Mooseheart fires on all cylinders

Updated: August 27, 2011 12:52AM

All the offensive wrinkles in the world a team tries to implement don’t mean a thing if the team executes poorly.

So it is a testament to the collective abilities of Mooseheart’s offense that the no-huddle approach and the spread offensive system perplexed only Alden-Hebron on Friday night. The Ramblers’ rolled up 448 yards of offense and defeated the visiting Giants 48-7.

“We put this whole new system in and they grasped it quickly,” Mooseheart coach Gary Urwiler said. “They executed extremely well, from our line to our skill players. When you have as many people touching the ball and making big plays as we did — we are going to be tough. For the first game of the year, it came together nicely.”

The decision to add some different looks to Mooseheart’s offense came in the offseason, and the Ramblers moved the ball well from their opening drive through the end of the fourth quarter, when the second-string offense was playing.

“My teammates and I, we’ve been working hard all summer long,” Mooseheart senior Noel Yarngo said. “We worked in camps, combines and in seven-on-seven competitions. I’m just glad that we had a victory today.”

Yarngo caught three touchdown passes from junior quarterback Jon Hart in the first half as the Ramblers moved to a 19-0 lead. Hart finished the game 16-for-21 for 224 yards and the three TD passes to Yarngo.

“It’s fun,” Hart said. “Everyone’s been working hard. Tonight, it just paid off.”

Hart threw passes to five different receivers and nine different Mooseheart players ran the ball in the contest. The Ramblers speed played a part in the contest. Six of the team’s touchdowns involved plays that covered more than 25 yards.

“It’s nice that we can dump the ball off and we can go 100 yards,” Hart said. “I don’t have to do anything but give it to the playmakers.”

Yarngo scored on pass receptions of 75, 32 and 26 yards in the first half. He finished with 6 catches for 169 yards and he ran the ball once for 29 additional yards.

“Jon and I have been working really hard,” Yarngo said. “We went to the Don Beebe camp over the summer and we really got it together. He just kind of knew where I was and got the ball to me.”

The key moment of the contest occurred at the start of the second half. Alden-Hebron took the kickoff and moved downfield in its most cohesive drive and scored when Shane Engelbrecht caught an 19-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Lalor.

Mooseheart failed to fold and scored on its next possession — with Isaiah Brigman running in from 12 yards. The Ramblers added touchdowns in the quarter on a 45-yard Daniel Tucker interception return and on a Brigman 62-yard run.

“Our defense played extremely well tonight,” Urwiler said. “We were worried being only up 19-0 at halftime and we knew they were going to come out and just pound us off-tackle. I called it in the locker room and they came out and we really had to respond. That spoke volumes for our team, being able to respond like that.”

Mooseheart hosts Luther North in the second week of the season in a Friday contest. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

“We’re going to be very happy tonight and we did what we wanted to do which was to come out, play successful football and to be competitive,” Urwiler said. “Things just went our way. Next week’s a whole new week.”

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