Tornadoes blow by Little Giants 41-14 in opener

FREMONT — It was Week 1. Things were far from perfect, Columbian coach Judd Lutz admitted after Friday's game at Fremont Ross, but the way TC finished the game and controlled the line of scrimmage had the coach smiling afterward.Ross scored first and led 14-6 after one quarter, but it didn't reach the end zone again for the rest of the night as the Tornadoes dominated the Little Giants 41-14. "That's a good team and they have a lot of new guys they're breaking in and their QB was good at extending the play," Lutz said. "He had the capability of throwing it, but we stepped in front of a few. They had a lot of momentum early, but our kids didn't flinch. "It's Week 1, things are going to happen, but we came out on the right end of it. Credit to the kids, all the credit to the kids in how they played and prepared this week."Ross (0-1) had the momentum early as it scored on the first possession. New QB Karson Kayden looked good early with a 6-yard TD pass to Tykell Patterson to give the Little Giants the lead. But TC (1-0) responded with a 10-play scoring drive, capped off by a Brayden Roggow 2-yard pass to twin brother Bryce. However, the extra point was blocked. After a TC interception, Ross had the ball at TC's 1. It took just one play to make the score 14-6 as JD Moncrief plunged in from a yard out. Everything was going Ross' way with the lead after one quarter. But things changed after an AJ Hickman interception for the Tornadoes. It jolted the team, which resulted in a tie game as Damien Brockington ran in a 16-yard TD. Then Brayden Roggow continued to chew up the Little Giants secondary as he found Bryce Roggow again for a score — this time from 12 yards out — and then hit a 62-yard in perfect stride to Brady Gooding a few minutes later after a Jack Newlove pick. All of a sudden TC led 28-14 at the half. "They came out early and punched us in the mouth, but I think we responded really well," Bryce Roggow said. "This one meant a lot to us after losing to them the last two years and being back here … we took the punch and responded. (Brayden) gives me a look some times so I know he's coming to me, but tonight was my night and I was ready. "Credit to our offensive line because when we wanted to run the ball, we ran the ball and that's huge. We have to be able to do that and credit to Brockington for always being able to run it when we need him to."Ross got a three-and-out from TC to begin the second half to get the ball back, but the Tornadoes defense shut it down the rest of the way. "I'm interested to see the stat line on explosive plays because they have some really good athletes, but I thought on defense we did a really good job of limiting their explosive plays," Lutz said. "We limited those 20-yard plays and then coming up with that many turnovers is huge. They scored on the first drive and then with a short field, so again, it wasn't perfect, but the defense did a really good job against the run and in the pass coverage as well."Brockington made the score 35-14 in the third quarter on a 6-yard TD run and then added his third of the game with a 5-yard score in the fourth to put the game away. Brockington ran 24 times for 134 yards and added three grabs for 55 more yards for TC. Braydon Roggow went 13 of 18 for 244 yards and the three TDs. Bryce Roggow caught five passes for 87 yards. After having 70 yards rushing in the first quarter alone, Ross ended up with just 91 total Friday night, and the four turnovers didn't help matters either. "When we got behind, our energy and out enthusiasm went down the drain," Ross coach Chad Long said. "When you're dealing with young kids, we definitely have to fix that. You're gonna have some things happen in Week 1, but I was disappointed in the four turnovers on the offensive side because we're not going to win games if we do that and we have to win all three phases. "We knew they were explosive on offense, but we had our opportunities to move the ball on offense and make some plays. We just didn't make enough of them."The Tornadoes start 1-0 and now will open up at home next Friday against Chardon. A spicy matchup to say the least. "God be the glory win or lose and we love being on the right end of it," Lutz said. "We're going to enjoy this because it's not easy winning, especially in Week 1. We know that. We'll enjoy this for about the next 17 or 18 hours and then it's time to put together a game plan together against a good team."