LUSK – The Homecoming game last Friday had Pine Bluffs visiting Gibson Field at Fullmer Stadium. It was certain to be another tough challenge as the Hornets are the fourth ranked team in five weeks Lusk has faced. The Niobrara County High School defense kept them in check early-trailing by just seven after one period.
The visitors added two more touch- downs early in the second and tried to pull away, but the Tigers wouldn’t fold. A pair of scoring opportunities were snuffed out and yet Lusk remained hopeful until the 3:55 mark before half- time. Nathan Miller admirably stepped into the quarterback spot when Brady Swisher went down a few weeks back, but his night came to an early ending on a borderline illegal hit in front of the NCHS bench. It wasn’t the first or second overlooked call but one of many, and this one clearly shook the Tigers.
With another leader injured, NCHS turned to Hudson Leimser at quarter- back to hold it together in the second half. Just two weeks removed from a fifth-place finish at the state golf championships, the junior has played, and knows football very well.
It was a forgettable third quarter as the visitors scored on a safety, a kickoff return and four more touchdowns. With the running clock in motion, the visitors felt it necessary to add more salt to the wound late in the game, in a 65-0 final score.
“We knew what they were going to do, we just didn’t execute very well- and when Nathan went down, that was tough.” said head coach Chris Skeen. “But we came out in the second half and it’s like we forgot everything.”
NCHS has to regroup and travel to Kirk
Field for another game against one of the Wyopreps coaches and media top five teams. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Lingle. Miller’s condition is uncertain at this time.
“I told the guys it’s gut check time, we can’t afford another loss. There’s still the possibility of a home playoff game,” added Skeen. “We need character to show up, because football exposes character when your backs are
against the wall.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
PBHS 7-14-37-7--65
NCHS 0-0-0-0--0
TEAM STATS
PBHS Passing- 6/14, 148 yds, 2TD.
Rushing- 31/251, 6TD. 10 first downs. 2 fumbles/1 lost. 9 penalties/ 85 yds.
NCHS Passing- 10/23, 124 yds, 3 INT. Rushing 34/20. 9 first downs. 2 fum- bles/2 lost. 2 penalties/10 yds.
NCHS PLAYER STATS: Passing- Miller 6 comp/10 atts, 76 yds; Leimser 4/13, 48 yds. Rushing- Leimser 15 atts/15 yds; Ashurst 9/6; Miller 6/4; Assman 1/ 3; Goodwin 2/ -6; Heth
1/ -2. Receiving- Assman 3 catch- es/72 yds; R. Brott 4/33; Himes 2/22; Ashurst 1/ -3. Defensive points-R. Brott 19; Leimser 9; D. Swisher 9; Ashurst 8; Himes 7; Heth 6; Goodwin 5; D. Brott 3; Bouissey 3; Cassiano 2; Assman 1; Hostetler 1; Maez 1; Daniels 1.
