Football Roundup: Polo scores early, often in lopsided win over Alden-Hebron

The Polo Marcos jumped out to a huge first-quarter lead and never looked back in a 56-0 win over shorthanded Alden-Hebron in an 8-man football game Friday night in Polo.

Tyler Merdian started things off with a 36-yard touchdown run for the Marcos (2-0) who have yet to lose a game since moving to 8-man in 2019. Parker Wolber scored on a 9-yard run to make it 16-0, then Merdian connected with Wolber on a 30-yard TD pass before Wolber’s 35-yard TD run gave Polo a 32-0 lead after one quarter.

Cole Faivre had a 68-yard touchdown run in the second, and Brock Soltow’s 40-yard scoring scamper gave the Marcos a 48-0 halftime lead. Nathan Yingling closed out thew scoring with a 54-yard TD run in the third quarter.

Faivre ran for 97 yards, and Soltow added 72 for Polo, which played its reserves for most of the final three quarters. Wolber ran for 53 yards, Merdian finished with 37 yards rushing and the one pass for 30 yards as the Marcos ran for 296 yards and finished with 326 total yards.

Polo’s defense held Alden-Hebron, who had only nine players dressed, to minus-44 yards rushing and 9-for-20 passing for 44 yards.

Fulton 45, Orion 14: The Steamers rolled to a win at home, scoring touchdowns via the run, pass and the defense.

Fulton led 17-0 at halftime after a 1-yard TD run, a 32-yard TD pass,m and a 30-yard field goal. The Steamers than added TD runs of 13, 41 and 51 yards, as well as a 40-yard pick-six in the second half.

Rockridge 34, Morrison 22: The Rockets scored the final 14 points to defeat the Mustangs at Bud Cole Field.

Morrison led 16-14 at halftime after a lightning-quick scoring drive to close the second quarter, then led 22-20 after three quarters before Rockridge rallied.

Kewanee 21, Erie-Prophetstown 14: The Boilermakers scored with 1:04 to go and converted the two-point conversion to beat the Panthers.

Kewanee took over down by a point with just under two minutes left and went 84 yards in under a minute to win.

After the Boilermakers scored to take a 7-0 lead, Erie-Prophetstown answered with a pair of touchdowns of its own, the second set up by Brody Naftzger intercepting a screen pass and taking it 50 yards to the Kewanee 5. The Panthers cashed in on that drive just before halftime.

West Central 62, AFC 26: The Raiders’ first varsity game in 8-man football resulted in a road loss.