By ANDREW FEEBACK
MONROE—It was a titanic mismatch on paper, and that’s how it played out on the field as the Southern Wells Raiders fell to the host Adams Central Jets 63-0 Friday night.
“We knew coming into this game, we were going up against a juggernaut,” coach Mike Roeder said. “This is a great team that has great goals beyond this. Everyone is talking about them as a potential state finalist. We had to adjust our goals for tonight. We didn’t get the start we wanted.”
Adams Central (7-0) scored 43 of its points in the first quarter alone, with Southern Wells punting five times and only picking up a first down on the quarter’s final play.
The Raiders ran 15 plays in that span to the Jets’ 12, but half of the Jets’ plays went for touchdowns.
Keegan Bluhm scored on a five-yard run to begin the scoring for Adams Central.
When the Raiders lined up to punt after their next series, a bad snap sent the ball out the back of the end zone for a safety.
The Jets scored after just two plays when Gavin cook ran 21 yards to make it 15-0. Ryan Black threw a 33-yard pass to Trevor Currie a minute and a half later for another score.
A four-yard run by Ryan Tester, an eight-yard run from Cook, and a 25-yard burst from Matt Heiser, all within a span of five minutes, put the Jets up 43-0 before the first quarter finally ended.
Mercifully, things slowed down a bit after that.
“In the second quarter, I think everybody settled down, made a few plays on both sides of the ball, and then we were just in running clock mode after that,” Roeder said.
Aaron Hirschy’s 13-yard touchdown run gave the Jets a 49-0 lead by the break.
Heiser tacked on two more scores in the second half on his way to finishing with 150 yards on 11 carries.
Southern Wells had no success running the ball, finishing with minus-18 yards on the ground.
They did finish in the black in total yards thanks to quarterback Jenson Nusbaumer’s 43 passing yards on six completions.
Adams Central had 10 different players run the ball on its way to 387 rushing yards.
The Jets were the Class 1A state runner-up a year ago and very much looked the part of a team that could find itself back in that game this year.
“It’s tough when you’re playing a team of that quality,” Roeder said. “You just have to weather the storm.”
Southern Wells will travel to Heritage next week for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
sports@news-banner.com
ADAMS CENTRAL 63,
SOUTHERN WELLS 0
At Adams Central
Score By Quarters
Southern Wells 0 0 0 0 – 0
Adams Central 43 6 7 7 – 63
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
AC—Keegan Bluhm 5 run (kick failed), 10:03.
AC—Safety, 9:07.
AC—Gavin Cook 21 run (Trevor Currie kick), 8:33.
AC—Currie 33 pass from Ryan Black (Currie kick), 7:03.
AC—Ryan Tester 4 run (Currie kick), 4:57.
AC—Cook 8 run (Currie kick), 2:19.
AC—Matt Heiser 25 run (Kaylen Sprunger kick), 0:16.
Second Quarter
AC—Aaron Hirschy 13 run (kick blocked), 6:38.
Third Quarter
AC—Heiser 45 run (Sprunger kick), 9:16.
Fourth Quarter
AC—Heiser 12 run (Sprunger kick), 5:07
Team Statistics
SW AC
First Downs 4 15
Rushes-Yards 21-(-18) 35-387
Yards Passing 43 81
Passing (C-A-I) 6-18-1 4-4-0
Penalties-Yards 6-50 5-40
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Punts-Average 8-20 0-0
Time of Possession 23:22 24:28
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Southern Wells, Case Boxell 15-(minus 3), Jenson Nusbaumer 4-(minus 7), Bryar Gearheart 2-2. Adams Central, Keegan Bluhm 4-83, Ryan Tester 2-9, Gavin Cook 2-29, Matt Heiser 11-150, Aaron Hirschy 6-51, Max Hamilton 2-20, Jack Hamilton 1-23, Hayden Bluhm 3-(minus 4), Max Kaehr 2-3, Joey Everett 2-20.
Passing: Southern Wells, Nusbaumer 6-18-1-43. Adams Central, Ryan Black 3-3-0-84, Jack Hamilton 1-1-0-(minus 3).
Receiving: Southern Wells, Gearheart 5-31, Trey Slusher 1-12. Adams Central, Keenen Jackson 2-27, Trevor Currie 1-33, Tester 1-21..
