{"id":2000710,"date":"2025-09-06T00:22:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T00:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2000710"},"modified":"2025-09-06T00:22:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T00:22:36","slug":"royals-turn-to-smash-mouth-football-to-top-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royals-turn-to-smash-mouth-football-to-top-raiders\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals turn to smash-mouth football to top Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\tRamstein tailback Shaun Young tries to get around Kaiserslautern defender Garrett Vitter during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany \u2013 Carter Hollenbeck doesn\u2019t doubt the talent of his 2025 Ramstein squad. <\/p>\n

All the Royals lack, in his opinion, is experience playing together. They lost a significant chunk of last fall\u2019s Division I championship squad, making this year\u2019s version an almost entirely new team. <\/p>\n

So with Ramstein leading crosstown rival Kaiserslautern by just three points at halftime of their season opening Friday evening, the Royals coach simplified the game plan to get them on track.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of talented players, but they\u2019re still finding where they\u2019re playing,\u201d Hollenbeck said. \u201cThat was our biggest adjustment \u2013 doing something that was comfortable for us that we feel could work.\u201d <\/p>\n

The halftime alterations did work. <\/p>\n

The Royals found their groove offensively while the defense stymied the Raiders during a 15-0 win at Ramstein High School. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a brotherhood experience,\u201d Ramstein senior Shaun Young said. \u201cIn the first half, it was tough, but then we put it together and it all came through.\u201d <\/p>\n

The biggest change came on offense. <\/p>\n

The Royals (1-0) struggled putting anything together in the first half. The lone bright spot was their eight-play, 42-yard opening drive that ended in a Lincoln Bump 22-yard field goal at the 6:08 mark in the first quarter. <\/p>\n

In the second half, Ramstein deployed a tighter, jumbo-like formation with a fullback and either two tight ends or one of the receivers lined up just behind the tackle. <\/p>\n

That gave the Royals a powerful punch, and they used it to their advantage. The hosts bludgeoned their way to 107 of their 165 yards on the ground in the second half. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tRamstein’s Josh Black, center left, and Elijah Morris gang-tackle Kaiserslautern running back August Crisp during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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\n\t\t\"Freddie<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tRamstein defender Freddie Robinson celebrates after tackling Kaiserslautern running back August Crisp for a loss during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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\n\t\t\"Drew<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tRamstein fullback Drew Varholy dives ahead during a Sept. 5, 2025, game against crosstown rival Kaiserslautern at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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\n\t\t\"Xavier<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tRamstein quarterback Xavier Schumacher throws a pass over the outstretched arm of Kaiserslautern defensive lineman Ozius Gafa during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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\n\t\t\"August<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tKaiserslautern running back August Crisp runs around the edge after getting by Ramstein defender Josh Black during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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\n\t\t\"Jakob<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tKaiserslautern receiver Jakob Bell takes the handoff from quarterback Keaton Crowder during a Sept. 5, 2025, game against the crosstown rival Royals at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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\n\t\t\"Garrett<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tKaiserslautern tight end Garrett Vitter stretches out for a one-handed grab over Ramstein defensive back Rhett Dalling during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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\n\t\t\"Rhett<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tRamstein defensive back Rhett Dalling stretches out to intercept a pass that was batted into the air after teammate Ahmad Williams and Kaiserslautern receiver Jakob Bell jostled for the ball during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes)
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Ramstein finished the game with 208 yards of total offense. <\/p>\n

Drew Varholy set the tone with quick-hitting fullback dives that extended numerous drives. The senior from Tampa, Fla., smashed his way to 60 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushing attempts. <\/p>\n

His success made life easier for Young on the outside. The tailback totaled 63 of his game-high 94 yards in the second half, and his 8-yard scamper on a sweep with 10:56 remaining made it a two-possession game at 9-0. <\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially on that 36 pitch, I knew once I had the ball, I had to make a play,\u201d Young said. \u201cI want to say shoutout to the O-line. They really put the bodies out there for us to run through the gaps.\u201d <\/p>\n

That nine-point advantage proved to be insurmountable, thanks to the defense. <\/p>\n

Ramstein held Kaiserslautern (0-1) to 70 yards of total offense. August Crisp (42 yards on 18 carries) and the rushing attack couldn\u2019t get going, and the pass rush harried quarterback Keaton Crowder in the pocket. <\/p>\n

The Raiders\u2019 best play of the day came during their second drive of the game on a third-and-14 at their own 17-yard line. Crowder threw a ball over the middle to tight end Garrett Vitter, who snagged the ball for a one-handed grab. <\/p>\n

\u201cCoach (Chad) Horne does an outstanding job as our defensive coordinator,\u201d Hollenbeck said. \u201cHe\u2019s relentless, and he did a fantastic job of dialing the defense in.\u201d <\/p>\n

The visitors did once have the ball in the red zone, thanks to a Ramstein miscue on a punt at its own 30 early in the third quarter. The Raiders advanced the ball to Royal 11-yard line before lining up for a 26-yard field goal. <\/p>\n

Junior Josh Black, a transfer from Nebraska, got his paw to the kick to prevent Kaiserslautern from getting on the board. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, we were starting to get our heads down,\u201d Ramstein senior Chris Farrington said. \u201cBut because of that (blocked kick), we were able to get our excitement back up.\u201d <\/p>\n

That blocked kick was just one of the numerous missed opportunities for Raider coach Jason Steadman\u2019s squad. <\/p>\n

While vowing to get to work Monday to correct the errors, the first-year Kaiserslautern mentor also praised his players\u2019 efforts. He expressed his belief that the Raiders aren\u2019t far off from putting it together. <\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a team that wants it,\u201d Steadman said. \u201cIf we can just get out of our own way, we\u2019re going to get it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n <\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.stripes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ramstein tailback Shaun Young tries to get around Kaiserslautern defender Garrett Vitter during a Sept. 5, 2025, game at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner\/Stars and Stripes) RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany \u2013 Carter Hollenbeck doesn\u2019t doubt the talent of his 2025 Ramstein squad. All the Royals lack, in his opinion, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2000711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[363598,363599,363596,363597],"class_list":["post-2000710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-dodea-europe-football","tag-high-school-football-in-germany","tag-kaiserslautern-raiders","tag-ramstein-royals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Royals-turn-to-smash-mouth-football-to-top-Raiders.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}