by BJ Fictum

MILLIGAN — An Exeter-Milligan punt block midway through the third quarter changed the face of the Timberwolves’ game with Meridian Friday night, and Mother Nature’s influence didn’t help either.

The Timberwolves went with a ground game despite the muddy conditions while Meridian found success in the air, according to head Mustang Clint Jones, but that punt was the catalyst in E-M’s 46-26 win.

“They are a good team and we played hard, especially in the first half,” Jones said, “but eventually we didn’t have enough in the tank. Overall, we played well — we just had two tough games the past couple of weeks.

“It’s not like we’re losing to teams we shouldn’t lose to; they are good teams and playing them will help us down the road.”

Jones said the aerial game worked extremely well for the Mustangs, who compiled 249 yards passing.

“We had good success passing then E-M decided they weren’t going to get beat by Ryan Meyer,” he explained. “They geared up for the run and did a good job with defending that. We did well passing and that’s the most yards we’ve gained through the air; it doubled our passing yards from the first three games combined.

“Unfortunately, that’s where we run into trouble sometimes because our ground game usually sets up our passing game.”

The punt Jones referred to came at the 5:41 mark in the third quarter.

The Mustangs had a great punt that pinned the T-Wolves deep in their own territory. The punt receiver took the ball, ran a couple of steps then slipped and fell.

Unfortunately for Meridian, the officials called offsetting penalties and Meridian was forced to replay fourth down.

This time, the Timberwolves blocked the punt and took over at the Meridian 16-yard line.

One snap was all Mitch Horne needed to score E-M’s fourth touchdown of the night. Ryan Harre had the two-point conversion run to give the team a 32-20 lead with 5:33 to go in the stanza.

“A good punt went from a good thing for us to a great thing from E-M,” Jones said. “We had played pretty well the first half, matching them score for score, then in the third quarter we had that blocked punt. After that, things fell apart for us. It just seemed we lost the momentum and E-M really seemed to increase its drive, its intensity and its will to win really went up.”

Horne also kicked things off to start the game as the Timberwolves put together a six-play scoring drive.

Horne capped the series on a 9-yard scamper into the end zone then added the two-point conversion run at the 8:12 mark for an 8-0 front.

The Mustangs answered right back as quarterback Jonah Jordening connected with Dillon Wolfe and two plays later threw a 48-yard touchdown pass down to Dustin Rohr with 6:42 on the clock.

A Jordening-to-Wolfe aerial tied the game 8-all.

E-M’s next drive traversed the quarter break and ended just over two minutes into the second stanza.

Rischling dove over the goal line on the seventh play of the drive and Shane Manning ran the pigskin into the end zone for the two-point conversion and the 16-8 lead.

Meridian had another quick response.

It only took four snaps before Brandon Bartels, Dylan Nash and Josh Aude cleared the way for Brian Heiserman to scamper 5 yards for a touchdown. The PAT run failed, leaving the Mustangs trailing 16-14 at the 8:42 mark.

The Timberwolves also found success in the air as Horne linked up with Greg Pribyl for one gain then handed off to Manning for another big rush down to the Meridian 5-yard line.

With 3:19 left before halftime, Ryan Harre scored the touchdown and Manning added the two-point conversion run as the lead increased to 24-14.

The Mustangs had one last offensive thrust on the next series as Jordening hit Meyer for a 60-yard touchdown. The PAT attempt fell just short, leaving the margin at 4 points as intermission arrived.

Jordening also favored Eric Bartels and Shane Roesler with aerials during the third quarter, but he was picked off by Rischling to end that threat.

Horne’s 19-yard TD immediately following the blocked punt helped widen the gap to 10 points with 5:33 left in the period. Harre’s run added 2 more points to the 32-20 front.

Meridian turned the ball over again as Pribyl nabbed a Jordening pass near the MHS 30-yard line.

Rushes by Harre and Manning fueled the eight-play series that ended as Horne tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Ethan Kattes. The score pushed the T-Wolves ahead 38-20 with 38 ticks remaining.

As Brant Stewart and Mason Mailahn cleared the way, Meyer carried the ball past midfield as the fourth quarter began, but the series stalled after another turnover.

The T-Wolves needed only three plays to capitalize on the free opportunity.

Manning  broke free on a 41-yard obstacle course, crossing the goal line with 8:50 on the clock. Harre’s PAT run made it 46-20.

Meridian’s final tally came with over six minutes remaining.

Jordening capped a five-snap drive on a 10-yard touchdown pass play to Wolfe, setting the final at 46-26.

The Mustangs had a few problems defensively, Jones said

“E-M started running from their left side to our right side; they were getting 5-6 yards per carry,” he said. “We tried changing things up, but their linemen had picked targets and we didn’t have an answer for their rushing attack.

Meridian meets a 2-2 Dorchester team at Nerud Field this Friday. The Longhorns fell to Pawnee City 34-32 last week.

“At this point…when you are 2-2 and hoping for playoffs, you can’t take anyone lightly,” Jones said. “We will need to play well to win because Dorchester is playing pretty well right now.”

This Friday, the Timberwolves travel to unbeaten Freeman, which beat Deshler 46-26.

E-M 46, Meridian 26

E-M    M

First Downs    14        7

Rushes-Total Yards    n/a-312            33-62

Passing (Comp-Att-Int)          7-12-1  12-27-4

Net Passing Yards      114                  249

Total Net Offense       n/a-426            60-311

Punts-Average            1-39.0  4-33.8

Fumbles Lost  2          0

Penalties-Yards           6-50     2-15

Exeter-Milligan (3-1)  8          16        14        8 — 46

Meridian (2-2) 8          12        0          6 — 26

E-M Individual Stat Leaders

Rushing: Shane Manning 19-148, 1 TD; Harre 22-79, 2 TDs; Horne 19-68, 3 TDs.

Passing: Horne 7-12-1, 114 yards, 1 TD.

Receiving: Greg Pribyl 2-60, Dillon Rischling 2-23, Ethan Kattes 2-22, 1 TD.

Takeaways: Pribyl 3 INTs, Rischling 2 INTs.

Leading Tacklers: Horne 15 (9 unassisted), Rischling 13 (6), Manning 9 (4), Kattes 8 (3), Pribyl 4 (1).

Meridian Individual Statistics

Rushing: Meyer 19-83, Heiserman 2-6, Jordening 9-(-23), Kyle Rohr 2-(-3), Jason Buchli 1-(-1).

Passing: Jordening 11-26-4, 229, 3 TDs; K. Rohr 1-1-0, 20 yards.

Receiving: Wolfe 6-83, 1 TD; D. Rohr 2-74, 1 TD; Meyer 1-60, 1 TD; Bartels 2-26, Roesler 1-6.

Leading Tacklers: Meyer 14 (8), Aude 9 (7), Bartels 9 (7), Mailahn 9 (9), Heiserman 6 (4), Jordening 6 (4), Wolfe 5 (4), Roesler 2 (2), Stewart 2 (1), Nash 1 (1), Bartels 1.