Saturday, November 13, 2021

Worth County Fends Off Stanberry to Advance to District Finals

Worth County raced out to a 20-0 lead against Stanberry, only to spend the rest of the night fending off Stanberry in the bitterly cold weather before pulling off a 34-20 win Friday. They face East Atchison, who beat Platte Valley 40-14 in Barnard. 

The differences from the first game were plenty. Stanberry made a bunch of adjustments, putting in two different formations which isolated six players on six and creating more space for their runners. They moved prized run stopper Austin Colvin onto the offensive line where he could open up holes. And Tucker Schieber ran with a lot more authority than he did the first game, taking the pressure off Austin Schwebach, giving Stanberry a second running option. Stanberry has been consistently one of the most difficult teams to beat twice under Shane Hilton, and Friday was no exception. But Worth County overcame their mistakes and persevered, getting the win.

Everything looked so easy at first after Worth County won the toss and took the bitterly cold north wind, pinning Stanberry on their own 15. They went three and out and Braxton Hightshoe ran back the ensuing punt to the seven after a block from Alex Rinehart. Two plays later, Aydan Gladstone muscled his way into the end zone despite the best efforts of four Stanberry defenders with 9:44 left. Alex Rinehart ran straight up the middle as Auston Pride knocked down Austin Colvin to make it 8-0.

One of the few things Stanberry did right in the first game was get some good runbacks, and it continued Friday night as Tyler Schwebach ran back the ensuing kickoff to the Tiger 22. Two carries by Tucker Schieber netted four yards and Austin Schwebach picked up four more. But on fourth and two on the 14, Alex Rinehart came on a blitz and guessed right, dropping Schieber for a loss at the 15 to give the Tigers the ball back on downs. 

A helmet to helmet hit put the ball on the 28 and Aydan Gladstone bounced outside to the Stanberry 36 for 16 yards. Carries by Alex Rinehart and Aydan Gladstone put the ball on the 14. An apparent touchdown was called incomplete (bad call), but Rinehart shot up the middle and muscled his way in with 4:35 left to make it 14-0.

Worth County then pulled off a surprise onsides kick and Braxton Hightshoe recovered it at the Stanberry 38. A holding wiped out a long run, but on fourth and five at the 33, Jackson Runde caught a short pass, broke a tackle, and took it to the house with 1:57 left to make it 20-0.

But after Stanberry went three and out, a false start and consecutive sacks pinned Worth County and they were forced to punt. On third and seven at the 32, Stanberry tried a flea flicker and it paid off, as Worth County was flagged for a costly pass interference penalty. That gave Stanberry hope again, and they took full advantage. The tackling broke down on the next play as Schieber broke it 13 yards to the 20, and carries by Schwebach and Schieber got them into the end zone with 9:14 left. Like the Mound City game, Stanberry became a completely different team when they got the wind to start the second quarter.

Worth County then used a 17 play drive to go from the 15 to the 3 and took a lot of time off the clock. Alex Rinehart carried most of the load. But on fourth and goal at the three, Rinehart was tackled short of the end zone and a Stanberry Hail Mary at the end of the half was not answered. Worth County's problem in those two drives was that they had gotten away from the quick tempo they had set throughout the year, taking too long to get the play in and snapping it when just a few seconds were left on the play clock. 

Things didn't improve at the start of the third quarter, as Worth County fumbled the ball right off the bat. But they settled down and made a goal line stand, as Stanberry had a touchdown wiped out by a holding penalty and gave up the ball on downs at the 12. But Worth County couldn't do anything either and went three and out. This time, Stanberry went to their six on six isolation, handed it to Schieber on a counter, and he found nothing but daylight from 36 yards out and ran in the extra points to make it 20-14.

The Tigers tried to answer, doing a better job of getting up to the line and getting the play off. They got as far as the Stanberry 18 after a 31 yard pass to Jackson Runde, but then a holding penalty and a fumble killed the drive. Stanberry had a golden opportunity to tie or take the lead, but Worth County held this time as Stanberry went three and out. Sometimes, runningbacks get better as the game progresses as they get more and more of a feel for the game, the more carries they get the ball. This time, Alex Rinehart started finding daylight, getting a cutback to the 26 for a first down and picking up 14 more after reversing his field to the 40. Alex was buried on the next play, but Jackson Runde picked up nine to make it a manageable third and give at the 35. Rinehart dove ahead for a first down and then took it to the house with 11:51 left in the fourth as the wind was once again in the Tigers' favor. Jackson Runde caught the extra point pass to make it 28-14.

Runde was shaken up on the next series and was done for the game. He is expected to return Friday. Stanberry was faced with a fourth and two at their own 23, and were considering going for it, but took too much time and a false start forced them to punt. Without Runde's blocking, Worth County went three and out, but Stanberry was taking too much time, much like Worth County had done for much of the second quarter, and couldn't get anything going either and were forced to punt. 

Worth County was simply trying to burn off clock without Runde, but Pride opened a big hole up the middle on a simple dive and Rinehart picked up nine to the Stanberry 27 after the Bulldogs kicked into the wind and the short kick gave Worth County good field position. Pride opened an even bigger hole next play, and Rinehart took it to the house to make it 34-14.

Stanberry went to the air and a Schwebach scramble and a short pass got them as far as the Tiger 27. But four straight incompletions gave the Tigers the ball back. Rinehart burst through another big hole and picked up 22 yards to the Stanberry 31, but a holding penalty killed the drive and Gavin Cameron had a good runback for Stanberry to the 29.

The Bulldogs, with Worth County playing prevent to try to stop the deep pass, found some running lanes wide open and marched down the field, getting carries for both Schwebach and Schieber. Finally, Schwebach reached across the end zone with 1:35 left and broke the plane to cut it to 34-20. Jackson Smith recovered the ensuing onsides kick, and Worth County was able to run out the clock.

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