Bulldogs crush Clarke for homecoming, XC wins Adel meet
Van Meter’s homecoming week started with a big win on the trails and ended with Friday night fireworks. (Note: Events covered Sept. 18-24)
Football (5-0)
Van Meter’s homecoming dance was on Saturday, but they were dancing all Friday night en route to a 42-10 win over Clarke (2-3) to keep their undefeated season thriving. The Indians struggled early and often, as the Bulldogs took a 27-0 lead in the first quarter.
Finding a way to score from just about every angle, Van Meter was led by running back Ben Gordon’s 141 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. Head coach Eric Trudo praised his tailback’s versatility helping open up the offense this season, as this marks four consecutive games over 45 points.
“Ben recognizes that our offensive line is working to get better each week and they have done a very good job of working together to create the holes for him and then he is able to utilize his power and speed to break away for some of those explosive plays,” Trudo said. Gordon’s longest run of the night was a 45-yard score.
And even players getting limited touches made an impact, as Caleb Moore leaped into the end zone off one carry, as did Porter Doggett and Cael Trudo caught the lone passing TD from Austin Baumhover.
Those opportunities came at will, as the Bulldogs recovered a team-forced sack fumble while Andon Watson caught an interception in the first half. Now Trudo hopes to see the defense continue improving as more difficult 2A competition is on the horizon.
“We have tackled pretty well overall and we have limited the other team's scoring opportunities, so that is still a very good trait we have continued to carry on,” Trudo said.
The Bulldogs will host Chariton (3-2) on Friday. The Chargers started off hot but have lost their past two games and haven’t scored more than 17 points since Week 2.
Cross Country
Van Meter made the little hop over to Adel on Sept. 18 where the girls reestablished themselves as a top power this season with a team win among the nine attending teams (Note: ADM’s varsity team was incomplete).
Emma McCoy had the team’s top time of 20 minutes 9 seconds for third place. Running through immediately behind her were Brooklyn Fryar at 20:38 and Laura Streck at 21:01. Together, the trio has helped the Bulldogs hold fifth place in the latest Class 2A poll.
The boys’ team sat in the middle with a fifth place finish where Luka Hulse held the team’s top time of 18:38 for 16th place. Cael Reimers took 28th at 19:28.
Volleyball (9-7)
Following a 3-0 loss at Des Moines Christian (17-3) on Sept. 19, the Bulldogs went to a Saturday tournament in Nevada where the team went 2-2.
The first win came against Bondurant-Farrar (11-9) where Teya Speltz scored 12 times for a season-best 5.7 kills per set, helping win 2-1 over the Bluejays. Led by 14 assists from Haedyn Rebelsky, Van Meter also won 2-0 over Des Moines Lincoln (5-11).
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bulldogs crush Clarke for homecoming, XC wins Adel meet
