Amongst the litany of cliches in sports, and in Football specifically, running to open up the pass is one that can be more than just a cliche. There are as many examples of that sayings validity as there are cliches in totality - that's what makes them cliche. For one night and on one field in Southwest West Fargo, the proof came often for the home team.
The heartbeat of the offense was Nathan Goldade. Every time he took the hand off it seemed like he could have taken it the distance. Okay, he wasn't quite that good but he powered the offense in a big way! But there was more than 100 other yards that came on the ground courtesy of other ball carriers. The lion share of that was on the legs of Hunter Hoffner. Each one hit pay dirt, Goldade did it twice. But like I said, the running opened up the passing game.
Starting quarterback Parker Sander only threw 5 passes in the game but he connected on each of them, with two connecting for big touchdowns to put the game out of reach early. The first passing score went to Tyler Terhark and the second was to Caden Jastram. Each of the scores came from 20 yards and out. Capping drives that were built on the ground, it was about as text book an approach as the coaches could have planned for.
The whole game went about as smoothly as a home opener to the Mustangs season as any of their fans could have written up! They controlled the game from the opening snap and even their backups managed to get points late in the game. 47 to 7. The score pretty much says it all.
But to add another 1,000 words to this, take a look at the picture of the game.
Picture of the Game
I was hesitant to choose it because I'm not looking to tear people down but I think it captures how the evening went as well any could.
Click the photo to see the rest of the evenings pictures!