Cougars defeat Axtell, advance to bi-district
Jirak and Gutsch lead charge on the ground
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Centre Cougars locked up a spot in the play-offs Friday by defeating Axtell on their field, 40-20.
The Cougars defeated Cuba-Hillcrest the previous week and were scheduled to play St. Xavier of Junction City this week in a final district game.
However, St. Xavier could not field a team this year, so the game was forfeited, putting Centre in line to advance to bi-district play.
Coach Bud Peterson said the key to Centre's win Friday was a series of long drives which kept the ball in the Cougars' hands for much of the game, preventing Axtell from scoring a lot.
Centre rushed for 330 yards compared to 77 by Axtell, but Axtell threw for 203 yards compared to 58 by Centre.
"Axtell had pretty good yards passing, but we controlled the clock with those long drives," Peterson said.
Seth Jirak rushed for 111 yards including a five-yard run in the second quarter, a 41-yard run in the third, and a 17-yard run in the fourth.
Bryant Gutsch carried the ball 23 times for 102 yards, including a four-yard run to score the first touchdown of the game.
Lance Diepenbrock scored two touchdowns, a one-yard run in the first quarter and a 44-yard run in the second quarter.
Quarterback Dustin Burnett ran for four extra points. He passed the ball nine times for two completions and 58 yards. He also had one interception on the defensive side.
Axtell scored one touchdown in each of the final three quarters and added a two-point conversion.
Thieen Antoszyk, a 140-pound, 5-6 junior, led the defense with six unassisted and nine assisted tackles, followed by Jirak with four and seven.
Tad Remy was 4-4 in tackles and also blocked a punt. Diepenbrock had one fumble recovery.
Peterson said the team will not know for sure until Friday who they will face in the play-offs, but it will be Sylvan Grove or Little River. The game will be played Tuesday on the opponent's field.
