DOVER - Western Boone used good field position in the final quarter and one-half to put away Sagamore Conference foe North Montgomery 35-8. Three touchdowns in a span of 7:06 allowed the Stars to put the game away.
After a scoreless first period, Western Boone (4-1, 2-1 SAC) finally put points on the board with a 17-play, 86-yard drive with 2:37 remaining in the second quarter. Star running back Trevor Weakley ran it into the end zone from five yards out to cap the drive. Josiah Smith’s good extra point try gave Western Boone a 7-0.
North Montgomery (2-3, 0-3) quickly responded with their only score of the night. The Chargers started their drive on the 20-yard line and scored in just six plays. Charger quarterback Ross Dyson found slot receiver Drew Norman for a 12-yard strike. Dyson ran in the 2-point conversion to give the visitors an 8-6 lead with 1:09 left in the half.
However, the Chargers lead only lasted long enough for Western Boone’s Ryan Taylor to return the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a score just 10 seconds later. The Stars were able to take a 14-8 lead into the half which they would never relinquish the rest of the game.
“We missed too many tackles on the kickoff return,” Charger Coach Josh Thompson said. “We are not a good enough team to have those type of mistakes and win.”
After Western Boone forced a three-and-out on the Chargers’ first drive in the second half, the Stars started on another drive into the red zone. However, the Charger defense recovered a fumble on the 2-yard line to escape the Star scoring threat.
The teams then traded possessions until Western Boone scored again with just :50 left in the third quarter. Star quarterback Rowen Durbin hit Taylor on a 7-yard scoring strike. After another Smith kick, the Stars led 21-8.
Poor field position plagued the Chargers the remaining the game. Western Boone took advantage of short fields and a tiring Charger defense to score two more times in the final quarter. The first score was a 17-yard pass on fourth down pass to 6’3” Ryan Taylor who out-jumped the 5’9” Charger defender in the corner of the end zone at the 9:34 mark. The last score came with 5:34 remaining when Taylor scored from four yards out.
The Stars running game ended up being instrumental in the win. Western Boone picked up 207 yards on the ground compared to North Montgomery’s 34. Western Boone ended the game with 292 total yards while limiting the Charger offense to just 136 yards.
Thompson said his team will learn from the loss.
“Our kids should know tonight for two and a half quarters we played pretty good,” Thompson said. “If we put four quarters together we can stay with anybody in the conference. We have to learn to overcome adversity.”
The Chargers hope to play four quarters next week when they play host to SAC and county rival Crawfordsville for their annual Homecoming game. Western Boone will travel to SAC foe Frankfort on Friday.
