Jesse Montalto challenged his Iowa Central offense to get back to the basics this week.
That is exactly what the 10th-ranked Tritons did, rushing for over 300 yards in a 41-7 victory here Saturday over the Grand View JV at Dodger Stadium.
Jadon Washington ran for 109 yards with a touchdown, quarterbacks Brady Pope and Byron Jarrett shared time under center and combined for four scores and almost 300 yards of offense, and the Iowa Central (2-1 overall) defense recorded six sacks.
"We got back to what we wanted to do and that was run the ball," Montalto said. "We focused a lot on the fundamentals in practice and I think that showed. We still have improvements that need to be made, but I thought we did a lot of good things."
Pope completed 13 of 21 passes for 110 yards, hitting Madison Ridgeway for both of his touchdowns in the first half. Jarrett threw for 60 yards, completing 7 of 11, while adding 71 yards rushing. He hit both Clayton Ollendieck and Jayce Levy for TD passes.
Daylen Boddie added 44 yards and a touchdown.
"Jadon used all of his skills on the field," Montalto said. "Byron is a big, strong kid that doesn't mind contact. Brady also showed off his running abilities and I thought Daylen really had a good day too.
"We're still trying to see what works best for our offense, but I was happy with how both Brady and Byron played."
One area Montalto was left bothered by was the lack of discipline he thought his team showed. The Tritons were flagged 10 times for over 100 yards in penalties.
"That's not how we play football," he said. "Not only did it give them better chances to score, but those are things you cannot do if you want to consistently win games. We've just got to be better."
Ryan Johnson led the Iowa Central defense with two sacks while Malik Occiur, Dylan Cain, Malik Adams and Tristin Waugh each had one.
"Our defense just continues to make big plays," Montalto said. "They've really played three good games here to start the season."
The Tritons will hit the road for the first time, heading to Iowa Falls to meet Ellsworth next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
-By Dana Becker