Alex Eisen/MDN Towner/Granville/Upham sophomore quarterback Garrett Bailey (10) runs with the ball Saturday afternoon in a 9-man first round playoff game against Central McLean in Towner. TGU won 34-0.

TOWNER — Senior running back Shayden Luna couldn’t be contained Saturday afternoon and rushed for four touchdowns in Towner/Granville/Upham’s 34-0 shutout win over Central McLain in the first round of the 9-man football playoffs.

The sturdy 5-foot-8, 190-pound back brushed off defenders and praise for his dominating performance. Luna quickly directed all credit to the unsung heroes in front of him that paved the way and made his job rather easy.

“The offensive line does such a good job,” Luna said. “They are the only reason us backs can get to where we need to be on the field. We put up points for them. Our offense is made around them, really… I go up the hole and I just see that everyone is blocked. If I have a chance, then I’ll cut it back. But, I trust them to make a good play.”

With the temperature hovering just above freezing and a howling wind on Saturday, the brute strength of TGU’s offensive and defensive lines — with the likes of Andy Linstrom, Aidan McMahon, Blair Kuhnhenn, Mason Jones and Matthew Lara — overpowered Central McLean and controlled the entire game.

The Titans’ defense has shut out their last two opponents.

“Very, very happy with the way they played,” TGU head coach Ben Wollenzien said. “They played physical up front and in our linebacker core… They are starting to figure it out. They are buying into the scheme. We have been working on it for 12 weeks and they are starting to click.”

The Region 4 No. 2-seeded Titans (6-3) ran the ball on every play in their first drive. There was no reason to go to the air when TGU was picking up six or more yards on every run.

Eventually, Luna broke free for a 26-yard touchdown score halfway through the first quarter. The Titans then faked everyone out by using a play-action pass on the two-point conversion, quarterback Garrett Bailey found tight end Blake Lunde, to take an 8-0 opening lead.

The Region 5 No. 4-seeded Cougars (5-4) misplayed the ensuing kickoff and were pinned back on their own5-yard line.

TGU swarmed and pushed the Cougars back into their own end zone for a safety, 10-0.

Central McLean got some momentum back later in the first half with quarterback/defensive back Trapper Jacobs intercepting a rare TGU pass.

But, the Cougars’ drives had a habit of dying out on third and fourth downs near the red zone.

With 2.8 seconds left in the first half, the Titans got the ball down to the Cougars’ 1-yard line. There was no doubt the ball was going to Luna, and the senior plowed in for his second rushing touchdown.

Cody Frounfelter also reached on the two-point conversion run to make it 18-0 TGU at halftime.

“It’s pretty nice to have a guy like Shayden Luna,” Wollenzien said. “We have guys up front who can block and make holes for him. He sees the field so well and he is a very punishing runner. We are very fortunate to have a kid like him.”

Luna found the end zone two more times in the third quarter on runs of 28 and 19 yards. He also ran in both of the two-point attempts.

That started the mercy running clock and an interception by Bailey in the fourth quarter helped wrap up the shutout, 34-0.

“These past two weeks we have come together as a team,” Luna said. “I feel confident and I feel like we are going to make a good run. We are all ready. We are ready for next week already.”

The Titans head on the road and take on Region 6 champions Ray/Powers Lake (8-0) next week in the second round of the 9-man football playoffs.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.