By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The last thing opponents of the Big Foot football team want to deal with another is another offensive weapon.
But if last week’s rout at Beloit Turner is any indication, the Chiefs may just have another tool at their disposal.
Senior quarterback Carter Hehr, who directs the high-powered Chiefs’ offense took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown to get Big Foot going in a dominating 63-0 Rock Valley Conference win.
The victory improved the Chiefs, who led 42-0 after the first quarter, to 4-0 in the RVC and 5-0 overall. Prior to last week, Big Foot was ranked third in Division 3.
“The great part (of Hehr’s return) is he almost did it on his own,” Wedig said. “The wall was set (to the) right, but he saw a seam and just outran everyone.
“He gives us a dimension that we can use in so many ways. That is why he seldom leaves the field. He does a great job of running the offense and is one of the best safeties in the state.”
Hehr added his second touchdown of the night on a more traditional 7-yard run with 9:46 left in the first quarter. Adding touchdowns before the end of the period were senior Mason Dixon on runs of 4 and 57 yards, senior Matt Ripkey on a 19-yard pass from Hehr and senior Daniel Pearce on a 20-yard strike from Hehr.
Through five games, the Chiefs have now outscored their opponents 105-0 in the first quarter – which is a testament to strong efforts to open games, Wedig said.
“I feel like we are doing a great job of executing the game plan and finding things we can exploit on the other team’s defense,” he said.
The Chiefs closed out the scoring barrage with three more touchdowns in the second quarter.
Dixon, who led all rushers with 131 yards on just five carries, scored from 23 yards out, followed by a 1-yard touchdown by Jon Recob and a 6-yard run by Brandon Hausner.
Wedig said he was pleased to see players like Pearce and Recob get a chance to score, as they work hard daily without much of the limelight.
“Pearce made a great catch on a quick slant and got into the end zone,” Wedig said. “He is really one of our hidden weapons (that) we haven’t had to use much.
“Jon has been very hard working and is always playing hard on the scout team. It was great to give him a varsity touchdown.”
An early blowout like last Friday’s also gave Wedig and his coaches a chance to put several reserves on the field, which also was a positive, he said.
But there’s also a balance that has to be struck, as the season is nearing the end, and the starters need to stay sharp, Wedig said.
“We talked about it at halftime as far as a chance for some of these kids to prove they can play,” Wedig said. “I hate not getting the starters into the third quarter at least. We need that time (on the field), but our guys who came in did a great job.”
Big Foot returns to action Friday night when it hosts Clinton in a 7 p.m. Homecoming contest. The Cougars fell to 1-4 overall last week with a 41-13 loss to Brodhead-Juda.
Regardless of the record or the opponent, the focus doesn’t change from week to week, Wedig said.
Clinton has a new coach and a pistol option offense the Chiefs will have to defend.
“Their quarterback is probably the best big-play runner we will face,” Wedig said. “We need to keep him contained, and we have to execute our blocking scheme against their blitz packages.”
