Bogged down by an ineffective offense, the Spoofhound football team dropped its second straight season opener, this time to Lawson 17-7 Friday in Lawson.
Maryville managed just 178 yards of offense, turned the ball over three times and committed numerous drive-killing penalties.
Over half of Maryville's 178 yards were accumulated on two plays: A 41-yard run by Cole Forney and a 42-yard pass from Grudzinski to Tyler Walter. The other 43 offensive plays netted just 95 yards.
Through the air, four Spoofhounds who attempted a pass combined to go 3-14 with three interceptions. Starting quarterback Marcus Grudzinski was only 2-9 and was picked off twice. Back-up Sam Snyder threw a pick on his only passing attempt at the end of the third quarter.
The ground game produced 111 yards, but the Hounds averaged a pedestrian 3.5 yards per carry. Senior Gavin Talmadge, who rushed for over 1,200 yards last year, was held to just 13 yards on 13 carries. Forney led the Hounds with 64 yards on seven carries.
The Hounds had only four yards of offense at the half and one first down yet found themselves trailing just 3-0.
A 24-yard field goal by Garrison Green with 8:59 left in the first quarter comprised the entire first half scoring.
Lawson went on top 10-0 in the third quarter on a 57-yard pass from Garrison Green to Jordan Akers. The ball bounced off the hands of Spoofhound safety Will Twaddle and right to Akers who raced down the sideline for the score.
Maryville cut it to 10-7 on a 14-yard reverse pass from Forney to Twaddle with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
The Hounds had the ball back at the end of the third quarter with a chance to take the lead, but an interception by Green set Lawson up in Hound territory. A drive that consisted of eight straight running plays culminated with a 1-yard touchdown sneak by Green on fourth down. That put Lawson back ahead by 10.
Maryville's chances of a comeback were dashed when Nick Groumoutis was stuffed at the goal line on fourth down with 5:06 left in the fourth quarter.
Maryville (0-1) welcomes in Smithville for its home opener Friday at 7 p.m.
