9/26/22
ALMA — Alma quarterback Joe Trusty probably felt like he was on the cusp of throwing for 5,000 yards over a two-year span, which would have had him in the conversation with the school’s all-time leading passer, Noah Dotson.
Trusty threw for 2,192 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior. Through four games in 2022, the strong-armed quarterback has passed for 469 yards and four touchdowns.
But Trusty couldn’t be happier about the team’s hot start. Another strong running attack, which included two Trusty touchdowns, helped the Airedales build a 35-0 halftime lead en route to a 41-13 cakewalk against Clarksville on Friday.
Alma (4-0, 1-0) travels to Farmington on Friday. The Airedales are 4-0 for the first time since 2004.
“The passing, we really haven’t had to use this year,” Trusty said. “We’re getting six and seven yards a carry. We’ll pass it more when we get to Farmington, Harrison, and Shiloh (Christian), but right now we just haven’t needed it.”
When he does throw it, Trusty does so with pinpoint accuracy. He threw for 114 yards on 8-of-11 passing against Clarksville, including a 38-yard bomb to slot receiver Ian Rhoads.
Rhoads caught a career-high four passes for 76 yards.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I’ve been playing at Alma forever. I saw the safety drop, I saw Joe throw it up, and it was a perfect throw — it was a touchdown.”
Alma capitalized on great field position, converting a 19-yard scoring drive that culminated with Israel Towns-Robinson’s 3-yard touchdown run.
The Airedales scored on two other short drives, including the aforementioned 38-yard TD pass to Rhoads and Trusty’s bullish 21-yard run late in the first half.
Towns-Robinson added a 12-yard run and Carlos Gonzalez’s 63-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half.
“It’s nice to come out and win this one, and now we’ve got to carry over what we’ve worked on the last four weeks, which will probably be one of our biggest games of the year,” Trusty said. “We’ve got to beat Farmington if we want to be conference champs.”
“I told the kids we have to win them all at home, especially those at home,” Alma coach Rusty Bush said. “We’ve got a big one next week. I think the conference championship will go through Farmington. But we’re playing well; we’re playing with a lot of confidence.
“We’re excited to go chase the dream.”