9/6/22
It took quarterback Joe Trusty a couple of offensive series to find himself in last week’s win over Siloam Springs.
Backed up on his goal-line, and facing third-and-13, Trusty rolled to his right and spied Matthew Schlegel for a 23-yard pass play on the team’s third series of the night.
The Alma running backs did the rest.
Carlos Gonzalez ran for 108 yards and Israel Towns-Robinson ripped off a 46-yard touchdown run en route to finishing with 97 yards rushing in the Airedales’ emphatic 38-7 rout of the Panthers.
Alma, 2-0 for the first time since 2014, returns home Friday to play Pryor, Okla.
“Carlos and Izzy, they were great, and the O-line blocked great,” Trusty said. “We didn’t do a whole lot of passing because we didn’t have to. We got eight yards a carry, probably.
“Izzy broke one loose and Carlos had a lot of good runs.”
Trusty was 9-of-13 for 89 yards, while Gonzalez and Towns-Robinson accounted for 215 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Alma scored four second-quarter touchdowns, including Trusty’s 4-yard TD pass to Jackson Daily and Brady Noyes’ 16-yard interception return for a touchdown, while coasting to its second straight victory.
“We got the energy back,” Towns-Robinson said of his second TD run, the aforementioned 46-yarder. “I felt like we all blocked, everybody did well, and we finished the play.”
The Alma defense did the rest.
The swarming defensive unit allowed just 145 total yards (most of which came after the fact) and just 10 first downs.
Senior Jaden Mahar was a one-man wrecking crew, collecting seven TFLs (tackle for loss) and 10 tackles. The Airedales had 12 TFLs in all, giving them 22 in two games.
Dylan Flanagan wasn’t bad, either.
The senior end added to his season defensive stats with three quarterback sacks. Alma has seven quarterback sacks through two games, equaling the seven they had in all of 2021.
“I’ve waited three years, my sophomore and junior years, to be out there,” Mahar said. “I’m having so much fun.”