Fast and furious.
Boone Central overwhelmed the visiting Wayne Blue Devils Friday, rolling to a 42-7 halftime lead on its way to a dominant 55-7 district victory.
With the 2022 regular season entering the stretch run, the focused Cardinals continued to build momentum with their fourth straight victory. It was one of Boone’s better all-around performances to date.
At game’s end, Boone Central held a 396-270 advantage in total yards, outgaining Wayne 293-76 on the ground. The Cardinals gained 19 first downs, had a plus-2 turnover margin and cut its penalties to five (40 yards). They scored three unaswered touchdowns twice in the first half alone.
“We were able to get off to a good start and, outside of one trick play and one drive right before half, played a pretty good ball game,” Card Coach Mark Hudson acknowledged. “The defense and offensive line continue to take steps forward. Lots of young guys got valuable playing time in the second half.
Boone took charge of the contest on the first play from scrimmage, as Robbie Miller recovered a fumble by Wayne at the Blue Devils’ 42-yard line. Five plays later Parker Borer bolted eight yards for the game’s initial touchdown and James Fogleman added the PAT.
A Wayne (1-5) interception thwarted another Card threat before Boone used four plays to double its advantage. Alex Christo returned a Devil punt 10 yards, Borer burst for 14, Christo connected on a short pass to Sam Grape and then scored the touchdown on a 17-yard jaunt. Fogleman made it 14-0.
Hank Hudson followed that by pouncing on a loose ball off a bad Wayne center snap and Christo connected with Jaxon Lipker on a 21-yard scoring pass with 2:25 remaining in the first quarter.
The Blue Devils turned to its bag of tricks for its lone score of the contest, burning the Boone secondary with a 65-yard halfback pass three plays later.
That turned out to be a momentary blip of success for the visitors, however.
Christo hit Jack Roberts with a 28-yard scoring pass on Boone’s ensuing possession, and later foollowed a 23-yard run by Fogleman with a one-yard TD toss to Kolton Rasmussen.
Wayne did mount a crisp eight-play drive to the Boone 25-yard line in the final two minutes of the first half, but it ended with Borer picking off a Blue Devil aerial and racing 75 yards to paydirt as time expired.
Borer wrapped up a tremendous night with a 69-yard touchdown sprint on the first play of the second half as the rout continued. Fogleman tacked on a one-yard touchdown run with 5:49 to play in the third period.
Further details/stats in Print & Online editions of Albion News/Boone County Tribune
