Front and center holding the Steve Kriegel Trophy and singing the school song are Justin Suchanek (left), Clayton Rosenberger (center) and Peyton Rutledge (right). The Trojans 38-8 win over the Grinnell Tigers will keep the trophy at home for the second year in a row. Chronicle Photo/Allison Graham

South Tama and Grinnell. It’s an age-old rivalry that is alive and well. For the second year in a row the Steve Kriegel trophy that is awarded to the victor will stay at South Tama. The trophy honors Kriegel, who graduated from STC in 1970. He went on to serve as the head football coach at Grinnell for 14 years, where he tallied 89 wins. Kriegel died from pancreatic cancer in 1997.

The Trojans have operated a predominantly “run first” offense under head coach Jay Hoskey’s reign. But after mother nature forced Friday’s game to be postponed until Saturday, fans were rewarded by seeing the versatility of the Trojans’ offense. Saturday was the debut for newly minted junior starting quarterback Clayton Rosenberger who took over after two-year starter Dalton Doyle graduated in May. While there is always work to be done, Rosenberger certainly proved that he has earned the title after a solid outing on Saturday.

With last year’s 1197-yard rusher Jerry Lowe suffering from a leg injury in the preseason, talk was circling as to whether or not he would play. With an extra day of rest due to the weather postponement, Lowe was able to suit up on Saturday and gave the Trojans a high quality performance despite limited minutes. Lowe finished with 110 yards and two touchdowns on six carries.

“When I came in the linemen, everybody did everything great,” Lowe said. “Everybody got their blocks. That made it really easy for me to look for the holes.”

A new face to the varsity lineup is sophomore Isaac Judge. Judge put the Trojans up 13-0 in the first quarter after intercepting a pass by Tiger quarterback Cade McKnight.

It was also the debut game for kicker junior Nathan Weiss. The Trojans had a big hole to fill in their roster after graduating last year’s starting kicker Adrian Castanon. Castanon finished last season as one of the top field goal kickers in the state and is now a kicker for Coe College. Weiss appeared up to the challenge however; as he was five-for-five in PATs and scored the Trojans’ only points in the second half off a 27-yard field goal on Saturday.

When talking offense it would be amiss not to mention Peyton Rutledge. Rutledge is a go-to guy for the Trojans as a fullback, linebacker, and one of four team captains. He closed out the night with 74 yards on 11 carries, one sack, and a team leading six solo tackles.

“It was amazing,” Rutledge said. “Being able to keep the trophy, and keep things rolling and on a high point. Everyone did their job, we got things done and got the win. It was a good time.”

South Tama’s receivers, led by seniors Colson Frakes and Cody Kellogg, have grown leaps and bounds over the past year and now pose a real threat to almost any defensive backfield. Kellogg rounded out the first quarter with a 26-yard touchdown and Frakes finished with 71 yards on four receptions. One of Frakes’ receptions was a 49-yard, first half bomb from Rosenberger that would set up a Trojan touchdown run from Ruben Garcia.

Defensively the Trojans imposed their will against the Tigers and held Grinnell to just 182 yards of total offense. With a 38-point lead in the fourth quarter the Trojans were able to sit their starters for the entire quarter.

“We think we’re capable in every area of the game,” Hoskey said. “We have pretty good special teams guys, good return guys. We have kids that can play outside and catch the ball. So, we wanted to try and do a little bit of everything. For the first time out, we made some mistakes, but we were glad to be up 35-0 at halftime. After that, it’s a little bit like, ‘well, let’s get this thing done.'”

STC will be on the road next week where they will take on Vinton-Shellsburg (1-0).

“It’s quite a different team,” said Hoskey, “Vinton is a very physical team, they’ve got some quick backs (and) some big kids up front. It will be more of a battle in the trenches probably than this one, at least defensively. We’ve got to get ready and clean up what we’re not doing real well and improve every week. That’s our goal.”

STATS

Rushing: Lowe 5-120, Rutledge 7-77, Garcia, 6-26, Vest 6-15, Kellogg 1-11, Chyma 2-7, Judge 1-6

Receiving: Frakes 4-71, Kellogg 1-26, Lasley 2-24, Rutledge 1-9

Solo Tackles: Backen 3, Brown 2, Chyma 3, Cronk 1, Davenport 1, Dostal 3, Ellenbecker 2, Frakes 5, Garcia 4, Graves 1, Judge 1, Kellogg 1, Kucera 2, Lasley-Shields 3, Moncada 2, Morris 1, J. Probasco 2, T. Probasco 2, Rosenburg 3, Rutledge 8, Ryan 1, Shrock 5, St. John 3, Thede 1, Thiessen 1, Vest 2, Votrobeck 1

Interceptions: Chyma 1 for 8 yard return, Judge 1 for 64 yard return, Kellogg 1 for 12 yard return