A defensive touchdown from three-star recruit Tyler Miller started the scoring and the Rams kept going from there en route to a 62-0 romp for Greene County’s football team over Shenandoah on Friday night at Linduska Field in Jefferson. Coach Mitch Moore’s Rams are 5-0 and they began Class 2A District 9 play at 1-0 heading into a district match up on Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. with Kuemper Catholic (2-3, 1-0) at newly refurbished Carroll Athletic Field.
Greene County is ranked anywhere from sixth to ninth, depending on the poll. They’re allowing just 4.6 points per game and have recorded two shutouts. The scoring average has risen to 45.6 points a game, and that’s after scoring just 14 in the season opener.
Miller picked off Mustangs’ quarterback Kyle Cerven’s screen pass and went untouched 29 yards for the opening points of the night with 5:44 to play in the first quarter. Clint Dennhardt ran for two yards and Dennhardt caught a pass covering 28 yards from Brent Riley for two more opening period TDs and the Rams led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Carter Morton and Riley hooked up on a 64 yard scoring play early in the second quarter. It was Morton sixth TD reception of the season and he’s caught touchdown passes in all five games this season. Colby Kafer ran 54 yards for a score, followed by a Riley two-point conversion run, and Dennhardt caught an 11 yard toss from Riley to make the halftime score 42-0.
The second half was played with the continuous clock because the Rams led by 35 points or greater at halftime or later. Trey Hinote caught six passes for 89 yards, including his first TD reception of the season with 7:28 to play in quarter number three. Late in the third, Joel Ward got into the scoring act with a 44 yard run, and two freshmen hooked up for the last touchdown for the Rams when Jackson Morton caught a 15 yard TD pass from Joe Carey with 6:13 left in the game.
The Rams clinched their first winning season in the seven seasons they’ve played as Greene County. The home team rolled up 465 yards of offense with 239 on the ground on 23 carries, and 223 through the air. Riley was 11-15-0 passing with four touchdown passes, and Carey’s touchdown pass was on his only passing attempt. At least four freshmen played in the game for Greene County, which is believed to be a first.
Greene County limited the Mustangs to just 17 total yards of offense, which included negative 28 on the ground. The defense stopped the Mustangs for either minus yardage or no gain on 22 plays. Austin Delp recovered a Shenandoah fumble.
Coverage on Sept. 28 starts at 6 p.m. with kickoff at 7 p.m. on KG98 and streaming on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com. The Knights won 21-14 a season ago in Jefferson in Coach Moore’s first-ever game as a head coach. The Knights are coming off a romp of their own on Friday night, winning in Atlantic 45-14.