On the surface, St. Mary’s Colgan’s victory against Sedan Tuesday was yet another example of Colgan’s dominant athletes at the skill positions.
Despite playing the starters less than a full half, Colgan rang up 163 rushing yards on just 22 carries, showing off a dizzying array of speed to the outside and strength up the middle.
And that’s just the way that senior tackle Reagan Kays likes it.
“We go out there and get the job done,” Kays said. “We take on the personality of Coach (Kyle) Wolf. We just go out there and work so that the running backs can get their names in the paper.”
The senior dominated line, led by tackles Dylan Mjelde and Kays, guard Adam Barnes and center John Miller, has accomplished exactly that this season.
Heading into their game with Sedan, the Panthers were averaging 252 rushing yards per game. Making that even more impressive is that Colgan has continued to click with the ground game even after an injury suffered by senior starter Austin Riggs, who has 627 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on just 77 carries.
“They’ve really been playing well for us,” said Colgan Coach Chuck Smith. “They have good size, and they have been a large part of our success.”
So much so that backup runners Christian and Zach Smith have taken off, combining to average more than 16 yards per carry, while fullback Alex Evans has gashed defenses for more than seven yards per carry up the gut.
“I think our jobs became more important when Austin went down,” Mjelde said. “You don’t just replace an All-State running back like that. So we needed to continue to play well and open up holes for Zach and Christian.”
While the Panthers have four seniors starting on the line, they weren’t necessarily experienced heading into the season. Only Mjelde was a starter last season, meaning Colgan had to break in four new starters.
“We’ve just come together through repetition and drills, and we’ve built some unity,” said Mjelde, a self-proclaimed jokester known for delivering punch lines in the huddle. “We need to continue to develop and play well.”
Several of those same line players have made a similar impact on the opposite side of the ball, where the Panthers are allowing just 91 yards per game, and only 2.7 yards per carry.
Overall, the line has helped Colgan to chase its goal: a showdown with currently undefeated Smith Center in the title game.
“They’ve beaten us a couple of times in the state title game, and they broke our record,” Kays said. “We want to get a chance to play them again.”
Coach Smith said the line would have to continue its strong play for the Panthers to get back to that spot.
“I would say that a lot of people don’t notice what the line does,” Smith said. “But we won’t win the big one without them.”
Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134
