By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
After fighting the stomach flu this week, McAuley Catholic running back Brant Russell was anxious to play.
“He came to school (Friday) morning and he was pretty fired up,” Warriors head coach Brenden Gubera said. “He said ‘Coach, I’m going to play tonight. I’m going to have one of the greatest games I’m going to have this year tonight.’
“And he did.”
Russell, 190-pound senior, rolled up a career-best 252 yards on 13 carries as the Warriors notched their first victory with a 48-0 decision over Drexel on Friday night at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.
Quarterback Austin Metts contributed 165 yards passing and hooked up with wide receiver Kevin O’Keefe for three touchdown strikes as McAuley (1-2) picked up 422 yards total offense.
“The key was execution,” said Russell, who scored on runs of 38, 58 and 77 yards. “Last week (in a loss to Afton, Okla.) we weren’t executing. Our line did an excellent job. Everybody got off the ball.”
Metts, 160 junior, hit his first four passes and finished 11 of 16 with scoring throws of 38, 39 and 17 yards to O’Keefe, a senior who caught six for 116 yards.
“We knew they were going to cram seven or eight guys in the box,” Gubera said. “I think we actually game-planned six of the first seven plays to be passing plays to try to loosen them up. Once we got them loosened up, it gave us a crease to run the football.”
The Warriors, ahead 7-0 after the first quarter, broke the game open with four second-quarter touchdowns, all on big plays.
Russell broke loose for touchdown scampers of 38 and 58 yards in the first six minutes of the quarter. Russell broke two tackles in the secondary on his first trip to the end zone, and four minutes later, he broke one tackle and sidestepped another on a toss around left end.
“We want Brant Russell to touch the ball as much as possible,” Gubera said. “We know good things can happen when he does.”
Metts found O'Keefe behind the Bobcat secondary for touchdown strikes of 38 and 39 yards. In the third quarter O’Keefe jumped between two defenders to make the catch in the end zone.
The big plays weren't limited to the Warrior offense. McAuley's defense came up with four interceptions — two by Sam Maher — and a fumble recovery while allowing 103 total yards.
The Bobcats' longest play — a 33-yard completion from Austin Allen to a leaping Blake Seba in the second quarter — was short of a first down after sacks by Maher and Russell left Drexel facing third down-and-37.
“Defense played great,” Gubera said. “We preached all week playing assignment football. We planned to try to take away their main plays, and we did. We could have had three more picks because our kids were in position. They knew what to look for, and they executed it to a T.”
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Russell, O’Keefe power Warriors
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