Warriors derail Herington in opener
Staff writers
Light rain sprinkled across all the way up to kickoff Friday, but all county teams still took the field, recording two victories and three losses.
Marion
The Warriors opened their season at home Friday with a lopsided 62-14 victory over Herington.
“I thought overall, for the first game of the season, with a lot of new players on the field and other guys in new positions, the guys did a good job of being patient in the first quarter and figuring things out,” coach Shaun Craft said.
Starting quarterback Carson Krause completed three of five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed six times for 25 yards and another touchdown.
“Offensively, it was nice to be able to mix in some passes and take advantage there by completing some big plays and scoring in a variety of ways,” Craft said. “It was also exciting to see Ryder Kraus and Easton Babcock get their first varsity touchdowns.”
To open up the second half, Babcock returned a kickoff 75 yards to score. He ended with 143 kickoff-return yards.
Ryder Kraus caught a 38-yard pass from Carson in the third quarter for his score.
Jameson Looper led the team in rushing with 119 yards and four touchdowns.
Wyatt Soyez also rushed for a touchdown.
“Defensively, I liked the aggressiveness and all 11 guys flying to the football,” Craft said.
Cooper Jirak, Jordy Raymer, Looper, and Soyez recorded at least one quarterback sack.
The Warriors (1-0) will be back home Friday against Douglass (1-0).
“This week, with a big physical team like Douglass, we have to tackle better and be more gap-sound on defense,” Craft said. “Offensively, we have to clean up some blocking assignment mistakes, which are all fixable in practice.”
Goessel
Slippery turf didn’t impede the Bluebird offense on Friday.
Brayton Base connected with Wyatt Sommerfeld on a 25-yard pass to give the Bluebirds a 6-0 lead.
Wakefield responded with a touchdown and extra points to take a lead, but an excellent punt return by Trey Gaddis set up a one-yard touchdown by Base, and Claudio Flores ran in the extra points.
The Bombers scored again with 21 seconds left in the first quarter, but Goessel responded with five seconds left on a 10-yard pitch to Flores to lead, 20-16.
Midway through the second quarter, Gaddis broke free and gathered in a pass from Base for a 45-yard touchdown.
The scoring duo connected again with 18 seconds left in the first half to give the Bluebirds a 32-16 lead at the break.
Gaddis changed directions several times on a 37-yard gallop for another Bluebird score. After a Wakefield score, Gaddis weaved his way through traffic, scoring from 15 yards out to give Goessel a 44-22 lead.
The Bluebirds were able to march down the field on running plays, consuming time and scoring on another Base-to-Gaddis pass to make the score 50-22.
With underclassmen getting a chance to play for the Bluebirds in the fourth quarter, the Bombers slowly advanced, scoring with no time left on the clock to make the final score 50-30.
Goessel (1-0) will be at Centre (0-1) Friday.
Hillsboro
The Trojans showed grit on the road Friday but lost 26-12 to Haven.
“The score doesn’t tell the whole story,” coach Demetrius Cox said. “The guys competed with resilience, strung together physical drives, and kept fighting through four quarters.”
Positive takeaways were his offensive line creating pockets in spurts and moving the line of scrimmage in the run game.
Quarterbacks managed the huddle and made plays, Cox said, with the next step being faster progression reads and cleaner timing to elevate passing efficiency.
Cox said the defense also played with “a high motor,” set a firm edge at times, and rallied to the ball.
“This group showed toughness and togetherness, and with cleaner execution and fewer giveaways, we’re confident the results will follow,” he said.
Hillsboro (0-1) will have its first home game of the season Friday against Larned (0-1).
Cox will have his team focus in practice this week on minimizing turnovers and improving the passing game.
“Winning the turnover margin changes the game,” he said.
Peabody-Burns
A back-and-forth, growing rivalry over the years added more fuel to the fire Friday night in a lopsided 39-8 loss at Tescott.
“Friday was definitely an eye opener for the team,” coach Eric Dutton said. “They did have some good moments and showed good potential of what we are capable of, but we also found a lot that needs to be addressed and cleaned up.”
The Warriors (0-1) will have their first home game of the season Friday against Cunningham (1-0).
“This week of practice will be full of position changes and play reps to fine tune the changes,” Dutton said. “I still have high expectations for this group, and I know they can turn it around quickly to get back on track.”
Centre
The Cougars were unable to answer Canton-Galva on the road Friday night, losing 48-0.
“Our first game didn’t end the way we hoped, but I was proud of how the team kept fighting and playing hard until the end,” coach Thieen Antoszyk said. “Even though we didn’t get on the scoreboard, there were still positives to build on.”
Quarterback Noah Brunner had 77 yards passing, and Micah Carlson had 77 yards receiving. Carlson also gained 45 yards in kickoff returns.
“Our effort never stopped, and we showed flashes of what we we’re capable of,” Antoszyk said. “We know we’ve got to be sharper with the execution, especially sustaining blocks and finishing plays.”
Centre (0-1) will play its first home game of the season Friday against county rival Goessel (1-0).
“This team is hungry for that matchup,” Antoszyk said. “Rivalry games are always special, and we’re determined to come out stronger and show what this group can really do.”