A goose egg.

That is a goal for every defense in every high school football game.

Friday night at Dutchmen Field, Nathan Cabot’s Owensville Dutchmen welcomed Cuba’s Wildcats for a Highway 19 gridiron showdown.

Entering the game 16-0 all time against their Highway 19 rivals to the south, history was already on the side of the Dutchmen.

When the clock hit all zeros in the fourth quarter, more history was made.

Owensville’s 50-0 win over the Wildcats marked the first time OHS opened their season with a shutout since the 1992 campaign when Larry Mueller’s gridiron Dutchmen posted an 8-0 victory over Warrenton’s Warriors.

In spite of losing the opening coin toss, it did not take long for OHS to break the scoreless tie.

At the 9:48 mark of the opening quarter, Dutchmen junior quarterback Blake Elliott called his own number on a 19-yard touchdown (TD) run for a quick 6-0 lead in spite of Charlie Whelan’s missed extra point kick.

Elliott ran for a team-high 122 yards rushing on six carries and two touchdowns.

Lightning quickly struck again for Elliott.

Only this time it was on the defensive side of the ball.

Intercepting an errant Cuba pass at the 20-yard line, Elliott ran it back to the house for a touchdown at the 8:40 mark of the quarter.

Whelan’s extra point gave the Dutchmen a baker’s dozen compared to Cuba’s goose egg.

Not even a minute later, Dutchmen lineman Hayden Shoemaker stripped the football from Cuba’s Cooper Mehl near the goal line.

Shoemaker finished the night with eight total tackles and a team-high five tackles-for-loss.

Hunter Boyer led the Dutchmen defense with 10 total tackles while Isaiah Gates and Garrett Crosby joined Shoemaker with eight total tackles apiece.

Owensville’s defense also caused nightmares for the Cuba offensive backfield to the tune of nine sacks.

Trey Johnson led the Dutchmen sack attack with three of them followed by two from Crosby.

Boyer added 1.5 sacks to go along with one each from Gates and Shoemaker and a half-sack by Chance Clevenger.

Cuba recovered it in the end zone giving Owensville a safety and a 15-0 lead with 7:53 for the first period.

Almost three minutes later, the Dutchmen defense struck again.

With Cuba moving into Owensville’s side of the field, senior defensive back Bryce Payne intercepted another Wildcat pass inside the 20-yard line before taking it back 86 yards for a touchdown.

Whelan’s second extra point of the night gave the Dutchmen a 22-0 lead after one quarter.

Backed up in their own territory to start the second quarter, Elliott quickly changed that busting out into the open field on a 92-yard touchdown run with 9:48 until halftime.

Whelan’s kick extended the Dutchmen advantage to 29-0 at halftime as that was the lone score of the second quarter.

“Blake (Elliott) really showed his athleticism tonight,” Cabot said. “He ran the ball really well taking full advantage of his blocking.”

A minute into the second half, the Owensville ground game continued to wear down the Wildcats.

Tanner Meyer joined the scoring frenzy with a 53-yard TD run at the 11:00 mark of the third quarter.

In spite of Whelan’s missed kick, OHS’ lead was now 35-0 with the running clock starting in the second half with the orange and black up 35 points.

Meyer just missed triple digits on the ground finishing with 81 yards rushing on 10 carries and a score. He also had an interception on defense that led to a score.

Leading 35-0 after three quarters, it was time for sophomore Connor Fisher to take over the Dutchmen offense.

Four minutes into the final quarter, Fisher found the end zone for the first time as a varsity quarterback on a 9-yard TD run.

Whelan’s latest extra point made it 42-0 Owensville over Cuba with 8:07 remaining.

With time winding down, the Dutchmen offense had one more shot at adding points to their side of the scoreboard.

Fisher found the end zone for the second time on a 32-yard TD run with 1:51 remaining.

Whelan handled a botched snap taking it around the right side and into the end zone for two more points and a 50-0 victory.

OHS will host Eldon Friday night at 7 p.m.