Peterson puts on a show

HIGH SCHOOLS: Black Hills senior rushes for 225 yards and five TDs

AARON WASSER; For The Olympian | • Published September 26, 2009

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TUMWATER – Cody Peterson.

That’s really all that needs to be said after Black Hills’ Evergreen Conference matchup with visiting Elma on Friday.

Although it would be safe to stick an exclamation point at the end of his name.

The Black Hills senior running back had five touchdowns on 161 rushing yards – in the first half – as he and the Wolves literally ran away from the Eagles for a 49-21 win at Tumwater District Stadium.

“Cody Peterson, he’s a special kid, and he did a really great job tonight,” Black Hills coach Jack Zilla said. “He always gives 110 percent. That’s just the kind of kid he is.”

The 6-foot-3, 206-pound bruiser was virtually unstoppable through the first two quarters. He ran the ball 23 times for an average of 7 yards per touch. His first touchdown, a 1-yard run near the end of the first quarter, evened the score at 7.

Then Peterson went nuts.

He scored four times in the second quarter to turn what had been a closely contested game into a laugher. Peterson and many of the Wolves’ starters saw less action in the second half, although he added 64 yards to finish the day with 225 on 30 carries.

Peterson, who had offseason knee surgery, said he’s getting closer to where he wants to be.

The Elma players might say he’s already there.

“My knee felt a lot better. It feels better every week,” he said. “I feel like I’m starting to get back to 100 percent, and we’re really starting to come together as a team, and I think we’re just going to keep getting better.”

Peterson wasn’t alone in his statistical assault on the Eagles (1-3, 0-2). Black Hills finished with a total of 370 yards on the ground. Quarterback Trent Alsin ran for 64 yards and a score, while Taylor Charette made the most of his four touches with 57 yards and one touchdown.

Things didn’t start out well for the Wolves (3-1, 2-0), however. Elma put together a 95-yard scoring drive on its first possession – with 87 of those yards belonging to Garrett Stoney. Black Hills turned it around from that point forward. Stoney netted 0 yards the rest of the half, and Elma ran for only 33 yards after the touchdown.

Black Hills went on to turn a pair of Elma turnovers into touchdowns and didn’t allow the Eagles into the end zone again until the 6:17 mark in the third quarter.

“We decided to play harder,” Zilla said of his defense. “We didn’t change scheme once.”