A nearly flawless second half led the Rams to a 35-14 victory over Dallas-Center Grimes Friday night. In the final non-district game of the year, Glenwood rushed for 377 total yards and held the Mustangs to just 19 yards of offense in the final two quarters en route to its third win of the season.
After trailing 14-13 at the half, the Rams finally secured their first comfortable win of the season by scoring 22 unanswered points after the break. Solid defense has been the theme of Glenwood’s entire season, and Friday was no different. Senior safety Cooper Silvius came up big for the Rams, totaling 5.5 tackles, including one solo tackle for loss and a 23 interception returned for a touchdown.
Silvius, who was recently moved to permanent defense, commented on what made the Glenwood defense so unbreakable.
“Our scout teams got us ready all week for all of the plays that we’ve seen from DCG the last few years,” Silvius said. “We made a few adjustments during half time with our defensive ends and linebackers on the inside run. Our defensive backs played lights out all game.”
Dallas Center-Grimes only combined for 89 total yards of offense throughout the night, while only completing one of six passes.
After playing running back and linebacker last season, Silvius had to make the adjustment to defensive back on short notice. Since he stepped into the starting role at safety, he has been the Rams’ leading tackler.
“I knew from the beginning of the season back in the summer that I would be playing on defense, so I had a lot of time to work on defense. I thought I’d be playing a lot of linebacker, but the team was better off with me playing free safety in these first few games.”
On offense, Glenwood’s rushing attack wreaked havoc on the Mustang defensive front. Senior running back Colton Schutte led the Rams with 148 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Junior Dominic Robertson racked up 123 yards on the ground, including a 76-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter. Senior running back Noah Carter added 64 yards while junior quarterback Zach Carr tallied 38 yards and two touchdowns.
For the first time this year, Glenwood’s offense played a clean game, with just two mishaps and a much smaller amount of penalties.
“Our second half of the game on Friday was the best complete football we’ve played the whole season, so we’re going to work on carrying that into the coming weeks,” said Silvius.
The stellar second half allowed the Rams to build a cushion and avoid another nail-biting finish.
“Having those first two close, grind-it-out wins was really important for our team. It taught us to play tough even when we were making mistakes and things weren’t going our way,” Silvius said. “But having a comfortable win definitely gives us a big confidence boost coming into district play.”
Glenwood begins district play this week as they host Winterset in the 2018 homecoming game. The 1-3 Huskies are fresh off a heartbreaking one point loss to Ballard last week.