DULUTH — When Duluth East’s Dane Ahrens carried the ball for the final time against Duluth Denfeld, he broke through the line of scrimmage and into the Hunters secondary.
Instead of continuing into the end zone — as he had done four times previously — he stepped out of bounds inside the Denfeld 10-yard line. The first downs allowed the Greyhounds to kneel on the ball in a 32-18 win Friday at Ordean East Stadium.
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At under 5-foot-8 and about 150 pounds, Ahrens is “small in stature,” according to East coach Blane Tetreault, but still “lowers his pads” and runs through contact.
“He’s a running back that’s really hard to get on the ground,” he said. “He’s got a lower center of gravity, but he has a lot of quickness. A lot of times, you’ll see him go to one hand on the ground, maintain his balance and just bounce right back up.”
With his size, Ahrens can “get lost in the shuffle” between the defensive and offensive line.
“He ends up bursting out of there and getting significant yards,” Tetreault said. “Once he gets to the second level — he’s usually gone.”
Ahrens was happy with his own play, but said the key was the line and they way they came out ready to play against the ...