Oregon rushes past Rock Falls in BNC matchup

OREGON – An old football saying states that a team should run the ball until the opponent shows it can stop it.

Even for a team like Oregon, which discovered its offensive stride through the air in recent weeks, that old adage can hold true.

The Hawks ran the ball 41 times for 415 yards in a Big Northern Conference 39-0 victory over Rock Falls on Friday that should set Oregon up nicely for its first playoff berth since 2014.

Junior running back Logan Weems rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter alone en route to a 15-carry, 174-yard performance that led the way for the Hawks (4-3, 4-3 BNC).

“The offensive line dominated today,” Weems said. “The defensive line balled out, doing their thing. We dominated up front.”

A week ago, in a pivotal win over Stillman Valley, Oregon relied instead on the pass, a stark contrast to Friday’s victory. It’s that offensive versatility, Hawks coach Broc Kundert said, that has Oregon staring a playoff berth in the face for the first time in nearly a decade.

“We felt we would be able to run the ball today,” said Kundert, whose team would virtually seal the spot in the postseason with a win at home next week over Rockford Lutheran. “[The Rockets] have good speed on defense, but we felt good about our front five against their front four.”

Oregon leaned on that advantage in unorthodox ways against the Rockets (1-6, 1-6), whose secondary defended the Hawks’ receivers nicely when Oregon did decide to pass.

In a two-minute drill before halftime, the Hawks abandoned the passing game entirely after each of their first two attempts were nearly intercepted. Four consecutive rushes by Weems methodically marched Oregon down the field for their fourth touchdown of the game, giving the Hawks a 27-0 lead at the break.

“We just ran traps after that,” Kundert said of the two close calls. “It was an unconventional two-minute drill.”

Weems helped the Hawks set what has to be some sort of record with a 63-yard touchdown drive that took one-tenth of a second off the game clock. A Rock Falls punt was downed with just 0.1 second left in the first quarter, and Weems promptly took the final snap of the quarter all the way to the house for a touchdown. The play was pivotal, as up to that point, the Hawks weren’t really dominant, holding just a 6-0 lead.

“I ran off the left and the blocks just lined up great,” Weems said. “Just a lot of green grass.”

Rock Falls was held to negative rushing yards in the contest, although junior Austin Castaneda had 31 passing yards while leading the Rockets with 26 receiving yards and 13 rushing yards.