One season win for longhorn football

Despite the 1 win-8 loss season for the Kimball High Football Team, there was good effort, good attitude, and progress of the younger players, leaving a positive outlook for next year.

The season got off to a shaky beginning as coach Nick Kuxhausen and his staff saw the top two running backs in Jaden Withrow and Logan Stahla go down with injuries. Withrow was done for the year with his knee injury while Stahla did make it back late in the season. Along with their injuries, there were others, and it all took a toll on the Horns. At the division level schools such as Kimball plays in, and with the limited number of athletes on the squad, the loss of a couple, or more, key players, really hurts! Keep in mind that all of these young men go both ways and are needed on both offense and defense.

This year's squad had 7 seniors and they did a good job of leading and working hard and they will be missed. Like usual, a key position to fill is the quarterback spot and Tyler Magninie is one of the departing senior group. At this time, according to coach Kuxhausen, it would appear that freshman Izaac Reuter will be groomed to step in next year as a sophomore starter. He already has good size for a freshman and will come back bigger and more mature next season. He showed promise when he was called on this season and a bright spot is the JV team went 4 and 1. Another positive is the two starting running backs in Withrow and Stahla, will both be back for their senior campaigns next year.

Along with Magninie in this year's senior listing, are Trent Rutledge, Kimball's lone All Western Trails Conference selection who played an end position along with doing the punting and kickoffs for the Horns. Ethan Land at the other end on offense and a very good defensive back as well, was Honorable Mention

All WTC, so replacing these two young men at the end spots will be a major concern. Angel Flores is yet another receiver target who will graduate and he has played a big role for the Horns all four years. Dakota Flores also did a good job catching the football.

Looking at some individual stats in this department, Land had 30 receptions for 425 yards and 4 touchdowns, Rutledge 27 catches for 384 yards and 5 TDs, Dakota Flores 7 for 138 yards and 2 TDs, and Angel Flores 14 catches for 132 yards and 1 TD. All four of these young men will graduate. And of course, Magninie led in the throwing department as he completed 89 of his 192 attempts for 1082 yards, 11 touchdowns,10 interceptions, 120 yards per game and 46.4% completion ratio. In all fairness, he was trying to perform under heavy rush at all times and had to scramble a lot to get his throws off. The passing game will have to be rebuilt next season!

Two senior lineman leaving the program are Creg Barker, an honorable mention all conference performer and Derrick Soto. Barker led the Horns on the tackle charts with 67 total and 48 solo stops. Soto had 21.5 tackles. They both were standouts on offense as well. Rutledge had 50 tackles and a team high 14 for loss yardage and Land was in the top five with 22 tackles.

Only 7 seniors on this year's team but now you can see the importance of these 7 and the job Kuxhausen and staff have ahead of them to replace the role they played.

Coach Kuxhausen shared his thoughts on the year and what to expect next season. "The early two thirds of the season we played competitively I felt, but we had some injuries that took a toll on us both physically and mentally. We were pretty young and inexperienced and we didn't finish out. Our seniors will be missed and they gave good effort. I hope our young guys will come back strong. We have a lot of work to be done before next year by myself and the kids."

Kuxhausen went on to say that this year's schedule was tough and the district was really strong, and of course it will be more of the same next year. It will be a huge transition for the JV kids to the varsity level but it will have to happen.

We already mentioned Withrow and Stahla back to build around and despite sitting out a large portion of the season, Withrow led the rushing department with 263 yards on 65 carries for a 4 yard per carry average and 2 touchdowns. Stahla had 167 yards on 41 carries for a 4.1 yard average and 1 TD. Kyle Spicer moved back from his lineman position to help out with 88 yards on 26 carries and Byron Rowley had 69 yards on 32 rushes. There are some good young men from this year's freshman class who show lots of promise. Of the 117 points scored by the Horns, all but 24 graduates. Rutledge scored 30, Land 24, Magninie 19, Dakota Flores 12, Angel Flores 8. Coming back are Withrow with 16, Stahla 6, and Brady Kilgore 2.

We need to mention younger players like Cody Kirby who did such a good job as a sophomore with his line play, and Sam Tussing, a junior lineman and a bunch of frosh and sophomores who were called on as the injuries mounted.

In a look back at the season, there were games where the Horns were close to getting the win. They started with a 28-13 loss to Gordon-Rushville, lost to Southern Valley 36-28, lost to Mitchell 35-21, lost to Chase County 28-7, lost to Bayard 24-13, won over Cambridge 14-13, lost to North Platte St Pats 49-0, lost to Hershey 54-7, and lost to Bridgeport 68-14.

Note: My thanks to Mr. Mo Hanks and his helpers for providing the complete set of stats compiled by the Longhorns this season. Mr. Hanks made sure I had a copy after each and every game and also a season ending set of stats.