A goose egg.

That was the goal Friday night for Nathan Cabot’s Owensville Dutchmen football team against Eldon’s Mustangs.

Whistled for pass interference with just under three minuted left, Dutchmen senior cornerback TJ Whelan redeemed himself on the very next play.

Intercepting a Hunter Hees pass inside the 20-yard line, Whelan put the finishing touches on Owensville’s 47-0 shutout over Eldon.

This marked the first regular season shutout for Owensville since Sept. 9, 2016 when the Dutchmen shut out St. James 41-0 in a game that had to be finished on a Saturday due to thunder and lightning in Gasconade County the previous night.

“He’s a real tenacious kid out there,” Cabot said. “He’s one of our great leaders on defense in the secondary.”

Winning the pregame coin toss, Owensville opted to defer to the second half.

Holding Eldon’s offense to five yards in three plays, the Dutchmen caught a break on the ensuing fourth-down play.

Handling a low snap, one of the knees of Eldon’s punter hit the ground while picking the ball up making him down by contact.

OHS gained excellent field position starting their first offensive possession on Eldon’s 12-yard line.

Two plays later, Owensville broke the scoreless tie when Derek Brandt found the end zone on a six yard touchdown run.

Charlie Whelan’s extra-point kick at the 10:01 mark of the first quarter gave the Dutchmen an early 7-0 lead.

Eldon’s second offensive possession saw them move into Dutchmen territory.

On second down just inside the Owensville 40-yard line, junior safety Landon Valley sacked Hees moving the Mustang offense back 10 yards.

Forcing Eldon to punt two plays later, the Dutchmen offense needed just over a minute to add to their lead.

Starting their next drive at the 26-yard line, OHS quickly moved into Eldon territory on a 35-yard pass play from junior quarterback Brendan Decker to senior tight end TC Fisher.

Decker completed seven of his eight pass attempts for 206 yards passing and three touchdowns.

To go along with his pass reception, Fisher paced the Dutchmen defense with 13 total tackles and two tackles for loss.

After a Decker run for four yards and a 15-yard scamper from senior Garret West, Owensville finished their latest drive on the ground.

West finished with a team-high 85 yards rushing on 11 carries and a touchdown.

Austin Lowder ran 26 yards to pay dirt at the 3:37 mark of the opening quarter. Charlie Whelan’s kick went wide to the left leaving the Dutchmen lead at 13-0.

Following a quick three-and-out forced by Owensville’s defense, the OHS offense looked for another score on their next drive.

Starting at Eldon’s 49-yard line, a false start penalty moved them back on their side of the midfield stripe.

Already with a rushing touchdown in the game, Brandt added a score through the air catching a 54-yard TD pass from Decker with 1:51 for the first quarter. Charlie Whelan’s kick pushed the OHS lead to 20-0.

Recording a sack in their opener at Potosi, Logan Evans sacked Hees on the final play of the first quarter pushing the Mustangs back seven yards.

Two plays later, Eldon punted the ball back to Owensville with 11:43 left in the first half.

Seconds later, the Dutchmen fumbled the ball only to see Eldon’s Fisher Snelling recover the ball for a turnover at the 10:50 mark of the second quarter.

Driving as deep as Owensville’s 19-yard line, the Mustangs were turned away when Owen Holtzer and West combined to stop Eldon’s Owen Levesque on fourth down.

Two plays into OHS’ next offensive possession, the Dutchmen caught a huge break.

Decker ran down field for a big gain before a fumble was recovered by Eldon.

However, Eldon was flagged for a horse collar penalty before the fumble helping Owensville retain possession at midfield.

On the very next play, Decker went to a familiar target through the air.

Brandt caught his third pass of the game to the tune of a 50-yard TD pass from Decker.

OHS now had a 26-0 lead with 6:56 for the half after Charlie Whelan’s kick went wide to the left.

With Valley and Evans already recording sacks, it was time for another Dutchmen defender to join the sack party.

Junior safety Zibbie Whitaker sacked Hees on second-and-seven for a 5-yard loss.

“Our defense really studied last week’s film and applied what they learned to this week,” Cabot said. “We have a ton of athletes on both sides of the ball and that’s what we want.”

Eldon’s next punt was fielded by Brandt who returned it 37 yards all the way to the Mustang 13-yard line at the 4:59 mark of the second quarter.

Also causing havoc for Eldon’s defense, Brandt added to his 12 tackles against Potosi with 10 total tackles against the Mustangs.

Seeing just five seconds elapse, Decker scored this time on the ground from 13 yards out. Charlie Whelan’s kick pushed Owensville’s lead to 33-0 late in the half.

Keeping Eldon out of Dutchmen territory the rest of the half, OHS went into the halftime intermission two points away from a running clock.

Getting the ball to start the second half, Cabot’s Dutchmen only need just under two minutes to add to their lead.

Starting with the ball at their 44-yard line, a West 6-yard run moved the pigskin to midfield before an 8-yard pass completion from Decker to Lowder gave Owensville a first down in Mustang territory.

Two West runs totaling 12 yards set up the Dutchmen with a first down at the Eldon 30-yard line.

On the next play, Decker found sophomore wide receiver Bryce Payne open in the left corner of the end zone for a 30-yard TD pass.

As it turned out, that was Payne’s first varsity touchdown. Charlie Whelan’s kick gave Owensville a 40-0 lead and started the running clock with 10:07 left in the third quarter.

Holding Eldon to one first down on their next offensive possession, OHS got the ball back midway through the third quarter.

Running the ball six times for 41 yards on Owensville’s next drive, West capped it with a 2-yard TD run on the opening play of the fourth quarter. Charlie Whelan’s kick bumped the Dutchmen lead to 47-0 with 11:43 and counting to play.

Following TJ Whelan’s aforementioned interception, OHS’ JV Dutchmen ran out the final 1:45.

Freshman quarterback Blake Elliott took off on a 23-yard run on the first play from scrimmage into Eldon territory.

Whitaker added a 15-yard run to his sack earlier in the game before time expired on Owensville’s first shutout in four years.

Senior Bryor Bogle made his 2020 debut with seven total tackles and two tackles for loss.

Now 1-1 on the young season, Cabot’s Dutchmen will continue their month-long home stand welcoming the 2-0 Cuba Wildcats to Dutchmen Field for a 7 p.m., kickoff in what will also be senior night Friday night for band, football cheerleaders, cross country runners and football players.