• Mike Forman •
• Originally published September 19, 2009 at 1:21 p.m., updated September 19, 2009 at 1:25 p.m.

GANADO - Austin Smalley has learned a lot about the Industrial offense in his three years as quarterback.

The junior knows opposing defenses are going to key on running back Matt Anderson, and it's his job to counter their strategy.

Smalley executed to near-perfection against Ganado, rushing for 164 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-7 win on Friday night at Indian Stadium.

"Matt can get the ball anywhere and make plays, but we can just do whatever," Smalley said. "It was good faking and good blocking. The line did a good job of blocking."

Smalley carried 11 times and scored on runs of 1 and 32 yards while leading the Cobras (3-0) to their second straight win over their Jackson County rival.

"I thought overall Austin did a great job of running the option and running, we've got a little play up inside that he took advantage of," Industrial coach Doug Kuhlmann said.

Anderson had a 66-yard touchdown run called back because of a holding penalty, but still gained 69 yards on 15 carries and scored on runs of 2 and 1 yards. He also caught a 23-yard pass from Smalley.

"They're really keying on Matt right now," Kuhlmann said. "Then, there's plays where it doesn't look like we're going to get a yard with Matt and he scores a touchdown."

Smalley had four runs of over 20 yards and gained positive yardage on each of his 11 carries.

"It was just the option," Smalley said. "You've got to read what the defense is doing and they were keying on Matt and I would just cut it back."

The Cobras had eight players carry the ball and rushed for 414 yards. Gustavo Bueno scored on a 9-yard run and Micah Montes ran 29 yards for a touchdown on his only carry. The Cobras had positive yards on all but five plays, and three of those were kneel downs at the end of the half and the fourth quarter.

"Austin has matured a done a good job for us," Kuhlmann said. "He's lucky to have Matt Anderson and a group of people in the backfield. I can go through a list of them. He has done an excellent job of providing good leadership and keeping the ball moving down the field."

Industrial did not have to punt, turning the ball over once on a fumble and once on downs after getting a delay of game penalty at the Ganado 3-yard line.

"We were out of position on some plays," Ganado coach Mike Rabe said. "We just missed a couple of things on their option and they got us. He (Smalley) did a good job tonight."

The Industrial defense shut down the Ganado (2-2) offense. The Indians had only 11 first downs and didn't score until Kevin Smith ran for 2 yards with 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Industrial tackled Ganado runners for losses on nine plays and allowed only two runs of more than 10 yards. The Indians hurt their own cause by fumbling six times and losing three.

"They have so much speed and I am just impressed with our defense," Kuhlmann said. "How well they played and kept battling and kept their speed from scoring. We're very happy with our defensive effort tonight."

Smalley was also pleased with his team's performance as it heads into next week's game against No. 5 Refugio in Vanderbilt.

"We just came together as a team and won," Smalley said. "We're going to take this momentum into the Refugio game."

BIG WINS: Industrial has won the last two games against Ganado by a combined score of 79-21. "I figured it would be a close game and we'd have to fight to the end," Kuhlmann said.

AVERAGE PER CARRY: Industrial's Blaine Rozner carried four times for 80 yards, Bueno had 45 yards on three carries, and Ricky Redus had three carries for 20 yards.

SAME NUMBER: Industrial and Ganado each had 44 rushing attempts. But the Cobras averaged 9.4 yards per attempt and the Indians averaged 2.7 yards per carry.

WHAT KICKS: Industrial was successful on only one extra point attempt. "Maybe you could coach our kicking team better than we can," Kuhlmann joked.

HOMECOMING: Ganado senior Vanessa Almeda was named homecoming queen during halftime.

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