Josh Rodgers scored on a 22-yard run for the Chandler Wolves seventh rushing touchdown of the night and put the exclamation point on a 51-21 statement win over the Sandra Day O’Connor Eagles Friday.

 

The Wolves needed this type of dominant performance as they started the year 2-2. Those two loses matched their loss total from last season.

 

The stampede started with the Wolves dynamic duo of running backs Drake Anderson and DeCarlos Brooks.

 

Anderson and Brooks literally ran all over O’Connor. Anderson finished with three touchdowns and had over 100 rushing yards in the first five minutes. “The (offensive) line played a hell of a game. The holes were huge,” Anderson said.

 

Brooks matched Anderson with three touchdowns.

 

The Wolves wanted to get their run game going. “I think we haven’t run the ball well in the last couple of games so we wanted to get off the dime, running the ball,” Wolves head coach Shaun Aguano said.

 

Added Brooks: “Going into the game, that was the game plan. We talked about it all week. We knew we were going to run the ball a lot. Our coaches knew they had a weak run defense so we just exploited that.”

 

Brooks also pointed to the benefits of rotating running backs. “We (have) good chemistry. We’ve known each other for a long time. It’s fun running out there with him. And it keeps our legs fresh,” Brooks said.

 

The passing game for the Wolves never got going.

 

Billy Bolger was off his game against the Eagles. He overthrew on deep routes and  behind or over receivers on short passes. Bolger also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

 

It didn’t matter.

 

On the first drive for the Eagles, the Chandler defense allowed a touchdown reception on a broken play. “We tried something different and brought a lot of pressure and didn’t cover down so we got rid of that,” Aguano said.

 

After that the Wolves defense only allowed one more offensive touchdown with five minutes left in the game

 

The penalties again piled up for the Wolves. They took a slew of personal fouls including a targeting penalty.

 

The Wolves host Mountain Ridge Friday at 7p.m.