Little Giants hammer Presidents
By JEFF ARENZ • Sports Writer • October 11, 2008

Jones was a game-changer Friday night for the Fremont Ross Little Giants.


With the third quarter winding down, Jones picked off Marion Harding quarterback Asher Rumple, allowing Ross to re-establish itself during the second half of a 38-21 Greater Buckeye Conference victory over Harding on Friday at Don Paul Stadium.

"As a team, we had great pressure on (Rumple) from the defensive line and the linebackers," Jones said. "He just threw (the ball) up for grabs and I just went to go get it."

When the Little Giants took over at their own 48, quarterback Cody Foos got to the end zone in four plays, which allowed Ross to take a 17-point cushion on running back James Spencer's third TD of the game.

"We we're playing like we should have been playing in the first half," Spencer said. "At halftime, we came in (to the locker room), had a talk and we said we wanted to be more aggressive on the (offensive) line."

Spencer finished with 134 yards on 17 carries. He scored on runs of 5, 12 and 3 yards, respectively. His second and third TDs came in the third quarter after Ross had built a 17-7 lead at halftime.

Mason Lindsey had touchdown runs of 4 and 8 yards and helped Harding control most of the first half with an effective ground game.

When Lindsey scored after a 4-yard run with 4:46 left in the third quarter, the Presidents kept themselves in the game by trailing the Little Giants 23-14. He had 109 yards on 20 carries.

"It was our game plan coming into the week to take (Ross's) quick, fast guys who like to spin a lot and just run the ball right at them," Harding coach Heath Hinton said. "We knew we were bigger than them up front, but they did a good job of adjusting to it after halftime and taking some plays away from us."

But Jones shifted the momentum in the favor of Ross.

"We challenged our team because I felt we came out flat in the first half," Fremont Ross coach Derek Kidwell said. "I don't know if we re-established ourselves because you have to give Harding a lot of credit for playing as hard as they did after having the season they've had. It says a lot about Coach Hinton, his coaching staff and the character of Marion's kids.

"They busted us in the mouth in the first half and we really didn't have an answer for it. The only difference was that we have playmakers at skill positions that made plays for us."

tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the game, including a 32-yard strike to Brett Mierke in the second quarter and a 50-yard bomb to Terence Davis with 8:27 left.

Foos finished 13-of-18 with 246 yards and no interceptions.

"(Ross) took care of business in the second half," Hinton said. "They protected their quarterback a lot better and they hit their open wide receivers.

Rumple, who threw his 11th and 12th interceptions this season, was 5-of-15 passing with 97 yards and one touchdown. His 10-yard strike to Alex Harb in the first quarter gave Harding a 7-3 lead at the 6:42 mark.

The Little Giants won the battle of total yards 404-267, but allowed the Presidents to control much of the game on the ground. Harding held a 170-158 edge in rushing.

Ross pounced on Harding from the opening kickoff, when Cory White fumbled the ball away to Phrederic Schumacher.

After the Little Giants set up their offense at the Presidents' 28, Ross marched 24 yards in seven plays before Ken Hamilton kicked a 21-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead early in the game.

"I thought the game could have been a little closer if we would have gotten the turnovers that either we created or they had," Hinton said. "They wouldn't have had that second score in the first half."

Both teams had defensive stops before Harding's offense came to life. The Presidents took over at their own 46, where Harding defense stopped Foos for no gain on fourth-and-inches.

Rumple converted on third-and-10 by hitting White with 32 yard pass to the Little Giants' 21. Five running plays later, Rumple was successful on third-and-9 at the Ross 10 after firing a touchdown pass to Harb.

Harb kicked extra point before the Presidents took a 7-3 lead with 11:55 left in the first half.

But Ross answered with touchdowns on two of its next three possessions.

Spencer capped a 13-play, 70-yard drive that ended with his 5-yard TD run with 6:42 left before halftime.

Then, after Little Giants forced the Presidents to punt, Foos used three plays to put Ross into the end zone. Mierke caught Foos' 32-yard pass for a TD with 1:16 remaining in the first half.