Longhorn football shows growth in 3-6 season

    Coming off a 0-7 season in 2020, there was nowhere to go but up for Chase County’s football team
    This year’s Longhorns met their team goal, picking up three wins with a young group of players.
    CCS Head Coach Nathan Gaswick said he felt his Longhorns had opportunities to get more than three wins, but it was good to meet their goal.
    “Next year that number will continue to climb as we continue to raise the expectations for this program. Starting from the bottom is never a straight road to the top. It takes time, discipline, dedication and persistence,” Gaswick said.
    Many of these qualities were demonstrated in the senior class this year, Gaswick added.
    “Regardless of playing time, our seniors showed up to practice and worked to get better every practice. They demonstrated what dedication and commitment to a team looks like and were positive role models for our underclassmen,” Gaswick said.
    Quarterback Ryan Bernhardt and linemen Colby Nickless and Morel Jurado returned as starters.
    Bernhardt, who started in the Longhorns’ 2019 playoff game, led CCS with 885 yards rushing. He also completed 62-144 passes for 937 yards and nine touchdowns.
    Other seniors contributing this year were Jesse Krausnick, Cayden White, Juan Ruiz, Jose Ayala, Cody Duffy and Joel Alarcon.
    Juniors on the team were Dawson Mollendor, Kade Anderson and Carter Leibbrandt .
    Following in their footsteps was a large group of sophomores and freshmen.
    Defensively, 31 players had a tackle during the season. Junior Dawson Mollendor led CCS in tackles, followed by sophomores Zach Herbert, Cooper Dillan, Jaret Peterson and freshman Isaac Stretesky.
    Whether on offense or defense, Gaswick said CCS had to rely on a lot of athletes who had never experienced what it was like to play in a varsity football game.
    “When other teams have a large number of returning starters who have that experience, it creates match up concerns in many areas,” Gaswick said.
    Looking back over the schedule, Gaswick said the Valentine game sticks out.
    “It was a sloppy, ugly game where we did not play our best football but our defense found a way to force a safety and win a football game on a long road trip. For many of our underclassmen and myself, this was our first win and it felt great,” Gaswick said.
    Gaswick said team unity was his team’s greatest strength.
    “Our athletes supported each other and played together as a team. They handled coaching well and were a fun group to coach. Almost every athlete had a desire to get better at practice and took coaching to heart,” he said.
    Time in the weight room and playing other sports were vital in improving this season and will continue to be in the future, Gaswick said.
    The need to be surrounded by constant competition and accountability is what helps lead to success, he said, adding this is something that Chase County has traditionally hung their hat on and it needs to be the expectation from here on out.
    “We need athletes committed to the weight room and to other sports and activities to be constantly working to improve themselves both physically and mentally,” Gaswick explained, adding, if they can continue to stick together and keep working hard he absolutely believes they could be a group that can help improve all CCS male athletic programs.
Playoff picture
    Chadron remained unbeaten in the regular season and earned the fifth seed in the Class C1 playoffs. The Cardinals were beaten in the first round by Battle Creek, 28-20.
    The top 16 teams in Class C1 reached the playoffs. Mitchell finished 17th in the point standings.
    St. Pat’s was the eighth seed in Class C2 after finishing a 9-1 regular season. The Irish lost to Hartington Cedar Catholic 20-7 in the first round of the playoffs.
    Gordon-Rushville, seeded 11th in Class C2, lost its first round playoff game 31-15 to Lincoln Lutheran.

2021 CCS football results
8/27    Chadron (9-0)    0-42
9/3    @ Sidney (2-7)    6-8
9/10    @ Ogallala (5-4)    34-64
9/17    Mitchell (6-3)    20-32
9/24    @ Valentine (1-7)    8-6
10/1    NPSP (8-1)    20-43
10/8    @ Hershey (0-9)    26-18
10/15    Bridgeport (2-7)    36-33
10/22    Gordon-Rushville (6-3)    25-53