"Icing on the Cake" Homecoming Win For ACGC, 42-12

Forty some years ago former Coon Rapids football coach Randy Beving made this comment about homecoming week. "Of all the activities going on during the week, the football game is the icing on the cake in what is a great week for the students. And a win makes that icing taste even better."

With the ACGC 42-12 homecoming win over Des Moines Christian on Friday, that icing had an especially sweet taste as it kept the Charger season record unblemished at three wins and no losses.

The game didn't start out the way the Charger faithful would have hoped, as the locals lost a fumble to DMC at the ACGC 34 yard line on the game's second play from scrimmage. The defense came through at that point and the Lions was forced to turn the ball over on downs.

ACGC responded with 72 yard drive that included straight ahead running, a completed pass, an end sweep, and ended with a four yard plunge by Charger fullback Gavin Conrnelison to give ACGC a lead it would not relinquish. Charlie Crawford's PAT gave the hosts a 7-0 lead with 6:10 remaining in the opening frame.

After the Charger defense forced the Lions to punt from their own 15 yard line, ACGC began a drive near midfield that carried over into the second stanza. On the tenth play of the drive Cornelison again hit pay dirt on a seven yard run with just over eleven minutes remaining in quarter number two. Crawford's successful PAT increased the ACGC lead to 14-0.

The ensuing Lions' fifteen play drive stalled at the ACGC 32 yard line and the Chargers took over on downs. They were unable to move the ball and had to punt the ball away. DMC returned the favor after the Chargers' Mike Fuller sacked the Lions' quarterback for a 13 yard loss.

The final ACGC scoring drive of the half began from its own 42 yard line with 1:48 showing on the clock. A six play drive that included a pair of passes resulted in the third Chargers' touchdown--a seventeen yard toss from quarterback Brock Littler to Cayden Jensen just twenty seconds before the break. After a failed PAT the Chargers went into the locker room with a 20-0 halftime lead.

The second half found the Lions passing the ball on nearly every down to test the ACGC pass defense. On its first possession DMC threw on all seven plays from scrimmage, ending with a 10 yard touchdown toss from Josh Shank to Own Fadden.

A successful on side kick recovery by the Lions set things in motion for the second Lions' score of the quarter. A ten play drive ended with another Shank to Fadden score halfway through the third quarter and closed the Chargers' lead to 20-12.

As Charger fans began to get a little nervous, ACGC responded in business like fashion with a 10 play, 58 yard drive that found Cornelison again hitting the end zone on a 6 yard score with 3:30 remaining in quarter number three. The senior fullback added a two point conversion to increase the lead to 28-12.

The Lions' returned to the air once again, throwing fourteen passes as it moved from its own 18 yard line to the Chargers' 22 yard line. The fourteenth pass wound up in the hands of Charger defensive back Austin Kunkle who returned the interception 78 yards for a touchdown and ended any serious DMC challenge. Jensen's kick increased the home team's lead to 35-12.

The final score of the game came on a six play, 65 yard drive by ACGC that concluded with a one yard plunge by Cornelison with just over two minutes to play. Jensen's PAT made the game's final score of 42-12, and the icing was added to the cake!

Cornelison led the Chargers' ground game with 131 yards on 21 carries, while Jensen picked up 83, Crawford 65, and Littler 57. On the defensive side Jensen and Cornelison had 7.5 and 6.5 tackles respectively.

The Chargers' mentor, Cody Matthewson, seemed pleased to have homecoming behind his team. "It is a good feeling to get out of non district play with our loss column unblemished. I am looking forward to a week where we do not have to downplay the distractions of homecoming activities. We start district play this upcoming week and these are the games that now have playoff implications.

"We need to focus on improving our technique and fundamentals this week. These kids played one of the most physical games offensively and defensively that I have seen in a long time. The extra motivation of DMC players tearing up an stomping on our logo pre game was a little extra bulletin board material before kickoff."

The Chargers will travel to Stuart to face West Central Valley on Friday to begin district play.

Score by quarter:

DMC 0 0 12 0--12

ACGC 7 13 15 7--42

ACGC statistics: Passing: Brock Littler (6 passes, 4 completions for 35 yards and one touchdown)

Rushing: Charlie Crawford (6 carries for 65 yards and no touchdowns) Anthony Solorzano (1-14-0) (Cayden Jensen (9-83-0) Brock Littler (7-57-0) Gavin Cornelison (21-131-4) Seth Reno (1-4-0)

Receiving: Ben Marsh (1 reception for 8 yards and no touchdowns) Charlie Crawford (1-17-1) Cayden Jensen (2-10-0)

Kick returns: Tegan Slaybaugh (1 for 7 yards)

Punts: Cayden Jensen (1 for 45 yards)

Interceptions: Austin Kunkle (1 for 80 yards and 1 touchdown)

Tackles: Ben Marsh (4 total-2 solo-1 sack) Charlie Crawford (2.5-2-0) Miles Kading (1-1-0) Reid Rumelhart (1-1-0) Austin Kunkle (4.5-4-0) Cayden Jensen (7.5-7-0) Brock Littler (2.5-2-0) Griffen Ayaers (1.5-1-0) Gavin Cornelison (6.5-3-1) Seth Reno (4-2-1) Preston Zimmerline (.5-0-0) Dallas Jacobe (1.5-1-1) Payton jacobe (2.5-2-1) (Mike Fuller (1-1-1) Jed Weinkoetz (.5-0-0)