By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

It would be hard to imagine a better start to a season than what the Rootstown Rovers and senior running back Cody Coontz put together on Friday night versus Crestwood.

There were a lot of boxes to checkmark, starting with the win, which was a 33-0 shutout for the Rovers.

The defense held the Red Devils to 128 yards of total offense and only 3.0 yards per play.

Coontz had no trouble getting the offense going for the Rovers, rushing for a remarkable 318 yards, with 253 of those coming in the first half alone. He reached his lofty yards total on just 21 carries for a 15.1 yards per carry average.

Coontz added four rushing touchdowns and accounted for 86 percent of his team’s total offensive production (318 of 369 yards), with the Rovers’ offensive line dominating the line of scrimmage to continually create opportunities for Coontz.

Coontz’s four scores came on runs of 1, 69, 10 and 71 yards out.