Thunderstruck

Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail Nevada High School quarterback Ronnie Herda (2) breaks an ankle tackle by El Dorado Springs' Corey Ketchum (24) as he is trailed by Jacob Cherry (29) during the Tigers' 46-0 romp Friday night. [Click to enlarge]

NEVADA, Mo. -- Talk about being thunderstruck.

Lightning struck Logan Field early and often during first-quarter action between Nevada High School and El Dorado Springs Friday night.

The thunderbolts came in the guise of a trio of Nevada touchdowns during a torrid one-minute, 12-second stretch in the first quarter, as it jolted the Bulldogs 46-0 on NHS Hall of Fame Night.

"They didn't know what hit them," said Tigers junior wide receiver/kick returner Colby Shepherd, who scored a pair of touchdowns and set up a couple of others with long kick returns. "They had no idea."

Soggy field? No matter.

The Tigers had their way on a night when early rains and thunderstorms hit the area a couple hours before kickoff. They celebrated the 1973 NHS football team's enshrinement, along with the late Herb Bunker, to the Wall of Fame in pregame festivities. Then they went out and short-circuited El Dorado Springs.

"We had a pep rally at the high school on Friday, and it's the first time I remember ever being nervous speaking in front of a group of people," NHS head coach Shannon Jolley said. "(Former NHS) head coach John Osborne and his 1973 team were there.

"When you're in the presence of them and what they've done (kick-starting the Tigers' record-setting 31-1 stretch 34 years ago) ... "

Herda accounted for four touchdowns -- two rushing and two passing -- in accumulating 291 yards in total offense. It helped Jolley register his first win for the Tigers (1-1). El Dorado Springs drops to 0-2.

"I didn't know that we scored that quickly," Jolley said, "but I thought we were very crisp and executed very well."

Now for the quick-hitting scores, which sent the Bulldogs reeling after Shepherd gave Nevada a 7-0 lead on its opening drive, a 10-yard scoring run on an inside reverse with the game just 4 1/2 minutes old.

l A quarterback sneak up the middle turned into a 24-yard scoring jaunt as Ronnie Herda's keeper gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead at the 5:28 mark in the opening quarter. It also set in motion Nevada's onslaught of points.

"Coach Jolley said, 'Watch this,' to one of the other coaches," Herda said of the play call. "He knew because we spread out the offense that their two linebackers were going to walk on the outside, and we had a defensive back, a defensive lineman and two shades on the opposite side of the guard.

"There was nobody (in the middle) and all I had to do was outrun everybody."

l On the Bulldogs' second play after the TD, Nevada right cornerback Aaron Dade intercepted quarterback Alex Boonyakiti's pass at the El Dorado 33, putting the Tigers back in business. On first down, Ronnie Herda found a wide-open wide receiver Dan Lovinger for a 33-yard scoring strike at the 4:30 mark.

"I didn't see anybody within 20 or 30 yards from me," Lovinger said. "It was a perfect fake. We faked a bootleg to the ri ght and (Ronnie Herda) gives a throwback to the left. The cornerback just bit on it and it was wide-open."

l For good measure, Lovinger jarred the ball loose on the ensuing kickoff, with Taylor Chapman recovering for the Tigers at the El Dorado 22. Again, on a first-down play, Shepherd took a shovel pass from Ronnie Herda and raced 22 yards untouched to the end zone at the 4:16 mark, ballooning the score to 26-0.

"We make it look like a blast play," Ronnie Herda said, "where we run it up the gut every time. Our two running backs run by the edge of the defender, and I try to draw (Shepherd) upfield and I pitch it underneath."

Both Ronnie Herda and Shepherd said that the offensive line's blocking was responsible for the play.

"Our line does a really good job," Shepherd said.

NHS scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns -- a 4-yard run by Jacob Cherry and a 1-yard plunge by Ronnie Herda -- to increase the margin to 39-0 at halftime. It put a running clock into effect to begin the second half, as the Tigers put it on cruise control.

Nevada tacked on a late touchdown in the fourth quarter, when Trevor Foreman took a pitch to his right, got to the outside and rambled 43 yards for a score with 3:02 left in the game. Ronnie Herda's PAT kick fixed the final margin at 46-0.

The Tigers travel to Butler on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff, prior to traveling to Carthage the following week (Sept. 21).