West all-stars run past East, 33-6

Imagine watching a loaded freight train start its journey from a dead standstill. At first the motion is almost imperceptible, then maddeningly slow. But once it comes to speed and its momentum is clearly evident, there is no question that it can get through just about anything.

That may well be the experience of the East squad after Saturday's 31st annual Sertoma 8-Man Classic, as the West All-Stars utilized a brutal ground game to take a 33-6 victory.

Saturday's game was notable as both teams struggled to establish offensive consistency and take advantage of opportunities generated by their defenses. The West team found itself time and time again  operating on the East's side of the field, but time and again the East defense rose up and held when it needed to.

The sole first half score came on the opening drive of the second quarter.

Quarterback Taylor Baumert entered the game for the East and almost singlehandedly put his team in the lead. Baumert kept the ball for gains of 14 and seven yards, then broke through from his 41 and headed for the right corner of the end zone before being dragged down at the two.

On the next play Kyle Davis went over for the score and a 6-0 lead.

Despite its offensive struggles in the first two periods, the opening possession of the second half showed the West team serving notice that the game's momentum had shifted.

The East was held to a pair of three-and-out possessions in the third period, while the West ate up nearly five minutes of clock with a 13-play, 52-yard drive that culminated in a 3-yard run by Kiefer Burke.

On its next possession, the West used an 18-yard punt return by Taylor Dixon to start well inside East territory.

 Eight plays later, Brad Dvorak bulled through the center of the line for a 1-yard touchdown, and the train was indeed rolling at top speed.

The West scored on each of its next three possessions, while the East managed only one first down for the remainder of the game.

The West got another short scoring run from Brett Christensen, then capped a drive with its only pass completion of the day.

Adam Snyder took a pitch on fourth down and headed right, then pulled up to launch a strike to Kyle Giffin for a 21-yard touchdown.

East Coach Ken Swanson made the decision to go with Baumert again in the fourth quarter, but the West defense managed to both harass and contain him, forcing four straight incompletions to regain the ball for its offense.

This time it was Dixon who brought the crowd to its feet as he kept right, pulled away from a jersey tackle and broke down the right sideline for a 42-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes left in the game.

"Tyler came in and made some spectacular plays for us in the first half," Swanson said. "He really led the offense and gave us a spark. In the second half they really bottled him up. We just couldn't find an offensive rhythm.

"We didn't take advantage of our first possession, and they kept attacking and established a lot of momentum. We ended up with a lot of three and outs and our defense got really tired."

West coach Duke Waln said his team deserved credit for making the adjustments it needed to at halftime.

"The big thing was that we made some adjustments on what our guards were doing," he said. "Their ends were doing some twisting, and we did a lot better job against that in the second half. Our plan was to stay simple, be physical and run the ball, and we were able to do that.

"Defensively we only gave up one big play all day. In the second half we didn't let their quarterbacks get outside at all. It all comes down to pride and respect for the game."

Cody Childers of Leyton won offensive MVP honors for the West team, as he finished with 126 yards on 16 carries. Axtell's Justin Swedburg was picked as the defensive MVP. Baumert was the offensive MVP for the East on the strength of that second quarter drive, while Derek Rodine of High Plains was the defensive MVP.