Cougars end season with loss to Little River
By ROWENA PLETT
Reporter / photographer
After an easy win over Goessel in the first district contest, the Centre Cougars were hoping to defeat Little River this past Thursday and continue on to regionals.
But that was not to be. The perennial powerhouse defeated Centre 46-22 on their home field.
The Cougars gave the Redskins a tough fight in the first half. Little River was held to one touchdown but also held the Cougars, leading 8-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Centre came charging back and, just three minutes into the second quarter, scored their first touchdown with a two- yard run by Kyle Luna. The two-point conversion came on a pass from Curtis Gutsch to Luna.
After Little River added two more touchdowns and four PATs, Centre scored six points on a four-yard run by Gutsch. The extra-point attempt failed. At half-time Little River was ahead 24-14.
The two teams continued to battle it out in the third quarter, with Centre finally able to score at 4:09 on a 34-yard pass from Gutsch to Mark Pagenkopf. Gutsch added the two-point conversion and the score was 24-22.
But that was as close as the Cougars would get.
Little River managed to score again with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter, then went on to shut out Centre in the fourth quarter and add two more touchdowns and four extra points. The final score was Little River 46, Centre 22.
Little River was strong on the ground, having 47 carries for 268 yards. Centre had 58 carries for 193 yards.
Centre outdid Little River in the air with 10 passes for 129 yards compared to four passes for 77 yards.
Pagenkopf had three receptions for 62 yards and added 54 yards rushing, a total gain of 116 yards. Luna was leading rusher, with 75 yards, adding 10 yards from the air. Todd Stahlecker was leading defensive player with eight unassisted and 12 assisted tackles.
Statistics
Team play (Centre, Little River): First downs, 15, 10; rushing, 58c-193, 47c-268; passing, 10-32-1-129, 4-8-0-77; kick-offs, 4-214, 7-179; kick returns, 2-10, 3-50; punts, 4-110, 7-179; punt returns, 4-78, 5-170; penalties, 3-25, 3-20; fumbles, 0, 2-2.
Rushing: Gutsch 19-58, Pagenkopf 15-54, Luna 14-75.
Passing: Gutsch 10-32-1-129.
Pass receptions: Travis Burns 3-13, Pagenkopf 3-62, Peterson 1-15, Stahlecker 2-29, Luna 1-10.
Kick-offs: Luna 4-214.
Kick returns: Gutsch 1-7, Stahlecker 1-3.
Punts: Gutsch 4-110.
Punt returns: Stahlecker 4-78.
Penalties: 3-25, 3-20.
Fumbles: 0, 2-2
Fumble recoveries: Gutsch 1.
Tackles (assisted, unassisted): Stahlecker 8-12, Luna 3-13, Gutsch 3-4, Burns 1-11, Derek Belton 2-4, Peterson 3-3, Pagenkopf 2-6.
The Cougars ended the season at 75 percent, with six wins and three losses.
