HOLLAND — It looked like Bowling Green running backs Jackson Shafer, Brogan Pasley, and Ja’ceous Shannon were having a contest to see who could break the most tackles.
The senior trio had the bulk of the Bobcats’ 396 yards rushing to lead visiting BG to a 34-7 victory over Northern Lakes League cross-divisional opponent Springfield Friday.
“We’re definitely a physical group of backs,” Shafer said. “We want to break as many tackles as we can to fight for more yards.”
On a 34-yard run by Shafer in the third quarter, he broke five tackles, taking the Bobcats from their own 8-yard line to the 42.
Shafer says there is a “method to the madness” when trying to run through would-be tacklers.
“You’ve just got to keep turning, put the stiff arm and keep your head down,” Shafer said.
The 6-foot-1, 209-pound Shafer ran for 122 yards on 15 carries and one TD, the 5-8, 162-pound Pasley ran for 115 yards on 17 carries, and the 5-9, 184-pound Shannon bulldozed his way for 85 yards on 11 carries and one TD.
“Those kids have been playing together for two straight years and we ran for 3,300 yards last year and they are just taking off right where we left off,” BG first-year head coach Shawn Kiss said.
“Those kids work hard, they are great players, they are unselfish, they want to block for each other and they want to play for each other We controlled the ground, we ran the ball hard, we blocked well, and it was a good team effort.”
Shafer says there is another element to a strong ground game that is even more important.
“I’ll definitely shout out to my O-line,” Shafer said. “My offensive line blocks for me on every play. They got great blocks tonight and they get great blocks every game.”
BG evens its record at 2-2, while Springfield falls to 1-3. For the Bobcats, it was a bounce-back victory after falling to Anthony Wayne, 49-19, a week ago at Bobcat Stadium.
“We’ve been talking all week about how we need to just keep getting better,” Kiss said. “I thought we played well minus six minutes last week. This week we needed to move another step forward towards the (NLL) Cardinal Division, and that is exactly what we did.”
Three other BG backs got into the action—junior slotback Colby Joseph ran for 43 yards on four carries and one TD, junior Antwon Lawrence ran for 19 yards on five carries and one TD, and senior Noah Quintero ran for 12 yards on three carries.
Lawrence scored on a four-yard run in the second quarter, Shannon scored from one-yard in the third quarter, Shafer scored from two yards in the fourth quarter, and Joseph added a second fourth quarter TD with a five-yard run.
BG freshman quarterback Grant Gillespie, who was filling in for an injured senior QB Jamison Horst, completed 3-of-7 passes for 15 yards, including a four-yard TD pass to sophomore tight end Aiden Rohleder.
The Bobcats also took advantage of three turnovers on fumbles by the Blue Devils, including two recovered by Rohleder at his linebacker position and one recovered by 6-1, 302-pound senior defensive lineman Tyler Pierson, who pounced after a snap went over the Springfield QB’s head.
Springfield’s only touchdown came on a perfectly-thrown 52-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Logan Goodrick to junior receiver Byron Jackson with nine seconds remaining in the game.
