Staff writer
It was beginning to look like the Centre Junior High School football team may go undefeated this year, but Luckey Junior High School of Manhattan changed that Thursday by defeating Centre 56-26 in Manhattan.
Underscoring the toughness of their opponent, all of the Cougars’ points were scored in the second half, after Luckey had taken a 36-0 lead.
Kendall Harding received a 41-yard pass from quarterback Justin Deines to score six points in the third quarter. Luckey added two touchdowns for 12 points.
The Cougars were just getting warmed up in the fourth quarter, outscoring Luckey 20-8.
Kyle Methvin ran for eight yards for a touchdown and Cory Brunzell received a pass from Deines for the conversion.
Then Houston Svoboda caught a 48-yard pass from Deines to score again with two minutes remaining. The extra-point attempt failed.
After a quick touchdown by Luckey, Centre scored its final six points on a 36-yard pass from Deines to Harding, finishing with a 30-point loss.
Luckey killed the Cougars on the ground, holding them to 29 yards in 21 carries. Luckey had 36 carries for 259 yards.
But Centre excelled in the air with 186 total yards compared to 132 by Luckey. Luckey lost 23 yards on penalties compared to 10 yards lost by Centre.
Deines was Centre’s leading rusher, with four carries for 18 yards. Deines threw nine completions out of 25 attempts for 186 yards. Svoboda was the leading receiver, with three catches for 104 yards.
Harding led the defense with eight solo and two assisted tackles. Other tacklers (solo-assisted) were: Ty Simons 3-2, Deines 4-1, Dylan Svitak 5-3 plus two fumble recoveries, Svoboda 2-4, and Methvin 3-3.
The Cougars play White City at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at home.