Larson, Lanear lead Eagles rushing attack in 37-6 rout of Belton

by Michael Smith

     Heavy rain drenched Moody Murray Memorial Field before the start of Grain Valley’s Class 5 District 7 semifinal football game against Belton.
     Thunderstorms caused the game to be delayed by one hour as the game kicked off at 8 p.m.
     The type of weather conditions that occurred on Friday make it difficult for teams to throw the ball, so teams often elect to use a run-heavy approach when there is heavy rain or high winds.
     That fit right into the style of play of the Eagles, who have leaned on the run game for most of the season. They rushed for 376 of their 414 total yards from scrimmage as Grain Valley run roughshod over Belton 37-6 Friday.
     Grain Valley will host Raytown in the district championship game at 7 p.m. next Friday. The Blue Jays took down rival Raytown South 49-12 in their semifinal contest.
     “We feel like we can stop the run and we were afraid of the pass,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “We felt (the weather) fit into our hands. We also like to run the ball a little bit.”
     That last sentence might be an understatement as Grain Valley leaned heavily on the run. In the first half, Belton was selling out to stop runs up the middle. That opened up outside runs for senior quarterback Caleb Larson who shredded the Pirate defense by carrying the ball 10 times for a whopping 222 yards.
     He ran to the left side and he scampered for a 93-yard TD on Grain Valley’s first drive. He scored on a similar run with 3:11 left in the first half when bounced out to the left side, juked a Belton defensive back with a hesitation move and scored from 52-yards out to make it 23-0, a score that held until halftime.
     “Caleb is a fast guy,” senior Christian Lanear said. “Once he gets 5, 10 yards on you, you aren’t going to catch him.”
     Added Allie: “They tried to take away the B gaps from us because that’s where we like to run a lot. We had to bounce a little bit and run outside. Caleb ran it well for us today.”
     So did Lanear, who ran hard and broke quite a few tackles against Belton. The senior hasn’t been known for power running but showed he could do it Friday as he rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
     He helped ice the game for the Eagles in the second half. He scored on a 13-yard run on the first drive of the third quarter in which he broke two tackles and carried linebacker Aiden Walton into the end zone with him.
     “I know the other two backs (DJ Harris and Ty Williams) are bigger than me and they are known for putting guys on the ground,” Lanear said. “Tonight I took the opportunity to show that I am versatile and that I can put you in the turf.
     “I have been in the weight room doing squats and getting bigger.”
     Lanear also scored Grain Valley’s final touchdown when he went into the end zone from 23 yards out untouched in the third quarter.
     While the offense was humming, the Eagles’ defense continued to dominate. Coming into the game, they gave up just 16.7 points per game. On Friday, the defense held Belton to just 132 yards.
     In fact, the Pirates didn’t score on offense as their only touchdown came on a fumble return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.
     Senior safety Keagan Hart led the defense by recovering two fumbles from Belton running back Javon Minor. And he did it with a cast on his right arm, protecting his broken wrist.
     His second recovery led to a 1-yard TD run from Harris that was set up by a 38-yard play action pass from Larson to junior Anthony Greco.
      “I kind of just cradled (the fumble recoveries) with two arms,” Hart said even while having a cast wrapped around one arm. “I still go for interceptions and play the run like I need to.”
     Grain Valley even got a safety after junior Gabe Storment blocked a punt from Zach Lattimer that rolled out of bounds into the end zone.
“That was a game changer early in the game,” Hart said of Storment’s blocked punt. “That put a couple points on the board for us.”

Photo credit: John Overstreet