It got muddy, so Hawks got runny

ROCKFORD – Nick McKeown and his Oregon teammates were some happy mudders on Friday night.

The Hawks, employing a yardage-chewing ground game on a quagmire of a field, rushed for 354 yards on their way to a 44-14 victory over Rockford Christian in a Class 3A first-round game.

McKeown led the way, rushing 35 times for 204 yards and a touchdown.

“I believe we had a lot more time on offense than they did,” McKeown said. “That’s usually how we play – just grind the ball out. Tonight it worked out in our favor because of the conditions. It was a blast out there.”

“That eliminated things on both offenses I’m sure,” Oregon coach John Bothe said of the sloppy field. “We just said, ‘Fellas, we’re just going to go straight ahead and eventually they’re going to wear out.’ ”

Rockford Christian (8-2) committed five turnovers, four in the first half. Three of Oregon’s four first-half TDs were set up by turnovers.

“The game came down to that,” McKeown said. “We got a lot of momentum going for us by them fumbling the ball a few times.”

McKeown, Quinn Fagan, Jacob Miller and Jeff Wehmhoefer scored touchdowns in the first half. Wehmhoefer’s was a 5-yard run on the last play before halftime that staked Oregon (6-4) to a 30-14 lead.

Two short Miller runs accounted for the second half’s only scores. In the second round, the Hawks will host Sherrard or play at Newman.

Arthur Ford, who entered the game with 1,277 yards rushing in seven games, scored two touchdowns for the Royal Lions (8-2). His 49-yard TD run on the game’s opening possession staked Rockford Christian to an 8-0 lead, and a 21-yarder in which he broke at least five tackles got the Royal Lions to within 16-14 early in the second quarter.

Ford finished with 21 carries for 139 yards, but the Lions managed only 34 additional yards of offense.

“We knew if we could take away him, they’d have to go to the air game,” Wehmhoefer said. “We felt confident we could stop that. We just had to shut down Ford.”