Tinora rides the route to rout of Highland
SPARTA — The Rams made the long road trip worth their while.
Traveling more than two hours by bus from near Defiance in northwest Ohio to southern Morrow County, Tinora was the opposite of road weary. The Rams, seeded No. 10 in Division V's Region 18, dominated in all phases in rolling over No. 7 seed Highland 37-7 Friday night.
Tinora showed they were loose from the jump.
On its first play from scrimmage, Rams senior Cole Anders took the handoff 76 yards for a score and a 7-0 lead.
Highland followed with an 11-play drive; however, it wasn't able to pick up the chunks of yardage fans had grown accustomed to seeing from the potent Scot’s offense. Tinora continued to swarm the ball carriers and make it difficult all night long.
"We have fought all year long. Every game we had was not easy," Highland coach Ty Stover said.
On its third possession, Tinora started with good field position and drove down the field behind its three-headed monster of a rushing attack with Grady Gustwiller, Anders, and Dallas Dachenhaus all in the backfield.
To start the second quarter, the Rams scored on its third play when Dachenhaus took a 4-yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked by Highland’s Chandler Stevens to keep the score at 13-0.
Tinora fumbled on the first play of the next drive, and Highland’s Aron West recovered. The Scots then strung together nine plays before a sack by Guisinger and a pair of flags killed the Scots drive.
Tinora received the ball with 5:31 to go in the first half. The Rams then put together an 11-play drive that was capped off by a 2-yard run by Gustwiller for a 20-0 lead.
Highland fumbled on its next possession, giving Tinora the ball and solid field position. With six seconds to play, Jacob Bishop hit a 31-yard field goal to make it 23-0 at the half.
Although trailing, Highland continued to fight, a testament to its senior leadership.
"These guys have been through a little bit of everything this year, a lot of adversity. I can’t be more proud of these guys," Stover said.
Tinora secured great field position and started its eighth drive of the game from Highland’s 27. After a flag, the Rams had the ball second-and-11 from the 28-yard line when Dominic Graziani found Gustwiller for a touchdown and a 30-0 lead to start the running clock with 7:21 left in the third period.
Later, Dachenhaus bobbled a handoff before rattling off a 25-yard touchdown run. This put the Rams up 37-0 with 7:45 remaining in the game.
Highland did not quit, as 2,000-yard Scots rusher Dane Nauman left his mark on the game.
"He’s gonna have one 50-plus (yard run)," Rams coach Jeff Schliesser said. "We knew it was coming, so contain him as much as possible."
With 6:19 to play, Nauman broke free and took the ball 52 yards for a Highland touchdown.
Graziani led passers with 55 yards and a touchdown. The Rams had two running backs over 100 yards as Anders had 119 and Dachenhaus added 102. The trio of backs for Tinora combined for 282 rushing yards.
Nauman finished the game with 102 yards rushing. Dachenhaus led the defensive stats with eight solo tackles, two sacks, and two tackles for loss.
Schliesser said he was “ecstatic” for his team.
"After all they’ve been through, the injuries and the adversity, (I'm) so proud of them and that they get to extend their season one more game," he said.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Tinora rides the route to rout of Highland
