ELKHART —
Coach Tim Dawson gave his Class 4A No. 3-ranked Concord High School football team a goal heading into an NLC opener Friday night at Elkhart Memorial.
The Concord Minutemen, the defending conference champion, looked good in the opener posting a 47-0 victory.
“We told the kids we wanted to establish an identity for this team,” the coach said. “We looked good in all three phases of the game. We are the defending league champion, but that doesn’t mean we can take a week off. We have to come ready to play each week.”
Dawson was especially pleased with his “Strike Force” defense.
“We have a bunch of guys that run to the ball,” Dawson said. “We have a group with motors.”
The Minutemen led 27-0 at halftime.
“The plan was if we scored again early in the third we could pull guys like (seniors) DuWhan Alford and Franko House who are two-way players,” Dawson said. “It turned out we pulled the two of them and the other regulars with about 8:00 left in the third.
“We played some seniors that don’t usually get the chance to play much and that was nice. We also got to play a lot of JV kids. We told them we wanted to preserve the shutout and they did it.”
Senior quarterback Ryan McKibbin directed the Concord offense into the third quarter. He completed 12 of 20 passes for 152 yards and four touchdowns.
“Ryan had three interceptions last week and we told him he had to do a better job taking care of the ball this week,” Dawson said. “He had a pick but did a better job with the ball. We had a high snap in the shotgun and he covered the ball so we could kick a field goal. He did the things we needed him to do. He managed the game.”
McKibbin also carried the ball seven times for 38 yards.
“Ryan (6-3, 235) is not as fast as a running back, but he is pretty hard to bring down,” the coach said.
It took Concord just :54 to score when McKibbin connected with House on a 37-yard TD. House went up in the air and made an impressive one-hand grab to cap a four-play 80-yard drive.
Alford ran for 18 yards on the game’s first play and McKibbin followed with a 25-yard scamper to the M-37.
The McKibbin-House duo also hooked up on a 10-yard TD with 1:41 left before halftime.
McKibbin tossed a pair of TDs to senior Dakota Simon. One was a 19-yarder at 3:05 of the first period and the other a 15-yarder at 9:48 of the third.
Simon was helped off the field after the second TD.
“He had cramps,”Dawson said.
Backup signal caller junior Trevor Wilmore passed 7 yards for a TD to junior Austin Glanders at 4:13 of the third.
Junior reserve running back Larry Smith got in the scoring column with a 9-yard running TD with 1:31 left to play.
Concord (2-0) at NorthWood and Memorial (0-2) hosts Goshen next Friday.
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Concord quarterback Ryan McKibbin throws the ball against Elkhart Memorial Friday night. Memorial's Dimetri Chatman watches. SAM HOUSEHOLDER | THE GOSHEN NEWS
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