By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

QUINTER ­-- Before Saturday's playoff game against Macksville, Quinter head coach Greg Woolf thought the Bulldogs could pull off a big win -- even when others thought differently.

"I did, the other coaches didn't," Woolf said with a laugh. "We talked to the kids the other day and I told them, 'this is a good football team, but nobody seems to be noticing it.' That's fine with us because that's not the reason why we play. These are some good football kids, they are smart. Here is one other thing: They love each other."

Quinter, led by a close-knit group of seniors, and a dominant front line, fulfilled Woolf's pregame thoughts with a 50-0 home victory in the second round of the Eight-Man, Division I playoffs. The Bulldogs broke the contest open with 28 second-quarter points. They picked up 12 sacks and six tackles for loss in the game.

"Their front on the defensive side played very, very well, from the second quarter on," Macksville head coach Dan Grizzell said. "And from the second quarter on, their offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. That's what you have to do to win games. That's the best front we have seen all year."

They finished the game with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter on the 45-point rule. Quinter has played since Week 3 knowing that Woolf has had cancer, but have won eight straight contests, seven by at least 25 points.

"This group of seniors that is here, they have been through a lot together," Woolf said. "They have been taught well, they have great parents, so when things really start coming down on them, they really pick it up and keep each other going. They are just playing good football right now."

Quinter, which lost to Macksville 46-22 in the second round of the postseason last season, will face Clifton-Clyde in the sub-state championship game next Saturday.

Quinter, ranked No. 5 in the state-wide media poll, moved to 10-1 overall. Macksville, ranked in the top eight in the poll, finished the season at 8-3 and saw its seven-game winning streak end. Quinter had 24 sacks entering the game, including a team-high six apiece from all-state senior and NCAA Division I prospect Zach Nemechek and senior Cody Corwin.

"The guys with me, I have a great bunch of guys," Corwin said. "Zach Nemechek has taught me a lot."

Versus Macksville, Nemechek finished with 21âÑ2 sacks and 11âÑ2 tackles for loss. Corwin collected five sacks and 2 tackles for loss and sophomore Brian Ochs had 31âÑ2 sacks.

"We just stayed low and just drove," Corwin said. "Coach (Jeff) Ruckman is just great. He has just pushed us. Going up against Zach Nemechek and Scott Ochs, we just work on our swim moves and our hands, just getting off and going. We played pretty good (all year), but this one was probably the most fun."

Quinter moved to 20-2 and 11-0 in home games since they moved from Class 2-1A to eight-man two years ago. Saturday's victory yielded 179 yards on 25 carries from senior running back Jordon Hargitt. Senior quarterback Brady Reed had 88 total yards and two touchdowns, while senior Matt Bird intercepted two passes, collected a 30-yard TD pass and had 99 total yards. The line held Macksville, which had averaged 36 points a game, scoreless. The Mustangs had one long drive, but Bird picked off a pass in the end zone.

The teams went scoreless in the first quarter before Quinter took over with four second quarter scores, all from Hargitt, and held Macksville without a second quarter first down.

"I think once the kids kind of settled down a little bit and got the butterflies out of their system and knew they could start moving the ball on them, they just started letting their athleticism go," Woolf said. "Once they got that first touchdown, you could almost see it in their eyes, they just focused a little bit more."

The Mustangs had (minus-14) yards and had to switch quarterbacks midway through the quarter. Hargitt, the area's leading rusher with 1,621 yards, had 17 carries for 161 yards before intermission, including 137 yards in the second quarter. Hargitt has rushed for at least 100 yards in all 10 contests this year.

On the first play of the quarter, Hargitt went up the middle for a 33-yard touchdown run. Macksville went three-and-out on its next possession as Nemechek collected a tackle for loss and senior Cody Corwin and senior Thatcher Deaton combined for a sack.

"They started getting to our quarterback and started getting pressure on us," Grizzell said. "They started controlling the line of scrimmage on the defensive side and the offensive side and when they started controlling the line of scrimmage, they started dominating the football game. That's what it comes down to."

On the first play for Quinter, senior quarterback Brady Reed rolled around left end, broke a tackle and picked up 17 yards. Just before he was tackled, Reed lateraled to Hargitt, who picked up 16 more yards to the Macksville 23.

Hargitt went 22 yards on the next play and then gave Quinter a 14-0 yard on a 1-yard TD run.

The Mustangs went three-and-out again on offense. The defensive line had a dominant performance, as Nemechek and senior Skyler Wittman had a tackle for loss. On second-and-11, three players combined for a sack. After a punt, Quinter bumped its lead to 22-0 on a 5-play, 42-yard drive. Hargitt rushed three times on the drive and collected his third touchdown on a 17-yard burst.

For the third straight drive, Macksville didn't collect a first down-- even after the Mustangs switched quarterbacks. With 4:23 left in the first half, Macksville went from senior Garrett Aves, primarily a running quarterback, to sophomore Seth Filbert, a passing quarterback.

Filbert fumbled on his first snap and threw incomplete on his play as Macksville was forced to punt again. Overall, Macksville finished 6-for-20 passing for 45 yards. Aves ran 13 times for 10 yards and senior Justin Claussen had 17 rushing yards.

"They did a great job of putting pressure on the quarterback," Grizzell said. "...It was their entire front four. It was not just one kid."

Quinter took a 28-0 lead five plays later when Hargitt had a 31-yard run on an option pitch down the left side. Hargitt was untouched as sophomore fullback Logan Reed and Deaton delivered blocks.

Macksville had its first chance at a score on the first drive of the third quarter, but Quinter senior Matt Bird picked off a pass in the end zone. The Bulldogs tacked on two more second half scores, a 23-yard run from Logan Reed and a 30-yard pass from Brady Reed to Bird. Reed ran in the final score to cap the big win.

"I don't even know how to explain it," Corwin said. "It's just awesome."