No. 3 Bulldogs ground Falcons
Ertz, Mediapolis top West Burlington-Notre Dame 63-0.
Jesse Ertz had a monster night Friday against West Burlington-Notre Dame.
The Mediapolis senior quarterback completed 5-of-5 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns and ran twice for 53 yards and another touchdown.
That was in the first quarter.
Third-ranked Mediapolis needed just 13 plays to score six touchdowns in the first quarter on its way to a resounding 63-0 Class 2A District 5 rout over the Falcons at Bill Nelson Field.
The Bulldogs' 63 points - all in the first half - tied for the fourth-most points allowed in West Burlington history. The 63-0 loss was the second-worst in West Burlington history and was the worst home loss in the program's 51-year history.
Ertz showed why he already has verbally committed to play football next year at Kansas State. In his seven series, the Bulldogs scored seven touchdowns. That was in 25 offensive plays. The all-state signal caller finished the night completing 7-of-7 passes for 144 yards and two scores.
Mediapolis' defense did the rest, holding the Falcons to just four first downs and 76 total yards. Forty of those yards came in the fourth quarter against the Mediapolis second and third teams.
Mediapolis continues to be a model of efficiency.
"We just wanted to get out quick and put some points on the board and get the young guys some time," Ertz said. "We want to play with that attitude. But we can't come in thinking the other team doesn't have a chance."
"We wanted to come out and execute well. We wanted to protect Jesse as much as we could. I felt like we really did well up front giving him plenty of time so he could do his check downs and throw to the receivers he wanted to so we could get as many touchdowns as we could," said Mediapolis offensive and defensive tackle Forestt Stellern. "We played as hard as we could and just kept putting points on the board."
"We have a lot of kids who can make plays on offense. We executed our plays well. That was the key, getting the running game and passing game going early," Mediapolis coach Brian Borrison said.
Mediapolis (5-0 overall, 2-0 District 5) needed just two plays and 37 seconds to make it a 7-0 game. After Scott rambled 18 yards on the Bulldog's first play from scrimmage, Ertz connected with tight end Jesse Miller on a 52-yard touchdown pass over the middle.
On the Bulldogs' next possession, Ertz hit Jordan Wagenbach on a slant route for a 15-yard score. Five offensive plays, two touchdowns and a 14-0 lead in just 1 minute, 52 seconds of possession time.
"We were clicking pretty good. It all started with the guys up front. Throwing the ball, we had plenty of time. Running the ball, there were some big holes, good surge upfield. It's hard to lose with that performance from the line," Ertz said.
Dalton Scott carried twice for 39 yards, including a 24-yard scoring scamper, to make it 21-0 on Mediapolis' next possession.
Ertz had his own scoring drive on the Bulldogs' fourth possession. With the offensive line opening huge running lanes, Ertz gained 23 yards on his first carry, then sprinted 30 yards to paydirt on his next run to make it 28-0.
Scott capped a four-play, 31-yard drive on the Bulldogs' next possession, barreling in from five yards out.
Mediapolis had the ball for just 2:53, ran 13 plays, covered 210 yards and scored five touchdowns for a 35-0 lead.
"We take pride in being efficient on offense and having the ability to score big plays. Our first group continues to do a wonderful job with that, moving the ball through the air and on the ground and not putting ourselves in very many third-and-long situations," Borrison said.
Mediapolis' defense got on the scoreboard moments later. Miller stepped in front of a Da'Shon Johnson pass intended for Jaden Poole and returned the interception 56 yards to make in 42-0.
There was still 2:17 left in the first quarter.
"I think our defense is a little under-rated," Ertz said. "We have a pretty athletic secondary. We want to create some chaos."
"We wanted to stop them and keep them from scoring. We came out and did what we wanted to do and executed our game plan," Stellern said.
Mediapolis had its second string in the game early in the second quarter.
WB-ND was left to wonder what had hit them. The Falcons have a crucial game next week at Louisa-Muscatine.
"Hat's off to them. They've worked very hard to get where they're at. We told our guys that's the goal of our program. Hopefully this kind of loss can motivate the program. Our guys know what it takes. It's not talk. It's got to be action," WB-ND coach Jeff Housel said. "This is the type of game that isn't won or lost tonight. This is the type of game that's lost in the previous nine months. We talked about that after the game. Our young guys have to set the bar high for themselves in the offseason."
MEPO WB-ND
First downs 18 4
Rushes-yards 37-268 19-13
Passing yards 151 63
Comp-Att-Int 9-9-0 9-20-2
Total offense 419 76
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2
Punts-average. 1-61.0 7-25.2
Penalties-yards 4-34 3-20
3rd Down Efficiency 4-7 2-9
4th Down Efficiency 1-2 0-0
Time of possession 23:14 24:46
Scoring by quarters
Mediapolis 42 21 0 0 - 63
WB-ND 0 0 0 0 - 0
Scoring
M-Chase Miller 52 pass from Jesse Ertz (Elijiah Wolfe kick)
M-Jordan Wagenbach 25 pass from Ertz (Wolfe kick)
M-Dalton Scott 24 run (Wolfe run)
M-Ertz 30 run (Wolfe kick)
M-Scott 5 run (Wolfe run)
M-Wagenbach 56 interception return (Wolfe kick)
M-Drew Buster 2 run (Wolfe kick)
M-Cole Erickson 1 run (Wolfe run)
M-Drew Massner 7 pass from Drew Foster (Wolfe kick)
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Mediapolis - Scott 5-73, Ertz 2-53, Foster 7-48, Buster 6-37, Erickson 15-37, Jacob Eberhardt 2-20. West Burlington-Notre Dame - Da'Shon Johnson 6-12, Daryl Van Rycke 6-6, Ian Prickett 5-3, Team 2-(-4).
PASSING: Mediapolis - Ertz 7-7-0-144, Foster 1-1-0-7. West Burlington-Notre Dame - Johnson 9-20-2-63.
RECEIVING: Mediapolis - Wagenbach 2-64, Miller 1-52, Scott 1-14, Set Bietz 2-7, Caleb Gerst 1-7, Massner 1-7, Mike Poggemiller 1-0. West Burlington-Notre Dame - Seth Garrison 1-24, Prickett 4-19, Xavior Williams 2-10, Wesley Bloomberg 1
