In a pair of football games played on Monday night at Polo High School’s Bob Shearer Stadium, the Panthers middle school team scored the final 26 points of regulation to defeat visiting Trenton 40-14, while the Trenton junior varsity continued their recent surge of strong play, racking up 361 yards rushing and five touchdowns to roll to a 34-12.
In the JV contest, Hunter McAtee amassed 143 yards rushing and three scores for the Bulldogs, with Ian Elbert adding 138 yards, a touchdown, and a successful two point conversion. Collin Taylor had a running score and 56 yards for Trenton.
THS opened the scoring on a 55 yard touchdown run in the first quarter by McAtee, with the two-point conversion failing, leaving the margin 6-0. Polo answered with a two-yard scoring run, with another failed PAT leaving the game tied at 6. The high scoring first quarter continued, as Trenton’s Elbert crossed the goal line from five yards out, with the conversion by Gabe Stark giving the Bulldogs a 14-6 advantage. A 62 yard run by Polo before the end of the quarter cut Trenton’s lead to 14-12.
By halftime, two more scores from the Bulldogs had given THS breathing room, as a 12 yard running score by McAtee (conversion no good) was followed by a 10 yard run by Taylor, with Elbert converting the two-point play that followed, making the halftime score 28-12.
After a scoreless third quarter, Trenton finished the night in the final quarter, on a 30 yard jaunt to the end zone by McAtee.
Gabe Stark had 24 yard rushing and defensively, finished with three tackles, including one for loss. Also for the Bulldog defense, Braydon Wiggins had three tackles, including one for loss; Bo Meeker a pair of tackles for losses; and Tim Kempton two tackles, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Wyatt Schneiderheinze and McAtee both had interceptions for the Bulldogs defense, leaving Trenton Plus 2 in the turnover battle for the night.
Coach Jon Guthrie told KTTNSports.com, “It was a great team victory tonight! Hunter McAtee and Ian Elbert did a great job running the ball, getting vertical, and cutting off their blockers. Collin Taylor also did a very good job at QB taking care of the football. Defensively, we played a physical game, causing three turnovers. Bo Meeker, Gabe Stark, and Braydon Wiggins shut the inside game down well, and the secondary made a lot of heads up plays getting two picks. Overall, I was very proud of our effort at Polo, competing hard for four quarters of football.”
Polo won the middle school football contest between the GRC rivals, 40-14. The game was close in the first half, as a 28 yard scoring pass and two point conversion by the Panthers in the first quarter was quickly answered by an 18 yard run by Trenton’s Aidan Weyer. The two point try failed, leaving Polo up 8-6.
The second quarter was topsy-turvy, as Polo struck on a 45 yard touchdown run, with the successful two-point try pushing the lead to 16-6. However, Trenton got a huge boost of energy to cut the lead to 16-14, as Mason Rongey scored on a 67 yard run, with the Weyer dash for two points cutting the lead down to 16-14. The key moment that cost the Bulldogs came on the kickoff, returned 70 yards for a touchdown, with the successful two point try leaving the halftime score 24-14.
The Panthers put the game away in the final quarter, with two touchdown passes and two successful conversions making the final 40-14 in favor of the home team. The Polo defense kept Trenton off the scoreboard over the final two quarters.
