Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

ROCKSPRINGS — The Coal Grove Hornets brought their wet blanket.

The Meigs Marauders were opening their new Holzer Field at Farmers Bank Stadium and Mike Bartrum was making his coaching debut.

But the Hornets ruined the evening with a ball-control offense as they beat the Marauders 24-6 Friday in the season opener.

The Hornets ran 52 times for 272 yards and Alex Bare completed all four of his passes for 47 yards for 319 total yards.

Brandon Hogsten ran 11 times for 93 yards to lead the ground game. Kyle Estep had 84 yards on 20 attempts and Bare added 42 yards on seven attempts.

Meigs had 224 total yards with 130 on the ground and 94 via the air. The Marauders were inside the red zone four times but the Hornets’ defense turned them away three times.

Hogsten ran 23 yards for a touchdown to cap a 10-play, 55-yard drive to begin the game and it was 6-0 at the 7:07 mark.

Meigs answered with a 69-yard, nine-play march capped by Jordan Hutton’s 11-yard run to tie the game with 3:24 left in the quarter.

The Marauders drove to the Hornets’ 3-yard line but a fourth down pass was knocked down.

Coal Grove then marched the length of the field and scored on a 2-yard run by Isaiah Gunther and it was 12-6.

Dillon Boyer returned the second half kickoff 44 yards to the Hornets’ 15, but again the defense held by knocking down a fourth-and-5 pass at the 10-yard line.

The Hornets put together a drive and scored with eight seconds left in the quarter as Bare hit Aaron Wilson with a 28-yard scoring strike and an 18-6 lead.

The Hornets sealed the win when Estep ran 7 yards with 2:32 left.

Boyer led Meigs with 81 yards in 16 attempts. Freshman quarterback Kaileb Sheets was 5 of 16 for 70 yards and an interception.

Coal Grove 6 6 6 6 = 24

Meigs 6 0 0 0 = 6

First Quarter

CG — Brandon Hogsten 23 run (run failed) 7:07

Mg — Jordan Hutton 11 run (kick failed) 3:24

Second Quarter

CG — Isaiah Gunther 2 run (pass failed) 3:22

Third Quarter

CG — Aaron Wilson 28 pass from Alex Bare (pass failed) 0:08

Fourth Quarter

CG — Kyle Estep 7 run (run failed) 2:32

CG Mg

First downs 19 12

Rushes-yards 52-272 28-130

Passing yards 47 94

Total yards 319 224

Cmp-Att-Int 4-4-0 6-17-1

Penalties-yards 4-40 1-5

Punts-average 1-35.0 1-38.0

Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Coal Grove: Brandon Hogsten 11-93, Kyle Estep 20-83, Alex Bare 7-42, Tanner Murphy 3-27, Isaiah Gunther 8-26, Greg Carter 2-11, Jesse Rigsby 1-10, Conor Markins 1-2, Austin Ruggles 1-1, Sean Paulus 1-1, Cody Pennington 1-0, Ian McFarland 1-minus 3; Meigs: Dillon Boyer 16-81, Jordan Hutton 4-22, Andrew Burt 3-17, Kaileb Sheets 3-4, Michael Davis 1-5 Isiah English 1-1.

PASSING—Coal Grove: Alex Bare 4-4-0 47; Meigs: Kaileb Sheets 5-16-1 70, Dillon Boyer 1-1-0 25.

RECEIVING—Coal Grove: Isaiah Gunther 2-23, Aaron Wilson 1-28; Meigs: Michael Davis 3-42, Ty Phelps 2-32, Kaileb Sheets 1-14, Blaine Perry 1-5.