Warriors dominate Waterloo Christian in 44-0 win at the UNI Dome
Owen Hammersland rushed for 54 yards and two touchdowns against the Regents at the UNI Dome.
Braxton Bormann races to the end zone for an opening drive touchdown by the Warriors
Garrett Burns tackles Waterloo Christian QB Gavin DeFord. Burns also returned a fumble for a touchdown in the 44-0 victory Friday night.
By Willis Patenaude
The Warriors were unfazed by the atmosphere of the UNI Dome, the size of the crowd, or the history making home game for the Waterloo Christian Regent program during Friday nights football game, that saw the Warriors execute a defensive game plan that stifled and stymied the Regents offense, holding them scoreless, while employing a multi-pronged rushing attack that ran for 225 yards and five touchdowns ending in a 44-0 Warrior rout of the Regents.
“I’m extremely proud of these young men for ignoring the distractions, and focusing on executing our assignments. I’m very blessed as a head coach who has a phenomenal coaching staff to support myself, as well as the team,” coach J.W. Downs said after the victory.
The rushing attack got out of the blocks early, when Braxton Bormann rushed for an opening drive touchdown under a minute into the game, followed by a successful two-point conversion run by Owen Hammersland, giving the Warriors an early 8-0 lead. Bormann finished the game with 59 yards on four carries, including a 39-yard run, while Hammersland added two touchdowns of his own with 54 yards on 15 carries. Griffen Hammersland rushed for 16 yards and one touchdown and Maddux Eglseder ran for 12 yards and a touchdown.
“Almost all aspects of the game went our way all night long. We executed our assignments well on all sides of the ball. Our offense kept their pad level low, and we controlled the line of scrimmage to move the ball down the field,” Downs said.
The defense finished with 38.5 tackles with one sack and 9.5 tackles for a loss, holding the Regents to just 86 total yards of offense, including two interceptions, one from Eglseder and another by Owen Hammersland. Max Fettkether forced a fumble by Regent quarterback Gavin DeFord, that was picked up by Garrett Burns and returned for a six-yard touchdown. Bormann led the defense with seven tackles, followed by Preston Kulper with 4.5, Eglseder and Jack Scherf each had four and Fettkether finished with 3.5 tackles.
“Our defense played lights out. They read their keys and gang tackled all night. Special teams stayed disciplined and didn’t allow any big plays. We kept the mental mistakes to a minimal, and didn’t let the atmosphere of the dome distract us from play our game,” Downs said.
The 2-3 Warriors will be at home this Friday, October 11th to welcome the 4-1 Riceville Wildcats to the Dittmer Sports Complex with a scheduled kickoff time of 7:00pm.
“The expectations are to execute the same way we did last week. Focus on the little details, as well as blocking out distractions that come with Homecoming. I hope all warrior fans can make it out to support us Friday night!” Downs said.
