Trojans storm into Center Point
After four weeks of climbing uphill against ranked opponents, the South Tama County Trojans got back in the win column with a 20-6 victory over Center Point-Urbana last Friday.
The Trojans’ offense took a new approach in Week 7 with senior Jacob Collison moving up from the line into the quarterback position and Kyler Smith taking on the role of an all-purpose back, at times lining up as a receiver and others starting from the backfield as a running back.
In his debut, Collison kept the Trojans upright completing 5-of-10 passes for 37 yards and no interceptions.
South Tama did all of its scoring on the ground against a CP-U squad that looked asleep at the wheel.
For most of the night, STC stacked the box against the Pointers, with often two or three running backs in the backfield and one or two receivers split to the outside.
Boden Koehler led the South Tama charge carrying the ball 15 times for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Under center, Collison ran as much as he passed, rushing 11 times for 44 yards and a touchdown.
In total, six running backs gave the Trojans a rotating arsenal of big athletic bodies to pound away at the Stormin Pointer defense. Andres Lugo, Kyler Smith, Rudy Papakee and Gavin Bridgewater all saw multiple carries throughout the game.
While the South Tama offense zeroed in their ground game, the defense was the true dynamic force in Friday’s contest.
Against a struggling Center Point-Urbana team, the Trojans forced three interceptions, three fumbles and sacked the quarterback three times.
The Trojans got one of their touchdowns from a first half pick-six by Kyler Smith who intercepted CP-U’s Braylon Havel and took the ball 68 yards into the end zone.
Shortly after, Andres Lugo came up with another interception putting South Tama’s offense back onto the field.
Lugo also came down with a fumble recovery in the game along with Papakee and Bridgewater.
Junior defensive back Nolan Upah was the other Trojan to intercept Havel Friday night.
Center Point-Urbana’s turnovers came in large part to pressure being applied by STC’s defense.
Havel ended up getting sacked three times in the back field courtesy of Collison, Bridgewater and Jordan Bly.
South Tama will have another competitive opportunity this week against Charles City (3-4), a team that also resides in the second tier of the District 3 standings with South Tama and Hampton-Dumont/CAL and behind West Delaware and Independence.
The Comets have presented a dual-quarterback offense, featuring senior Ian Collins who is regularly spelled by sophomore Jordan Foster.
Collins has been the most effective runner for Charles City as well, averaging 4.6 yards per carry and a team-high four rushing touchdowns.
On paper, the biggest threat within the Charles City offense appears to be senior wideout Mario Hoefer who has 402 receiving yards and three touchdowns through seven weeks.
South Tama will host Charles City Friday as the Comets make the two-hour trek south from Floyd County.