 carries unofficially. Miller added 93 on eight totes and Drews had 57 on 10 carries.
The Falcons held Bremen’s prolific passing game to just six completions and 35 yards. The Lions managed only 56 yards on the ground on 17 carries.
“Our defensive coaches had them ready and our guys are pretty active,” said Barron. “Chase is a ball hawk. Ty is an incredibly talented player. We were getting good pressure from our front guys. Our middle linebacker, Eli Beeney, he’s all over the place. Blake Wright, all of our backers played great.”
• GLENN 42, BREMEN 0