Sports Staff

Clay Central-Everly physically dominated Kingsley-Pierson on both sides of the ball en route to a 36-0, season-opening victory. The Mavericks outgained Kingsley-Pierson 471-30, with 416 of those yards coming on the ground.

"We did a lot of good things tonight. We got off the ball pretty decent and we had success with our running game," said Clay Central-Everly head coach Kevin Fahnlander. "We still have a lot of things we need to work on though, too."

Lance Englert led the Mavericks' ground assault, gaining 140 yards on 24 carries in one half of action. The Panthers' defense was given no respite, with Kasey Kunzmann and Caleb Batschelet combining for 139 yards on just 15 carries. Wes Christensen added 96 rushing yards and a touchdown while passing for 48 yards and two scores.

"It was a good experience game for some of these younger guys who played," commented Fahnlander. "We had some younger guys get in the game pretty early -- everybody played."

Lance Englert bulled in from the 1-yard line to score his first of two touchdowns on the night to give Clay Central-Everly an 8-0 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Christensen connected with Aaron Berberich for an 18-yard touchdown pass and scored on a 26-yard touchdown run. After Englert's second rushing touchdown, this one from three yards out, the Mavericks had a 30-0 lead going into halftime.

Clay Central-Everly added its final touchdown in the third quarter with an 11-yard pass from Christensen to Austin Klett. Klett added 7.5 tackles for a Maverick defense that flew to the ball and stymied the Panthers.

"Defensively we hit pretty well. We do a lot of tackling drills and we hit." commented Fahnlander. "Once you teach them how to tackle, they can learn how to hit. There's a big difference between being a good tackler and being a good hitter."

After the successful opener, the 1-0 Mavericks travel to Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn next Friday with hopes of continuing the positive momentum.

"It's been awhile since we won our first game of the season. This game really helps a lot," said Fahnlander. Now when you get after 'em in practice, it's a lot easier for them to take when you win. We still have the goal of just getting better each week."