SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION II : Explosive Dana Hills Line Defuses Dynamiters, 28-7

There was nothing fancy about the way Dana Hills played football Friday night. There were no flea-flickers, reverses or screen plays, and precious few forward passes.

No, this was pure he-man stuff, and Glendale found itself playing the role of the 98-pound weakling.

The Dolphins’ hairy-knuckle style overwhelmed the Dynamiters, 28-7, in the second round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs. The victory puts Dana Hills in the semifinals against Compton Dominguez.

For almost the entire game, Dana Hills (8-1-3) pushed and shoved and generally manhandled second-seeded Glendale (10-2). On their opening series, the Dolphins slugged it out, and by the end of the third quarter, there was no doubt who was in control.

“We didn’t go into this game thinking we could overpower them,” Coach Don Douglass said. “But we wore them down.”

Tires get worn out. The Dynamiters were blown out.

The Dolphins’ big offensive line, which averages 245 pounds, flexed its muscle throughout. It was such a mismatch up front that Douglass elected to run the ball on fourth down three times, including a fourth-and-six play.

They were successful all three times.

“After the first series, we knew we we could push them around,” running back Marcus Jenkins said. “We knew we were tougher.”

Jenkins benefited the most from the line’s play. He gained 129 yards in 32 carries and scored two touchdowns.

Dana Hills, which threw only three passes, had 230 yards rushing.

“We thought we were going to be playing a better team,” wingback Jeremy Buck said.

For a half, it appeared that way. The score was tied, 7-7, although the Dolphins had fumbled twice inside the Glendale 25.

In the third quarter, the pressure took its toll. The Dolphins drove 41 yards in eight plays--six of which were runs by Jenkins, who scored from the one.

“When we got that one, that was it,” said Buck, who gained 62 yards. “They couldn’t stop us.”

The Dolphins put the game away in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs by Buck and Ho Pak.

“We were hitting them harder than they were hitting us,” Buck said.

On both sides of the ball.

Dana Hills’ defense squashed the running game. Tailback Pathon Rucker came in with 1,602 yards rushing but finished with only 58 yards. He had a 37-yard run in the first quarter, which set up the Dynamiters’ only score, but got little after that.