Eagles sophomore running back has career game in 63-25 blowout of Belton

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
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The Grain Valley football team got some bad news earlier in the week.
 
Junior running back Sjoeren Aumua was diagnosed with a broken collarbone, which was an injury he suffered in last week’s 28-14 loss to Kearney.
 
He was the Eagles’ leading rusher with 703 yards and seven touchdowns. Head coach David Allie needed someone to step up.
 
Enter sophomore Dawson Head.
 
Head had a career game Friday against Belton as he rushed 235 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries as he helped fill in as Grain Valley’s bellcow running back during a 63-25 blowout of the Pirates at Moody Murray Memorial Field.
 
In previous games, Head has split carries with Aumua, and will now be getting the majority of the carries as Allie said he anticipates that his leading rusher will be out six to eight weeks.
 
Head is known as one of the fastest players on the team, but on Friday, he showed he can be a physical runner as he broke some tackles against the Pirate defense. He scored on a 53-yard run in the first period in which he made one cut to avoid a tackle and ran the rest of the way untouched; he scored on a 10-yard run in which he got good blocking and hit pay dirt untouched; and he broke two tackles and got a TD on a 43-yard jaunt at the 1:25 mark in the second period.
 
Allie said Head has progressively gotten better as a runner and said his sophomore has handled the increased role well.
 
“He’s very explosive and very fast,” Allie said of Head. “He’s starting to learn to run behind his pads and keep his feet moving. He did a great job for us tonight.”
 
Head said it will be an adjustment not sharing carries with Aumua.
 
“It’s a big challenge to take that on,” Head said. “Our plan coming into the season was to balance it out and use both of our talents and eliminate the defense’s strengths. I took it very humbly. The coaches really prepared me well for this.
 
“I also owe everything to the offensive line. They have done everything for me.”
 
The Eagles dominated on both special teams and in offense. Junior Terrell King was a big part of that as he scored on two end around runs of 9 and 45. His first score was set up by a kick return to the Belton 5-yard line from senior safety Brody Jones.
 
Allie said he plans on mixing in some others in the running game to help fill in during Aumua’s absence, including King. Junior tight end Zach Dowhower, sophomore running back Brody Davis and quarterback Chase Neer may see a bump in carries, as well.
 
“It felt good to get involved in the run game and get the ball more,” King said.
 
King added to the stellar special teams play with a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown in which he juked two Pirate defenders with 6:10 left in the first. The play was Kings’ fifth kick or punt return score of the season.
 
“It's special to have someone like that you can give the ball to,” Head said of King. “We can spread the ball around and it’s nice to know how fast both of us are.”
 
Added Allie: “(King) is an explosive athlete. We will look to be multi-dimensional and get the ball in his hands and our other athletes. He juked a couple of guys on the punt return. He’s a joystick out there.”
 
 
Other Grain Valley scores came on a 9-yard jaunt from Davis; an 80-yard run on an option run from Neer and a 5-yard pass from Neer to Dowhower.
 
Neer had 94 yards on two carries and Davis added 54 yards on 10 carries.
 
Belton kept the game competitive early in the first as senior quarterback Cooper Shrum connected on deep touchdown passes off 88 and 49 to junior wide receiver Caleb Campbell. The Pirates missed an extra point and had a failed two-point conversion and were down 14-12 after their first two scores. After that, Grain Valley ran away with it and scored 28 unanswered points.