Just Missed

The 2009 home opener was not the way the Tigers wanted to start as Red Oak lost to the Nodaway Valley Wolverines, 31-13.

In their opening drive, the Tigers marched down the field with a mix of passes by freshman Tanner Johnson and rushes by sophomore Seth Esias.

That all came to a screeching halt as Esias fumbled on the one-yard line, recovered by the Wolverines.

“I thought we’d climb back into it after that,” Red Oak Head Coach Mike Beason said. “We’re pretty young and it can be hard to get over something like that.”

The ensuing possession would be the only time in the first half the Wolverines would start in their own territory.

Nodaway Valley’s senior quarterback would strike first for the Wolverines with a five-yard run with 8:35 left in the first quarter.

The Wolverines would pick up another touchdown two minutes later as Blake Quam ran an interception in from 25 yards out.

“Offensively, we’ve just got to get better,” Beason said. “We’re trying to get better each week, but we lost up front again this week.”

Nodaway Valley added a Sam Lowry 39-yard field goal to end the half leading 17-0.

After running the spread offense the entire first half, the Tigers came out the second half with freshman quarterback Tanner Johnson under center and focused more on their running game.

Sophomore running back Seth Esias led Red Oak with 61 yards on 12 attempts, most in the second half.

“We’re just trying to do what puts us in the best positions,” Beason said. “We saw some opportunities to the shot-gun and to running with (Johnson) under center.”

The Tigers got on the board with a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Matt Goracke.

Goracke also caught a 12-yard scoring catch with under three minutes remaining in the game, and led the team with five catches for 59 yards.

Next week, the Tigers host the Missouri Valley Big Reds.

Mo. Valley lost their second straight game in an overtime loss to Underwood, 23-20.

“They are a really well-coached, physical team,” Beason said of the Big Reds. “They try to force their will on you, running right at you.”

The Big Reds are led by seniors Dustin Nelson and Nick Monzu on offense, rushing for 307 combined yards.

Monzu also leads the defense, at middle linebacker, with 37 tackles in their first two games.

“We have to stop the run,” Beason said. “We’re going to have to win the battle up front and it should be a good game.”