Offensive explosion

COLE CAMP — The Cole Camp Bluebirds football team continued its early-season roll Saturday afternoon.

The Bluebirds got a big game from quarterback Garrett Gilbert on the way to a 55-0 win over the Northwest Mustangs. Gilbert finished the game with 161 rushing yards on seven carries, scored three touchdowns, threw for another score and kicked seven extra points.

The Bluebirds offense was clicking all afternoon, opening holes and creating opportunities for Gilbert and running back Tyler Harris to break loose for long scoring runs. Harris added three long touchdown runs to the Cole Camp offensive effort.

“Our offense takes some patience,” said Cole Camp coach Kevin Shearer. “It takes some timing to develop what we want to do offensively. We’ve got a lot of misdirection in there, you know, and if you try to tackle some of our backs high, you’re going to have some trouble.”

Northwest coach Caleb Crooker credited the Bluebirds for their effort against his team.

“They were ready to play from the start, came out and got us,” he said. “We take our hats off to them. They were ready for us. They did everything they needed to do to beat us. They executed well.”

Cole Camp (2-0) wasted little time getting the game’s first score. Harris made it 7-0 when he took a direct snap and raced 40 yards for a touchdown with less than a minute gone.

Northwest (0-2)  moved the ball on the ground, but turned it over on downs when its first drive stalled.

The Bluebirds moved  down the field, and made it 14-0 on a 27-yard run by Gilbert.

After scoring 14 first-quarter points, the Cole Camp offense picked it up a notch in the second.

Gilbert raced 83 yards up the right side, making it 21-0 on the first possession of the quarter.

On the second possession, Harris took another direct snap and went 25 yards for a touchdown. Gilbert added a 40-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining before the half to put Cole Camp up 35-0.

Despite the big Cole Camp lead, Northwest still moved the ball with its running game. Zach Crooker was the primary weapon, carrying the ball 25 times for 81 yards.

“He worked pretty hard tonight,” said coach Crooker. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep the holes open all night. The linebackers did an excellent job of sticking their nose in there and bringing him down quick.”

Shearer knew that his team would have a hard time completely stopping the Northwest running game, especially since it is run out of a tight formation.

“All along, I think we were worried about bending because they’re so tight,” Shearer said. “They’ve got 11 people within probably a 5-yard box. So I knew it was going to bend. We don’t believe in that, but I had a gut feeling we were going to get bent some because when they just wedge up, it’s 11 on six that first period of time until we can rally the troops.”

The Bluebirds took advantage of their only possession of the third quarter, getting a touchdown on a 34-yard run by Aaron Weller.

Gilbert added a 48-yard scoring pass to Sean Farris in the fourth quarter, and Harris rambled 68 yards to close out the scoring.