DAKOTA, Oct. 31 - Beating Dakota was always going to be a difficult proposition for Mooseheart in the first round of the IHSA Class 1A playoffs.

But when the teams walked out onto Dakota's field on Saturday and encountered a field that was already soft and on the verge of cutting up, those chances took just one further hit. And the Ramblers struggled against both the slop and the powerful, undefeated Indians and fell 42-6.

“You're asking a lot of us being undersized and with the field conditions being what they were to be able to try move them,” Mooseheart coach Gary Urwiler said. “We rely on our quickness and we weren't going to have to much of that today. It's an equalizer, but it's detrimental to us trying to get in their face and to try to do some removal.”

Dakota (10-0) took repeated advantage of short-field situations and raced to a 27-0 halftime lead. That edge grew to 42-0 before the Ramblers scored. Evan Dornink was especially effective for the Indians. The senior scored three of his team's six touchdowns. All Dakota's touchdowns came on the ground. Landon Ketchum, Tommy Bowers and Jacob Apple also scored TDs for Dakota.

“Our whole focus this week was what can we learn?” Urwiler said. “I don't know yet what we learned today but hopefully we can go back, in retrospect, and figure some of that stuff out.”

One thing the Ramblers never did was to give up. The defense made adjustments throughout the game and found ways to stop the Indians at times in the second half. And late in the game, with both teams playing their reserves liberally, the Ramblers fashioned a touchdown.

The drive moved quickly. Backup quarterback Jonathon Hart hit Jonell Crump for a 32-yard pass completion. Then Hart pitched to Crump, who threw downfield to Noel Yarngo, who raced the remaining yards for a 38-yard TD reception.

“I thought our defense played well in the second half,” Urwiler said. “It seemed like all we played was defense at times. But (Dakota) had their starters in and we held them. We got hurt again, like we have at times this year, on those 3rd-and-10 situations.”

While key players like Crump graduate, others such as Hart, Yarngo return.

“I think we're pretty optimistic about the future,” Urwiler said. “I hate to be looking at that now. But with the season being over, we have to look at the future now. There's guys who played in the second half who hadn't played and I got to see them. They had some great enthusiasm.”

The Ramblers (5-4) finished the season with four straight losses after racing to a 5-1 record. They qualified for the playoffs on the strength of their 40 playoff points, points accrued because the Ramblers Northeastern Athletic Conference opponents were successful through the year.

“It's been a hard month,” Urwiler said. “I'm not sure why, but we fizzled offensively. We practiced well, but in games, we struggled, and that was evident today. We weren't able to sustain anything.”

Scoring plays:
D—Dornink 4 run (Dornink kick)
D—Bowers 1 run (pass failed)
D—Ketchum 1 run (Wenger kick)
D—Dornink 1 run (run failed)
D—Dornink 4 run (Oberbruner run)
D—Apple 2 run (Kupnow kick)
M—Yarngo 38 pass from Crump (pass failed)

Mooseheart stats:
Rushing:
Brigman 4-(-3), Moore 5-(-1), Crump 7-29, Cheneyon 1-7.
Passing:
Brigman: 2-13-1 11, Hart 2-2-0 33, Crump 1-1-0 38.
Receiving:
McReynolds 3-12, Crump 1-32, Yarngo 1-38.