MTZ football wins first home game
Zac Girard receives the handoff on his way to a touchdown in a 44-13 win against Limestone Community High on Friday night at Mt. Zion football field.
By BLAKE FAITH
Staff Writer
Seniors Matthias Adams and Christian Keyhea scored two touchdowns apiece as the Mt. Zion football defeated Limestone Community High School 44-13 in non-conference play. Matthias Adams ran for 123 rushing yards and Keyhea racked up 116 receiving yards.
Matthias Adams broke the scoring open on the second play of the game. His brother, sophomore quarterback McCovey Adams handed him the ball as he rushed 57 yards for the touchdown. The extra point was good to make the score 7-0.
The Braves’ defense forced a second straight stop and then their offense put three more points on the scoreboard. Brayden Traxler nailed a 29-yard field goal to put the Braves up 10-0.
The Rockets failed to score once again, but saw rushing efforts from Frank Driscoll and Merick McNeese and their quarterback made two completions for 32 yards during that series.
The next time up for the Braves’ offense saw McCovey Adams throw a 44-yard pass to Keyhea that placed the Braves within four yards of the end zone. Senior running back Zac Girard scored for the Braves rushing the ball for a four-yard touchdown to give the Braves a 17-0 lead over the Rockets.
The Braves got the ball back and McCovey Adams threw a 20-yard pass to Christian Keyhea to set the Braves up at the 50-yard line. Matthias Adams picked up where he left off. Matthias Adams when he broke open for a 30-yard rush to get the Braves to the 20-yard line. Matthias
Adams finished the drive by rushing in a one-yard touchdown to give the Braves a 24-0 lead.
“Matthias is our leader on both sides of the ball,” Mt. Zion head coach Patrick Etherton said.“He does a great job defensively, again, our kids lined up and made tackles and then offensively, he’s got such long legs. And he can run and it’s a lot of fun.”
The Rockets got themselves on the board during their next drive. Quarterback Caleb Beineman found Sam Morse found a 24-yard pass. Driscoll finished the drive with a two-yard rushing touchdown to narrow the Braves’ lead 24-6 before halftime.
The Braves started their first drive during the second half with a 14-yard rush from Matthias Adams. McCovey Adams then found Keyhea for a 21-yard passing touchdown to give the Braves a 31-6 lead.
Christian is just a phenomenal athlete, phenomenal football player,” Coach Etherton said. “He made some great plays and got tackled inside of five twice, so he could’ve had a couple more touchdowns. But he’s doing stuff that he didn’t do the last couple years. He’s putting his shoulder down, he’s trying to, run people over so to run around, he’s understand blocks and understanding coverage more and his routes and he’s matured. He’s a scholarship football player for reason and it’s fun to watch.”
The Rockets’ quarterback Beineman gave them their final touchdown early in the third quarter. Quarterback name found Morse for a 10-yard passing touchdown to narrow the lead to 31-13.
Rockets’ running backs Driscoll (86) and McNeese (38) finished for a combined 124 rushing yards. Morse finished with 87 reception yards. 16 finished 6/10 with yards
McCovey Adams finished the game with 9/14, 124 passing yards and two passing touchdowns in his debut.
“That’s really what we want efficiency, especially in the first game as a sophomore,” Coach Etherton said. Wec have a kind of more extensive package for him and what we do, but for the first game is just getting through the first game jitters at home. So now I think he’s gonna feel more comfortable. I think he’ll continue to mature and flourish and it’s pretty awesome when you get the brothers back there with McCovey and Mathias. I think that’s a pretty neat deal.”
The Braves scored twice more behind McCovey Adams one-yard pass to Keyhea touchdown and Adam Lutz rushed for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Braves a 44-13 win.
The Mt. Zion football team is 1-0. The Braves will travel to Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field to face the Mattoon Green Wave on Friday. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
“I mean the quarterback tonight was good and Mattoon’s quarterback is good,” Coach Etherton said. Jackson Spurgeon is really good and has started a couple years and is now a three-year starter. So for us, it’s going to be working on stopping what they do. Their kids are really well coached. But I think we’re happy with what we did, but we go back and watch film that shows the little things here and there. But it’s easier to do that after winning as a loss. So our kids will be ready, and we’ll see what happens.”
