ADRIAN -- Converting on a trio of key fourth-down plays in the first half Wednesday night, the Adrian Dragons scored a touchdown on two of their first three drives, and found the end zone three more times to earn a 36-6 victory over Murray County Central in a Little Sioux Conference football game.
Adrian finishes the regular season with a 4-4 record and will host a Section 3A quarterfinal game Tuesday night against Southwestern United. MCC (1-7) will play either Cedar Mountain/Comfrey or Springfield on the road Tuesday.
"It was good to get a win and finish the regular season with some momentum," Adrian head coach Randy Strand said after the game. "Our offensive line did a pretty good job tonight and opened up some nice holes for our running backs, and we played solid defense, too."
Adrian quarterback Brett Nowotny (6-for-12 passing, 55 yards; 70 yards rushing) ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw a six-yard scoring strike to Jesse Brake (21 carries for 131 yards), who also added a 37-yard touchdown burst. Brock Bullerman scored the Dragons' final touchdown on a 52-yard surge in the fourth quarter.
MCC's Kyle Blomgren got the Rebels on the board with a 10-yard touchdown dash with 4:16 remaining in the game.
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Adrian, which rushed for 340 yards and limited MCC to 168 total yards (160 rushing), nearly scored on the game's first possession, as Brake returned the opening kickoff 40 yards to set the Dragons' offense up at MCC's 41-yard line.
Brake then carried the ball three straight times on dives up the middle, with his second attempt going for 29 yards (from the 39 to the 10). He then gained seven yards to set up a second-and-goal from the 3-yard line.
However, MCC made a goal-line stand -- stuffing three straight runs by the Dragons and taking over on downs at the 1-yard line.
Justin Reinsma (nine carries for 63 yards) got loose for a 38-yard surge on the Rebels' first play, but MCC was forced to punt from its own 44-yard line after gaining just five more yards.
Adrian took over at the 25-yard line following a booming kick by Travis DeLong, and three plays later, faced a fourth-and-1 situation at the 34-yard line.
Rather than punt the ball right back, Adrian went for it -- with Nowotny keeping the ball on a sneak up the middle and racing 66 yards untouched to the end zone. Adam Diekmann added the point-after kick, and the Dragons had a 7-0 lead with 5:05 left in the first quarter.
MCC was in a similar position on the ensuing series, as two rushes from Eric Wieneke (16 carries for 40 yards) and one from Scott Beech brought up a fourth-and-1 at the Rebels' 44-yard line.
The Rebels also opted to go for the first down, but Adrian stopped a run by Beech just short of the sticks and took over on downs inside MCC territory.
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Three plays later, Adrian converted on its second straight fourth-down play -- using a fake-punt pass completion (Diekmann to Danny Parsley) on fourth-and-4 from the 39 to get a fresh set of downs at the 30.
Nowotny and Diekmann (seven carries for 35 yards) later hooked up for a 26-yard completion down the left sideline, setting up a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line just as the first quarter came to a close.
Then, on fourth down from the 6-yard line, Nowotny rolled to his right and fired a strike to Brake in the end zone for a touchdown. Diekmann's extra-point attempt was no good, but Adrian increased its lead to 13-0 at the 10:30 mark of the second quarter.
The Dragons extended the lead to 21-0 just before halftime, as Parsley set up the game's third touchdown with an interception at MCC's 13-yard line.
After a penalty moved the Dragons back to the 22, Nowotny completed a 15-yard pass over the middle to Parsley and then ran for a 7-yard touchdown along the right sideline on the next play. Brake added the two-point conversion, as the Dragons took a three-possession lead with 31 seconds remaining in the half.
Adrian made it a 28-0 game in the last minute of the third quarter, as Brake capped a five-play series with a 37-yard touchdown gallop. Diekmann's point-after kick with 53 seconds to go was good.
Bullerman (five carries for 60 yards) then broke off a 52-yard touchdown run up the middle with 8:13 left in the fourth quarter. Diekmann completed a pass to Parsley on a broken play, as the two-point conversion gave Adrian a 36-0 bulge.
MCC answered with its only scoring drive, marching 63 yards on six plays to score with 4:16 left.
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Blomgren started the possession with a 17-yard run and finished it with a 10-yard scoring burst. Wieneke had a 20-yard gain on the series, while Beech and quarterback Chris Halbur picked up nine and seven yards, respectively, to help the Rebels cut it to 36-6 (the two-point attempt was no good).
Bullerman made 12 tackles to lead Adrian's defense, while Steve Loosbrock and Tanner Loosbrock each had 10 tackles. Parsley and Brake had eight tackles apiece for the Dragons.
MCC 0 0 0 6 -- 6
Adrian 7 14 7 8 -- 36
