Phillipsburg improved to 5-0 with a football win, and Smith Center doubled its win total, earning a big district win against Washington County.
Phillipsburg
The Panthers moved to 5-0 on the year with a non-conference win at Hoisington (2-3) on Friday. Phillipsburg ended the Cardinals’ two-game win-streak with a strong start and finish, scoring all 27 points in the first and fourth quarters en route to a 27-6 win.
Hunter Kohler put the Panthers on the board midway through the first quarter with a 73-yard run, then Michael Dusin scored six minutes later from a yard out for the 14-0 lead after one quarter. Hoisington cut into the gap with its lone score in the second quarter, and the teams went to the fourth quarter separated by just eight points. Senior kicker Justin Juenemann showed off his leg with field goals from 31 and 43 yards, then Tanner Crist recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for the final score. The Panthers lost the yardage battle 252-179. Kohler led the way with 78 yards on five carries, and Grant Wickham ran for 34 yards on eight carries. Riley Juenemann completed 2-of-3 passes for 29 yards. Defensively, Seth Derr and Hunter Kohler each picked off a Hagen Hanzlick pass.
Norton
The Blue Jays were not ready to fade from the MCL 11-man title hunt on Friday. Norton took a 23-0 halftime lead at Ellis, eventually downing the Railroaders 39-8 to improve to 4-1 on the year. The Blue Jays are now 2-1 against MCL foes, tied with Plainville. Phillipsburg sits at 2-0.
Dalton Miller scored the first Blue Jay touchdown from two yards out. Jacob Brooks added a 68-yard score for a 13-0 lead after 12 minutes of play. Austin Hager’s 30 yard field goal bumped the lead to 16-0 before Miller completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Carson McKenna. In the second half, Miller scored from 13 yards out and Brooks answered the lone Ellis score with a six yard touchdown. Hager provided the exclamation point with a 34-yard field goal for the only three points in the fourth quarter.
Smith Center
After a rare 1-3 start, the Redmen football team started a new season on Friday night. Smith Center dominated Class 2-1A, District 6-foe Washington County 30-0, moving to 1-0 in the district. The Redmen (2-3) did it slowly but surely with a touchdown in each quarter and two scores in the third quarter.
Kyler Atwood scored first from two yards out. In the second quarter, Grant Lambert scored the first of three touchdowns, running in from four yards out for a 12-0 halftime lead. Lambert scored again, this time from two yards out, in the third quarter. Weston Rothchild helped out the offense with a 60-yard fumble return for a 24-0 lead. In the final frame, Lambert scored from a yard out.
Trego
Friday’s Division I, District 8 opener was relatively low-scoring despite going three overtimes. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, Hoxie scored in two of the three overtimes, outlasting Trego for a 34-28 win.
The Golden Eagles (3-2) scored in each of the first three quarters to lead 22-16. Hoxie (4-1) scored early in the fourth quarter to tie things up. Neither team would score for a long while before Cameron Staples scored from six yards out in the second overtime. The two-point try failed to give the Golden Eagles the win, and Hoxie scored the final touchdown in the third overtime. Staples finished the night with 173 yards on 41 carries. Devon Ghumm added 86 yards on 10 carries, but 72 of those yards came on a score in the third quarter. Quarterback John Griffith went 75 yards on nine carries. The senior also completed 2-of-10 passes for 16 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Clayton Riedl caught a 14-yard pass for a score in the second quarter.
Osborne
With many eight-man teams playing district foes on Friday, the Bulldogs took a break, staying in-conference to hand Stockton a 52-6 loss in two quarters of play. Osborne improves to 4-1 on the year, and is the only unbeaten team in Division I, District 4 at 2-0.
Stockton actually scored first, but it was all Bulldogs from there. Osborne led 14-6 after 12 minutes, and piled on 38 points in the second quarter to put the mercy-rule in effect. After a block punt for a score, Kenton Ubelaker scored from five yards out for the lead. Ubelaker scored a variety of ways, adding another five-yard score, recovering a fumble for a touchdown, and taking a Jake Tiernan pass 24-yards for the final score of the night. Ubelaker finished the night with 86 yards on 13 carries. Tiernan added 85 yards on 12 carries. The freshman was also effective through the air, completing 7-of-8 passes for 97 yards and two scores. Brandt Wolters caught the other touchdown pass, leading the Bulldog receivers with 70 yards on four receptions.
Ellis
The Railroaders had won two straight heading into Friday’s MCL game against Class 3A Norton. The Blue Jays ended the streak, outscoring Ellis in each quarter to lead 23-0 at the half en route to a 39-8 finale.
Ellis (2-3) had seen some success of late on offense. Friady, only senior running back Gage Younger was able to move the ball, finishing with 133 yards on just 10 carries, including a 65-yard run. The team netted just 124 rushing yards in the game. Quarterback Blake Hudson completed 4-of-10 passes with an interception. Senior Cadyn McCoy had two catches and a 35-yard touchdown, finishing his night with 36 yards.
Hill City
The Ringneck runners headed to Ness City on Thursday. Just three schools brought full teams in the girls’ race. Ness City won with 21 points. The Lady Ringnecks finished third with 55 points. Scotty City won a five-team boys’ race with 31 points. Hill City finished fourth with 115 points, beating out Ingalls by two points.
Leslie VanLoenen finished third behind a tough field in 17:06, avoiding fourth place by two seconds and trailing the silver by 10 seconds. Bethany Eckols finished 12th in 18:04, 10 seconds behind a top 10 time. Kayla Keith ran a 19:56 for 29th place, and Emani Sipple and Brittany Lee finished 31st and 32nd, respectively, in 20:33 and 20:35. Shane Jones led the boys in 18th with a time of 19:25. Michael Poe finished 24th in 20:05, just a second in front of the next runner.
