ELKHART – What a difference a day makes as Plymouth’s top rated Rockies left Elkhart Friday night trailing by seven and left Saturday evening with a hard fought win 23-14.
Along with his offensive line, his senior quarterback, his outstanding defense, Plymouth head coach John Barron was also willing to acknowledge some help from another key player – Mother Nature.
“(The weather delay for lightning) was good for us. I thought last night we were a little flat and they had us reeling defensively,” said Barron. “We were able to come back and sit down as a staff and look at our front. All we did was put our ends inside and it really helped us clean things up for our inside and outside linebackers who really played outstanding today. They made play after play after play.
Trailing 7-0 when the delay was called in the final seconds of the first quarter on Friday night the adjustment helped the Rockies neutralize a well prepared Elkhart Memorial squad but not before the jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
“On film and then in person they looked like a very well coached team,” said Barron. “They could very easily be 4-1 or 5-0. I believe in our kids and maybe even without the weather delay we figure something out and still win the game but that is a very good team.”
“I really have to hand it to our kids. We’re down 14 on the road, it’s a day game, it’s our second bus ride, our kids could have tossed it in. Our running game has been what has carried us but we know we can throw the football as well. There were a lot of points they could have just quite but we just keep finding a way to win.”
The way on this particular day involved an old standby – the option and Jack Barron. The Rockie senior quarterback ran the ball 50 times for 241 yards and three rushing TD’s.
“I think Mike decided it was going to be an option football game based on the wind. It really played a factor today taking away part of our passing game. It’s a read all the way, they were giving us the play,” said Barron. “They took away the fullback and took away the pitch but that gave us some good running alleys for our quarterback.
“I thought Trenton Garza played a tremendous game. Their nose tackle was very physical and I thought he played really, really well. Those guys are coming together, if you remember that was one of the question marks we had coming into the season. With the emergence of Hurford and LaFree getting healthy with Straka and Quintana they’ve taken command of that offensive line.”
The Rockies stay unbeaten on the year at 5-0 and are in action at Wawasee on Friday.
Score by Quarters
Elk. Mem. 7 0 7 0 – 14
Plymouth 0 0 8 15 – 23
First Quarter
EM – 8 Yd Run (Austin Arbaugh Kick)
Third Quarter
EM – Zach Hawkins 25 Yd Run (David Doyle Kick)
P – Jack Barron 6 yard run (Barron 2 pt. Conversion)
Fourth Quarter
P – Barron 20 yard run (Jeremy Splix kick)
P – Barron 1 yard run (Barron to Styers 2 pt. Conversion)
Rushing – (EM) Hawkins 19-71, Johnson 10-41. (P) Barron 50-241, Eveland 3-39, Splix 7-39, Hooten 2-29, Bacon 1-9, T. McMillen 2-4.
Passing – (EM) Z. Hawkins 12-28 142 INT. (P) Barron 2-5 63.
Receiving – (EM) Long 3-63. (P) Hooten 2-63.
Tackles – (EM) Donovan 17, (P) Bacon 7
