The new brand of Herrin football comes in several sizes.

The Tigers utilized five ball carriers in a season-opening 48-7 dismantling of Olney-East Richland at the Harrison-Bruce Sports Complex on Friday night.

Quarterback Ethan Grounds guided Herrin's offense like a master magician in his first varsity start. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior rushed six times for 108 yards and two touchdowns, all after throwing a 67-yard touchdown to Ryan Thompson on the game's first official play from scrimmage.

"Ethan is our leader. He runs the ball very effectively and knows what he's doing," said Herrin coach Jason Karnes. "He's so smooth out there. He has to take care of himself because he's a leader out there on offense and defense."

Grounds, who also recovered a fumble, left the game in the second half due to severe cramping — which affected several other players as well on a humid, foggy night — but came back to kick a pair of extra points despite a knotted calf muscle.

Herrin took the opening kickoff and false started on the first play, but Grounds connected with Thompson down the right sideline on 1st-and-15 to give the Tigers a quick lead 7-0 lead with Grounds booting the extra point.

After forcing an Olney punt, the Tigers put together their most impressive drive of the night.
Herrin used six different rushers during a 14-play, seven-minute march that ended with Grounds faking out everyone on a 5-yard touchdown keeper with 1:55 left.

Garrett Butler, Kaleb Warren, B.J. McGee, Kyle Hudson, David Mallow and Grounds all had touches during the drive. Butler finished with 17 carries for 116 yards; Warren had 11 runs for 94 yards and two scores.

"That's how we're going to be," Karnes said. "It's running back by committee and it's going to be different guys at the top carrying the ball.
"That first drive set the tone for us and that's the kind of drives we've got to have."

Marshall Anderson recovered an Olney punt shortly after and Butler scored from 21 yards out with 11.4 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Grounds gave his offense the ball back by pouncing on an Olney fumble on the next possession — made possible when Hudson blasted Olney receiver Taylor Pickens to force the loose pigskin — and Warren made it 27-0 with a 26-yard score at the 10:04 mark of the second period.

Grounds added a 46-yard score with 6:51 left before halftime to make it 34-0.

Olney got on the board as Brandon Bailey found a wide open Kurt Goss on the left side of the secondary to cut Herrin's lead to 34-7 at intermission.

Hudson plunged in from 1 yard and Warren added a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Olney finished with just 34 net rushing yards against a stout Herrin defensive line. The only true weak spots came in the defensive backfield as Bailey completed 11 of his 16 passes for 161 yards and the one touchdown.

"We made a lot of mistakes on both sides of the ball, but that's first-game jitters and we have a lot of new bodies out there and guys who haven't started," Karnes said. "When you make mistakes and win, that's what it's all about. It was a great win for us."

Herrin travels to Bethalto Civic Memorial next Friday. Bethalto was thumped 35-14 by Du Quoin on Friday. Herrin hosts Du Quoin in Week 3.