Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Kimball quarterback Colton Stull made his return for the Longhorns last week. Here, he attempts to find a way out of the path of an oncoming defender
Kimball fumbled the first snap from center at Hershey Friday night and five plays later the hosting Panthers were on the board after completing a 15 yard pass and with the clock showing 9:23 in the opening period the scoring race was on.
A short time later, still in the first period, another lost fumble by the Horns led to the second TD of the night for Hershey and the host school was up 14-0 at the end of the opening quarter of play.
The ball was bouncing right for the winners as their first score of the second period came after they fumbled, but recovered, and scored on a six-yard run going up 21-0 after the PAT kick.
By halftime it was 27-0 and the second half began with Hershey running back the kickoff on a 91 yard kick return and when the PAT kick failed, it was a 33-0 margin. Hershey ran that margin to 40-0 with 3:18 left in the third period, and with that lead the game went to a running clock as the rules state after a team has a 35 point lead.
Kimball’s lone score in the contest came on a 65 yard drive with the Withrow brothers doing most of the running on the drive along with a 23 yard scamper by Angel Flores. Jonathon Withrow got Kimball’s first score of the season on a five-yard run with 9:30 left in the game and Enrique Cajero kicked the PAT.
The Hershey reserves would score once more as time ran down to complete a night of complete domination by the hosts. Coach Nick Kuxhausen went to his bench as well in the final minutes as it ended with both schools using their reserves, and sophomore Ethan Land showed a strong arm in his backup role at quarterback.
Kimball’s young team was outmatched and up against a very good Hershey football team that had size and experience.
Coach Kuxhausen said, “We had too many mistakes against a very good football team. We are young and bruised up a bit. We need to get our young people thinking with a varsity mentality”.
The Horns did get junior quarterback ColtonStull back after he got the okay from his doctors, but they were without junior fullback/linebacker A.J. Spicer, who was home sick with a high temperature. Coach Kuxhausen said, “We really missed A.J. with his size and toughness.”
He went on to say that freshman Jaden Withrow moved into a starting role and did a good job.
In the final stats, Jonathon Withrow led the Kimball rushing attack with 79 yards on 18 carries to account for most of Kimball’s running game with a team total of 80 net yards on 27 carries. The passing game was improved with Stull hitting on all 7 of his attempts for 23 yards. As a team, the Horns were 7 of 10 for 23 yards with 1 interception. Jonathon Withrow had 3 catches for 4 yards, Michael Ferguson 2 for 12, Trent Rutledge 1 for 10, and Angel Flores 1 for minus 3.
Jake Reader stood out once again leading the tackle chart with 8 solo tackles and 8 assists including 1 sack. Jonathon Withrow had 4 solos and 3 assists, Michael Ferguson 2 and 5, Ethan Land 2 and 4, and Justin Mohr 0 and 5 to round out the leaders. Mohr also recorded a fumble recovery.