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Titans trounce Honkers

By Staff | Sep 20, 2013

It didn’t take long for the homecoming celebration to begin for the TGU football team.

The Titans scored 35 first-half points and cruised to a 41-0 win over Kenmare-Bowbells-Burke County on Sept. 13.

The Titans didn’t waste any time, posting 21 points on the board in the first quarter. Kendal Green scored on a 10-yard run, Eli Luna scampered in from five yards out and later connected on a 15-yard scoring run to Colter Thorp.

Despite being hot on offense, TGU head coach Scott Thorson said his team allowed the Honkers to move the ball.

“We came out offensively really aggressive,” Thorson said. “The defense sputtered a little bit. We had a hard time getting off the field, but fortunately didn’t give up any points. We got aggressive and went to the air the first few drives and punched them in. The main thing was trying to be aggressive.”

The Titans’ improved ability to move the ball through the air has made their offense even more explosive.

“It makes it awful hard to defense,” he said. “Teams, when they’re scouting and prepping for us, have a lot of things they have to prepare for. It’s nice to be confident when you get in that situation, when you need to pass.”

Although the team hasn’t given up a lot of points on defense, Thorson said there is still improvement needed. He feels getting healthy could kickstart that process.

“We’ve been a little banged up on defense, especially at the linebacker spot,” he said. “We’re getting some of those guys back but it got some kids valuable playing time. Getting healthy and get solidified as far as who is playing where. It’s tough to be really solid until you can do that.”

TGU added a 19-yard Luna TD run and a big 77-yard scoring run from Green in the second quarter to put the game away.

Cole Bethke blocked a punt and took it in for a TD in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.

TGU hosts St. John on Sept. 20 in a battle of 4-0 teams.

Thorson said the two teams have a lot in common.

“They’re going to be tough,” he said. “They’re one of the few teams around that can match us athletically as far as the skill positions. It’s going to be exciting to see how it pans out. Offensively, they’re a wide open team and throw a lot of things at you and try to utilize the speed at the skill spots.”

Thorson has emphasized taking care of the ball in practice this week as a key turnover could swing the game either way.

“That’s going to be huge,” he said. “We did some ball-handling drills we haven’t done much recently. That’s going to be a huge factor. Our kids are well aware of that now. They’ll hopefully be a little more assertive with handling the ball.”