A warm August evening played host to week one of the Iowa High School Football season. At the brand new Carroll Athletic Field, another instant classic took place between the Glenwood Rams and the Carroll Tigers. In a game that saw six total turnovers and an abundance of penalties, the Rams escaped with a 17-14 win to start the season in nail biting fashion.
With both teams tied at 14 apiece with under a minute to go in the game, a 51-yard pass from junior quarterback Zach Carr to senior wideout Colton Schutte set up the Rams. Unable to punch the ball in the endzone, Glenwood sent out junior kicker Alex Nusser, who nailed a 27 yard go ahead field goal with 23 seconds remaining.
Even though his team totaled four turnovers and had multiple week-one miscues, Head Coach Cory Faust was happy with the way his team was able to grind out a win.
“I’m proud of our guys for hanging in there,” Faust said. “We knew there would be some growing pains, and we turned the ball over a lot, which is obviously not good. But our guys really kept battling, which is important.”
Carr and Schutte had not one, but two big plays to set up Glenwood points. Late in the third quarter, Carr fired a bullet to a streaking Schutte resulting in a 67 yard completion. The very next play, senior running back Cooper Silvius bumbled into the end zone for a six yard touchdown.
Schutte, after not seeing the varsity field for most of the season in 2017, showed out in the first game of his senior campaign. He racked up 128 yards receiving, and added 21 yards in the ground game. He was named our Barrett Auto Center Player of the Game.
“I think this just shows I could be a big impact,” said Schutte. “Just doing whatever I can to help out the team, making sure that we have the best chance to win each and every game.”
Faust was excited to see his senior wideout have a breakout game.
“We knew Colton’s really good. He was actually a starter for the first couple weeks last year, and for whatever reason the season didn’t really work out like any of us thought it would for him.” Faust continued: “To me he’s like a new player this year, his attitude is fantastic and I’m just really proud of him and his whole demeanor, even before he had this performance I was, but he definitely deserves it.”
Glenwood’s defense was nothing short of spectacular in its first time out this season. The Rams held Carroll to just 145 total yards, and came up with two timely interceptions.
In the first quarter, sophomore safety Silas Bales jumped a screen pass from Carroll quarterback Slade Sibenaller and took it to the house for a 60-yard pick six. His older brother, senior linebacker Eli Bales, had a late-game interception that set up the Ram offense to take the lead on the ensuing drive.
Faust commented on his defense’s stellar performance.
“Our defensive backs were fantastic all night, we put a lot of pressure on them, and then our guys up front did a great job getting in the back field.”
On offense, despite big chunks of yardage through the air, the Rams relied heavily on the rushing attack. Silvius finished with 66 yards on 17 carries, while senior powerback Noah Carter carried the ball 19 times for 111 yards. Carr had 10 yards on 13 carries while throwing for 143 yards and one interception.
Following this week one win, the Rams will host Sioux City Heelan next week in the second non-district contest of the season.