Safford hounded
By KYLE WILSON
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kwilson@crestonnews.com
LENOX — Coming into the first round of the eight-man playoffs, Grandview Park Baptist quarterback Wes Safford was a statistical Marino. The senior threw the ball this fall with spilling success, registering more than 2,000 yards passing, recording 27 passing touchdowns and adding an additional 15 rushing TD’s.
However Monday, he was merely the hunted.
Lenox’s defensive line of Landon Maynes, Lucas Dalton, Connor Lange and Dylan Douglas hunted down a discouraged Safford for six quarterback sacks. The Tigers have 44 total sacks. With that, Lenox has finished three games with six sacks or more.
Meanwhile, Safford threw for a dismal 125 yards — his third lowest season total.
“Us getting pressure was a combination of our (secondary) coverage and our defensive line,” Lenox coach Allen Dukes said. “We like our defensive line, they aren’t big but they have good speed. And we didn’t blitz much, those guys got great pressure on Safford.”
Sacks counts were Dalton (1), Lange (1), Maynes (2) and Douglas (2).
Hanging early
Grandview Park Baptist hung early with the No-1 ranked Tigers. The Defenders opened the scoring on a 29-yard touchdown reception by Ryan Humburg with 2:48 remaining in the first quarter. But Lenox (11-0, 6-0) responded when speedy running back Austin Christensen bolted 33 yards with 40 seconds left in the first, knotting the game at 7-all.
But Lenox pulled away late in the second quarter. Eric Hensley busted off a 44-yard TD and Christensen bounced off defenders for a 2-yard touchdown with one minute left in the first half.
At intermission, Lenox led 28-13
The Defenders threatened early in the third when Humburg scooped up a fumbled pitch and sprinted 44 yards for a touchdown, closing the deficit to eight, 28-20. Humburg finished with all three touchdowns for Grandview Park Baptist, two receiving and one defensive.
Hensley
The senior running back entered with 993 yards, seven short of the 1,000-yard mark. Hensley bruised Gradview Park Baptist for 125 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries, moving to 1,118 total rushing yards.
Since moving to eight-man football, Lenox has had a 1,000-yard rusher every year. Christensen, a part-time player, entered the game with 507 yards. He amassed 122 yards and two touchdowns, tallying 629 yards.
Barring the length of the Tigers playoff run, Christensen may reach the 1,000 yard plateau. If so, Christensen/Hensley would be the second backfield combination to accomplish the feat since Lenox moved to eight man.
“They have a nice backfield package,” Defenders coach John Safford said. “Hensley is a great running back. We didn’t have our legs late in the game, tackling him for four quarters takes a toll on our players.”
Next up
Lenox will host second-ranked Tri-County Thornburg (11-0) in the state quarterfinals Friday at 7 p.m.
Tri County defeated Ankeny Christian 64-43 Monday. They are led by left quarterback Andy Thomas and running back Colt Brumbaugh who registered four touchdowns against Ankeny Christian, moving his season total to 30.
A win and the Tigers will return to the UNI Dome Nov. 12.
Lenox Football Summary
Score
Points by quarter
GVPB 7 6 10 0 — 23
Lenox 7 21 6 6 — 40
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
GV — Humburg 29 run (DeGroff kick), 2:48
L — Christensen 38 run (Lange kick), :40
Second Quarter
L — Hensley 1 run (Lange kick), 10:44
GV — Hamburg 65 pass from Safford (kick no good), 10:03
L — Hensley 44 run (Lange kick), 4:32
L — Christensen 2 run (Lange kick), 1:00
Third Quarter
GV — Hamburg 46 fumble return (DeGroff kick), 8:16
L — Hancock 7 run (kick blocked) 3:09
GV — DeGroff 27 FG, :51
Fourth Quarter
L — Hensley 6 run (conversion failed), 9:07
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TEAM STATISTICS
GV L
First downs 6 16
Rushes-yards 22-25 63-286
Passing yards 130 41
Total yards 155 327
Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-2
Penalties-yards 1-15 7-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — L — Hensley 19-125; Christensen 23-122; Austin Hancock 21-39; GV — Safford 19-30
PASSING — L — Hancock 2-9-0 41; GV — Safford 9-27-0 125
RECEIVING — L — Dylan Douglas 2-41; GV — Humburg 4-98; John Eisenlauer 3-17
TACKLE LEADERS (solo-assists) — L — Dalton 5-6, Lange 5-5, Maynes 3-5, Douglas 3-4, Maynes 1-4
SACKS — L — Dalton 1, Lange 1, Maynes 2, Douglas 2
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