Smith's 4 TD runs lead BD to 49-10 rout of St. Francis
Coaches, football coaches especially, never see perfection in anything, but the four-TD outburst by Brown Deer against visiting St. Francis in the third quarter Friday was as close to perfect as Falcon coach Rob Green could ask for, as his squad celebrated homecoming in fine fashion with a 49-10 rout.
In that quarter, the Falcons gained 240 yards in just 13 plays (18.5 yards a pop) as running back Chris Smith ripped off TD bursts of 45, 23 and 29 yards and quarterback Brett Youngbeck executed a perfect option fake and went 66 yards for his own score, as Brown Deer blew open what had been a 21-10 game.
The energy and execution were a big relief to Green, whose team was overpowered by Pewaukee last week to drop it out of the unbeaten ranks. It was also a big change from a penalty-ridden first half that kept Brown Deer from exerting full control.
"It was important to us," he said. "We wanted to be quicker in our start. We were there physically (at the beginning of the game) but we just weren't quite there mentally. But it was a good second half. We wanted to set the tone in the third quarter. St. Francis is a proud program and we didn't want to let them back into the game."
The win lifted the Falcons to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in Woodland Conference play. They have virtually clinched a state playoff berth and more importantly gotten their confidence back.
"It felt like we were back to where we were supposed to be," said Smith, who finished with 220 yards on 16 carries and four TDs. "We really picked it up in practice this week. We weren't slacking off at all and we were going all out. And when everybody blocks, big things can happen."
Two-way lineman Tory Dibb knows that too.
"We like blocking for everyone," he laughed, noting that all Smith needs is a little seam where he can either hit the corner hard and beat everyone to the sideline or dart in between impossibly small lanes in traffic, "because if we block well, something can happen on almost every play."
Green said the edge plays got big help from the blocking of wide receiver Antwan Battles.
The Falcons took a 14-0 first half lead on a 43-yard TD pass from Youngbeck to Dominique Richie and a 27-yard explosion up the middle by Lawrence Rabon (6 carries-91 yards).
St. Francis (1-5) closed the deficit to 14-10 late in the first half on a Chris Steffes 36-yard field goal and an Evan Biller seven-yard TD run, but then Rabon ripped off a 57-yard blast up the middle to the St. Francis six and Smith took it in on the next play for a 21-10 halftime advantage.
"After what happened last week, we wanted to turn it up as a team," Dibb said.
The Mariners (1-5), got 75 yards rushing on 18 carries from Keyon Lawson and eight catches for 63 yards from Gage Cody.
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