FREMONT — Coming into the 2008 season, Fremont Ross coach Derek Kidwell wanted to kickstart the Little Giants’ rushing attack.


On Friday night at Don Paul Stadium, sophomore Tylor Trautwein ran for four touchdowns and junior James Spencer added another touchdown on the ground as Ross defeated Perrysburg 52-25 in the season-opening football game for both schools.

“Minus the score, I thought our kids were in shape,” Kidwell said. “They didn’t get real tired or were wearing down. That is attributed to our conditioning that we started in June and the price these kids paid in the weight room all winter, spring and summer.”

Spencer added an 83-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter.

The results of the conditioning were felt in an overall Ross attack that generated more yards rushing than passing.

Ross generated 468 yards of total offense with 279 yards rushing and 189 yards passing. In comparison, Perrysburg netted 341 total yards with 210 yards rushing and 131 yards passing.

Trautwein was excited to be a part of the Ross rushing attack. He credited offensive lineman Nate Halbeisen with opening up running lanes for the Little Giants.

“It was awesome,” said Trautwein, who ran for touchdowns of 2, 77, 9 and 1 yards. The Little Giants’ sophomore gained a game-high 135 yards on 18 carries.

The Little Giants, known for their spread offense, used quick-strike passing to take control before switching to a run-based-attack that wore Perrysburg down.

“It was exciting to get the running game going, because we have a phenomenal quarterback and a lot of potential with the wideouts that we have.”

“We knew that (Perrysburg) had a sophomore quarterback (Matt Slocum) and we wanted to take their running game away from them and make him beat us,” Kidwell said.

Mistakes plagued Perrysburg throughout the first half. Slocum threw two of his four interceptions and Taylor Dimmerling fumbled away the ball to Ross defenders. The Little Giants turned all of those miscues into points.

Ross quarterback Cody Foos hit Greg Brown with a 66-yard touchdown strike with 8:51 left in the first quarter after Dimmerling’s fumble.

After Rueben Saldivar picked off Slocum’s first interception on Perrysburg’s next play from scrimmage, the Little Giants only needed five plays to score.

Foos hooked up with senior wideout Terence Davis for a 40-yard TD-scoring play as Ross took a 12-0 lead. The Little Giants’ passer finished the game 10-of-19 for 189 yards.

Dimmerling scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter after the Yellow Jackets gained possession after a fumble by Spencer. But the 12-7 deficit was the closest Perrysburg came in challenging Ross.

The Little Giants cashed in on a Perrysburg penalty for running over the center on fourth-11 from their own 30 by getting a new set of downs at the Ross 45. Trautwein carried the ball for much of the rest of the way before scoring on a 2-yard run with 4:57 left in the first half.

After Slocum was intercepted for the second time about 2 minutes later by Ross defensive back Justin Hines, Trautwein ran 77 yards on the ensuing play from scrimmage.

“We were playing good defense, getting to the ball real fast and making plays,” said Hines.

“I think the defense played a big part in setting up our offense, because if we don’t score, we’re not going to win,” Hines said. “We had the momentum going on our side all night.”

Tyler Boone hit 27-yard FG to pull Perrysburg within 27-10 with 1:09 left in the first half, but Spencer ran back the ensuing kickoff.

Slocum needed only 52 seconds to drive the Yellow Jackets into scoring position. He connected with Hayden Pryka on a 7-yard TD pass with 3 seconds to go before halftime. Slocum’s two-point conversion pass to Rudy Wittmer cut the Little Giants’ lead to 32-18 at halftime.

Trautwein and Spencer capped a pair of Ross drives in third-quarter with TDs. Trautwein rumbled in from 9 yards outs and Spencer crossed the goal line after a 7-yard run as the Little Giants led 45-18.

In the fourth quarter, Brandon Butler’s 5-yard run gave Perrysburg its final score before Trautwein walked into the end zone from 1 yard away with 3:50 left.