After watching Bloomington North’s high-powered offense pile up 23 points in the first half Friday, host Greenwood figured the best way to keep the Cougars in check was to keep that offense off the field in the second half.
The Woodmen used their own offense to do that, and completely turned the tables after halftime.
Greenwood used its ground game to dominate the second half and completely flipped the script. The Woodmen rushed for 233 yards in the second half and 356 overall, and they held the ball for 18:51 of the last 24 minutes to nail down a 28-23 season-opening victory.
The Woodmen’s running back tandem of Noah Apgar and Ethan Haessig, along with a stout offensive line that controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half, combined for 338 rushing yards. Apgar rushed for 147 of his 180 yards in the second half and all four Greenwood touchdowns overall, while Haessig rushed for 158 yards.
“They were all over us in the first half,” Greenwood coach Mike Campbell said of Bloomington North. “We just put it on our offensive line. We knew we didn’t want to get in a shootout. We just wanted to do what we do — run power football. We needed the clock to run. I couldn’t be more proud of our running backs. They were just phenomenal.”
Apgar’s final score, a 7-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter, gave Greenwood the lead for the first time (28-23) and capped an eight-play, 78-yard drive. Ironically, that was the Woodmen’s shortest second-half possession.
Greenwood opened the second half trailing 23-14, but set the tone with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that ate up 6:19 and ended with an 8-yard Apgar touchdown. The Woodmen defense forced a Bloomington North punt from the Woodmen 43-yard line, thanks in part to an Ethan Stover sack, and that set up the Woodmen’s go-ahead score.
The Greenwood defense forced another stop, then the Woodmen took over at their own 20-yard line with 9:17 to play. They never gave the Cougars the ball back, running 19 plays and moving the ball to Bloomington North’s 2-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-1 at the 2 with 35 seconds remaining, Haessig took the handoff. He didn’t score a touchdown but got enough yards for a first down to end the Cougars’ hopes.
“We pounded our right side behind Carter Campbell at tight end and Cameron Ford at right tackle, Brayden Gardner and Collin Campbell (also on the offensive line),” Mike Campbell said. “Those guys really collapsed it. The backs saw things, and the ball wasn’t on the ground.”
Bloomington North opened the scoring on the first play from scrimmage with a 69-yard Cody Mikulich touchdown run. They piled up 153 rushing yards in the first half, but only managed 14 second-half rushing yards and only 40 second-half yards overall.
Greenwood hosts Indian Creek next Friday.
