Bouncing back from the season's first loss, the Garden Plain Owls soared to a 46-7 victory at the winless Belle Plain Dragons last Friday. It was the first Class 2A District 5 games for both teams.

The Owls' Emrick Hays ran for 170 yards. Seven different players had positive yardage, as Garden Plain rushed for 375 yards. Braylen Dold picked up 90 yards, Jack Helten had 37, and Eli Eck ran for 34 more.

The Owls scored on all five of their first-half possessions.

Eck was 2-for-3 passing for 34 yards, throwing 17-yard touchdowns to Hunter Kampling and Carter Baker. 

The dominating win was a palette cleanser for the Owls, who shook off their 21-point loss to Cheney in a non-district game.

Garden Plain head coach Todd Rice called it a pretty good performance.

“We played really well up front, and Emrick is one of the best running backs out there. He runs physical, and has breakaway speed,” he said. “Defensively, I like where we're at. We're really young.”

The Owls are starting six sophomores who are coming into their own.

“We keep getting better every game out. There's a lot to keep working on,” Rice said.

The Owls have a critical matchup at home this Friday, as the undefeated Haven Wildcats visit. The Wildcats beat Douglass 31-20, in their closest game of the year.

“It's a really big game. If Haven beats us, they'll probably win the district,” Rice said. With a win in hand over Douglass, Haven won't be challenged much after this Friday's game.

Based on results through four weeks of football, the Owls and Wildcats appear to be the frontrunners in the district, so the winner will have a leg up in the district race. Garden Plain and Haven are the only squads in the five-team district with overall winning records. Douglass, at 2-2, could be a spoiler and battle for one of two home games in Week 9.

The Wildcats' top runner has more than 600 yards in four games. Rice said they execute the run-pass option well, and are explosive on defense.

Just last year, the Wildcats were undefeated after four games, while the Owls were sitting at 2-2. Garden Plain beat Haven 38-14 in Haven, and went on to win the district.