Dade County blanks North Murray

Published 1:06 am Saturday, October 2, 2010

TRENTON — Dade County’s offensive efficiency, not to mention its size and strength advantage, overwhelmed visiting North Murray here Friday night.

Unbeaten Dade County rolled up 374 yards of offense, all on the ground, scored on six of eight possessions, including all four in the first half, and crushed the Mountaineers, 42-0, at Wolverine Stadium on homecoming.

It’s the first 5-0 start for Dade County since 1999 when it went 9-3 and reached the playoffs. Now 2-0 in Sub-region 7B-2A, the Wolverines simply overpowered the Mountaineers (1-5, 1-2).

“They physically outmatched us,” Mountaineers coach Larry Cornelius said. “The better team certainly won.”

It was evident from the start.

With two 300-pound tackles — Randy Holt (340) and Nic Lawson (320) clearing running lanes, the Wolverines’ John Hampton rushed for 109 yards on 13 carries and had touchdown runs of 2 and 7 yards.

Hampton’s running mate, Chris Little, also was effective, gaining 107 yards on just seven carries. He scored on a 26-yard run to cap a quick 63-yard, four-play drive to get Dade County’s touchdown parade under way with 10:02 left in the opening quarter.

David Page, Dade’s other running threat, scored two second-quarter touchdowns on runs of 25 and 23 yards as the Wolverines built a dominating 28-0 halftime lead.

Hampton and Page each have 10 touchdowns midway through the season, and are likely to add to those totals when the Wolverines take on Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe next week.

“I’ve been running this offense — it’s a hybrid wing-T — since 1999,” Wolverines coach Bradley Warren said. “We can throw the ball if we want to, but we’d rather set up everything with the run. Not a lot of teams have stopped this offense this season.”

Cornelius said the way Dade is running the ball, there’s no need to pass.

“They run at you and it’s up to you to stop them,” he said. “I think this is their year to make the playoffs and do well. We tried three defenses in the first half, just to try something to throw off their execution. We tried a fourth (a 6-2) in the second half and did a little better.”

Dade County’s season-high 362 yards rushing came last week in a 51-43 triple overtime victory over Gordon Central. The Wolverines also had 335 yards in a season-opening win over Gordon Lee.

 “Their offense is pretty good,” North Murray defensive lineman Dallas Bowers said. “Their tackles are humongous. It looked like 90 percent of the time they were getting off their blocks really well.

“I kept trying to get the defense fired up, but after their first two touchdowns we lost our mental edge, I think. That’s frustrating. “

Hampton’s second touchdown gave the Wolverines a 35-0 lead and reserve running back Jonathan Minor capped the scoring with a 2-yard run with 4:39 left in the game, shortened somewhat by a running clock in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Dade’s defense held North Murray to 122 yards of total offense — 75 on the ground and 47 passing. North Murray drove to Dade’s 15 late in the third quarter after Olinger Jackie Abernathy rambled 30 yards on a fourth-and-four play. However, quarterback Brady Swilling’s pass on the next play was intercepted by Dade’s Jared Torbett. It was Swilling’s second interception of the game.

“Their defense was tough,” Mountaineers running back Jon Olinger said. “They’re the biggest and probably the best we’ve played this season. We knew they were good but I thought we would have done better than we did against them.”

Coming off the close win last week, the Wolverines, 12-13 in Warren’s two-plus seasons, were determined to keep their distance from the Mountaineers, who were coming off their first varsity win last week against LFO.

They achieved their goal.