Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Longhorns trample Cambridge, 33-6

The Kimball High football team treated a homecoming crowd to a 33-6 Longhorn victory this past Friday evening extending their season record to 4 and 2. On a near perfect football evening, Jon Withrow ran for 175 yards and 4 touchdowns on 20 rushing attempts averaging 8.8 yards per carry. The shifty and hard running senior back has moved into the number one spot in the school record books for rushing yards and touchdowns scored and at season end we will update you readers with the final total.

Withrow scored on runs of 3 and 11 yards in the opening period to give the local club a 13-0 lead as Enrique Cajero had his first PAT kick blocked. Withrow had another 11 yard TD in the second period giving the Horns a 20-0 lead at half time, then broke for a 17 yard score in the third quarter. Younger brother Jaden Withrow, a speedy sophomore, got into the scoring act in the third period with a 52 yard dash to the end zone down the sideline to wind up Kimball's scoring. Cambridge got their lone touchdown with :24 seconds left in the ball game on a pass from Travis Kubik to Tyler Witte covering 16 yards with the 2 point conversion try failing.

Kimball piled up 339 yards of offense on 48 plays while the visitors had 183 yards on 57 plays. The Horns averaged 7.1 yards per snap. They were 6 of 11 passing for over 15 yards per attempts with Colton Stull going 5 of 10 for 65 yards and Jon Withrow 1 of 1 for 29 yards. Michael Ferguson had 3 catches for 47 yards, Jon Withrow 2 for 29, and Angel Flores 1 for 18 yards. Behind Withrow's 175 yards rushing were Jaden Withrow with 68 on 6 carries, AJ Spicer with 13 on 4 rushes, and Angel Flores with 7 yards on his lone attempt.

The time of possession was close with Kimball having a slight edge, but the Horns had 17 first downs to 11 for Cambridge. Both teams punted 4 times with Cajero averaging 35 yards per punt. The Horns had no turnovers and Cambridge 3 with 1 fumble loss and 2 interceptions. Cambridge had 6 penalties for 50 yards and Kimball 3 for 20.

Coach Nick Kuxhausen was quite happy with the win. "I was happy with the way we came out ready to play and we played fast. Our offense did what we needed to do to win but our defense really stood out this game, especially the defensive line. It was a good team effort but if I was to single out anyone, it would be our players on the defensive line" Kuxhausen said.

Start with senior Ben Sauter who was in on 14 tackles with 4 solo stops and 4 tackles for losses. Michael Ferguson was close behind with 10 tackles including 4 solo stops and 2 for loss of yardage. AJ Spicer had 8 tackles with 2 solo tackles, Damien Rutledge was in on 7, Jaden Withrow 5 with 3 solo stops, Colton Stull 6 with 2 solos, Justin Mohr 6, Jon Withrow 4, Enrique Cajero 3, Ethan Land 3 plus an interception, Anthony Williams, Tyler Magninie, and Angel Flores all with 2 tackles and Flores had an interception. AJ Spicer recovered a Cambridge fumble on their first snap of the game which led to a Kimball touchdown the next play.

A big win for the Horns but they will face their toughest opponent of the season this Friday at North Platte St. Pats, a team ranked #5 in the state Class C-2 rankings. This past Friday they won over Bridgeport 36-0 and are unbeaten at 6-0.

"St. Pats is a team that doesn't make mistakes. They just keep coming at you with runs up the middle. They tackle well and they take care of the football. We will have to play our best to be in the ball game but we are capable and it is kind of exciting now that we are getting into the meat of our schedule," said coach Kuxhausen. Kickoff at North Platte is early with a 6 p.m. Kimball time start. A positive is everyone is healthy and it was great to see Damien Rutledge back in the lineup this past week.

Score by quarter

Cambridge 0 0 0 6 - 6

Kimball 13 7 13 0 - 33