Football: Johnson Creek blows out Marshall in season opener, 34-7

JOHNSON CREEK — Sure, Johnson Creek's football program lost some great players to graduation last year.

They've got more.

Senior quarterback Tanner Herman threw for a score and ran for a score and junior running back Luke Hartz had rushing and receiving touchdowns to highlight Johnson Creek's 34-7 victory over Marshall to open the season on Thursday at Glover Field.

The Bluejays dominated up front on both sides of the ball, outgaining the Cardinals 441-225 for the program's first win over Marshall since 1989.

That was head coach Tim Wagner's third season with the Bluejays. Thirty-five years later, he remembered the time well.

"It was our third year," Wagner said. "We were in the ESC and we went 5-4. We don't play them every year, but the last two years we played them. Competitive games.

"They are a quality program. Matt Kleinheinz is a great coach. They've won their conference I don't know how many years in a row. I know they had some kids banged up tonight with some injuries, but his kid (junior quarterback Brady Kleinheinz) can really spin the ball.

"We were obviously concerned about that. We were physical up front, which is what we wanted to be. Our line was phenomenal tonight."

The Bluejays rolled up 326 yards on the ground. Herman led the way with 13 carries for 126 yards, including a 17-yard TD run with 4 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first quarter. Herman converted the first of his four made point after attempts to make it 7-0.

Senior fullback Edin Martinez, a converted lineman who carried the ball 10 times for 65 yards, played a key role in Johnson Creek's second scoring drive.

With his team facing a fourth-and-1 from Marshall's 27, Martinez plowed through a gang tackle attempt and picked up 23 yards to the 4, then plowed in on the next play as Johnson Creek took a 14-0 lead with 10:21 remaining in the second quarter.

"The second effort ... they ran hard tonight," Wagner said. "We switched things up. We went from a spread formation to a Power T. I haven't run that in a long, long time.

"I was really impressed with our kids' physicality. They were hitting out there. I say this over and over. I give some much credit to Logan Peot, our strength and conditioning coach. Our summer program paid off tonight in the third and fourth quarters."

Marshall dug itself a bigger hole on its next series with a botched exchange which Johnson Creek junior nose tackle Jallen Carlson fell on at the Cardinals' 41-yard line.

Three plays later, Herman rolled to his right and threw back to Hartz, who split two defenders and raced 37 yards to the house to make it 21-0 with 9:11 left in the half.

"Great set up (on that play)," Hartz said. "We're working on something new there. We've got Tanner back there. I love him. He's one of my best friends. For him to put that on me, it's really special."

Marshall finally responded with a 72-yard scoring drive, converting twice on makeable fourth downs to set up Mitchell Pletcher's 4-yard TD run with 2:27 left in the half.

The Cardinals recovered a fumble soon after, but the Bluejays held on downs. Herman just missed a 36-yard field goal attempt from there and Johnson Creek took a 14-point lead into halftime.

The defense forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter and reclaimed a three-score lead on Hartz's 36-yard touchdown run. He bounced left after clearing the line of scrimmage and made a nice cut to set up his second score of the night with 9:03 to go in the third quarter.

After watching his older brother, Silas, bulldoze opponents, Luke Hartz showed off a different skill set.

"I'm not so head forward," Luke Hartz said. "I am not as big as him, I get to work around people. I am faster than him."

Junior center Logan Zirbe and Martinez were the only returning starters on the line entering the season. So far, the new line is coming together nicely.

"We've got a little adversity there, but I think we're pushing through it great," Hartz said.

"I love it. I love this team. We've been working on it. I played on this team freshman year with the JV a little bit. It's a bunch of dogs, man.

"We work together good. We don't get mad at each other. We fix things. I think we've got a great team here, and I really like what's working for us."

Kleinheinz did more damage with his feet (four carries for 74 yards) than his arm (6-of-17 for 63 yards), but he did hit Pletcher on a 30-yard strike up the sideline as the Cardinals tried to get back in the game.

Marshall marched to Johnson Creek's 2-yard line, but the Bluejays foiled the drive from there. Junior linebacker Evan Malueg sniffed out Kleinheinz's naked bootleg attempt and dropped him for a 4-yard loss.

Two incompletions later, the Cardinals turned it over on downs.

"I think the big key was, they came and scored with about 3 1/2 minutes to go into halftime," Wagner said. "Big key, if we can get a stop and score, we can really put them back on their heels and that's what we did, and we ended up getting another score at the end."

Junior running back Owen Blakey added 14 carries for 69 yards and capped Johnson Creek's scoring with a 3-yard touchdown with 3:15 left in the contest. Herman's two-point pass attempt fell incomplete after another bad snap.

Herman completed 8-of-10 passes for 115 yards in his first game as the team's QB 1.

"It's crazy," Herman said. "It's a new experience. It's different for the whole team, but we're working with it. It gelled well. We had a great three weeks of practice. We're a whole different team, so we're just out there working, trying to stay in a bundle and all work together.

"Our Power T we installed, we try to get up there quick, try to run them until they are tired. We know we're getting tired, but we're just doing it with a smile on our face. We're getting yards.

"Another play was the Springfield pass. The cornerback either had to choose the corner or the 9-yard hitch. They kept taking the corner, so we just had the 10 yards every time."

Herman's best run of the night went for 48 yards. He chased down a bad snap deep in the backfield and turned a busted play into a race into the red zone.

"There were a couple times where things went wrong, but we turned it into something magic," Herman said.

"It's surprising. You go out there, see if you can make something happen and we did."

Herman returned to lead a new-look secondary and picked off a deep heave by Kleinheinz in the fourth quarter.

"He spins it well," Herman said. "We've got two new guys on the DB. We just tried to go through our coverages and our reads. He threw one up and I just went up and got one."

Junior defensive back Aiden Smith led the defense with eight total tackles. Malueg had six and Herman had four.

"Our corners are out there to contain and they do it great and us safeties, we try to break in there and make a tackle," Hartz said. "It's really about physicality.

"You've got to be mentally prepared to hit somebody. I don't think it hurts, but if you are in that mind zone, I don't think anything can faze you."

Johnson Creek travels to take on Deerfield next Friday.

JOHNSON CREEK 34, MARSHALL 7

Marshall 0 7 0 0 - 7

Johnson Creek 7 14 7 6 - 34

First Quarter

JC — Herman 17 run (Herman kick)

Second Quarter

JC — Martinez 5 run (Herman kick)

JC — Hartz 37 pass from Herman (Herman kick)

M — Pletcher 4 run (Reichelt kick)

Third Quarter

JC — Hartz 36 run (Herman kick)

Fourth Quarter

JC — Blakey 3 run (pass failed)

Team statistics — First Downs: M 10, JC 21. Total offense: M 225, JC 441. Rushing: M 31-162, JC 45-326. Passing: M 63, JC 115. Fumbles-lost: M, 1-1, JC 2-2. Penalties: M, 9-75. JC, 8-60

Individual statistics — Rushing: M, Kleinheinz 4-74, Timpel 10-56, Meyer 9-24. JC, Herman 13-123, Martinez 10-65, Hartz 6-53, Wilbanks 2-16, Blakey 14-69. CF Drews 17-111. Passing (comp-att.-int.) — M, Kleinheinz 6-17-1, JC, Herman 8-10-0. Receiving: M, Pletcher 3-42, Timpel 2-19. JC, Hartz 3-82, Hartwig 4-32.