Longhorns celebrate homecoming with win

    Despite homecoming royalty being crowned at halftime of Chase County’s Friday football game against Bridgeport, fans had every reason to stay until the final whistle.
    Bridgeport kept the game interesting, but it was the Longhorns who claimed the 36-33 win.
    As has been the trend this season, CCS kicked off to start the game.
    The Longhorns forced a Bridgeport punt and took over at its own 22-yard line. CCS completed two passes in the 10-play drive that Dawson Mollendor capped with a seven-yard touchdown run. The kick was no good but left CCS with a 6-0 lead.
    After forcing a three and out against the Bulldogs, CCS looked poised to put more points on the board. The Longhorns’ drive stalled five yards short of the end zone, but left Bridgeport pinned deep in its own territory as the first quarter ran down.
    The Longhorn defense kept Bridgeport out of the end zone, however CCS didn’t have any better luck on its next drive.
    The Bulldogs did. Bridgeport took over on its own 30-yard line after a CCS punt. Three plays later, Bridgeport scored on a 62-yard run. Its missed extra point tied the game at 6-6.
    With plenty of time in the half, CCS moved down the field. The Longhorns completed two 13-yard passes and added a 17-yard rush to help move down the field to the 13-yard line. A 10-yard run by Ryan Bernhardt finished off the 12-play drive. Bernhardt ran in the two-point conversion to boost CCS to an eight-point lead, 14-6.
    The third quarter started with Chase County’s drive stalling deep in its own territory.
    Bridgeport made the most of its opportunity. The Bulldogs had first and goal at the nine-yard line, but soon faced fourth and goal from the seven. The Bridgeport running back beat defenders to the left pylon for the touchdown. Bridgeport’s quarterback ran in the two point conversion to tie the game once more.
    Bernhardt put CCS back in control. On the drive’s third play, the quarterback looked to be pinned on the sideline, but cut back on the Bulldog defenders and raced 45-yards for a touchdown. This time the Longhorns’ two-point conversion failed, leaving the lead at six points, 20-14.
    The Bulldogs stuck to their running game on their next possession. Three runs of 10 yards each, plus a 15-yard pass play had Bridgeport knocking on the door of the end zone. A run by the fullback up the middle followed by an unsuccessful two-point attempt kept the game tied at 20.
    CCS punted to end its final possession of the third quarter and the Longhorn defense forced a punt early in the fourth quarter.
    A 34-yard pass play to Kade Anderson helped move CCS quickly down the field on its next possession. Bernhardt’s eight-yard touchdown run plus Mollendor’s conversion gave the Longhorns a 28-20 advantage.
    Not to be outdone, Bridgeport returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, but their failed two-point try gave CCS a 28-26 lead.
    Bernhardt capped a crazy minute and a half with a 76-yard touchdown run to put CCS comfortably ahead, especially with Mollendor’s two-point conversion run.
    The Longhorns weren’t comfortable for long. Despite two incomplete passes, the Bulldogs drove down the field and scored once more. Its two point conversion failed, leaving CCS hanging on to a 36-33 lead.
    The game got even more uncomfortable for CCS when Bridgeport recovered the on-side kick and took over at midfield with 4:15 left in the game.
    Bridgeport overcame fourth and five to advance to Chase County’s 33-yard line. A Bulldog receiver got behind the CCS defense with time winding down, but dropped a pass at the five-yard line.
    Bernhardt’s interception with 47 seconds left in the game sealed the win for CCS.
    With 392 yards of offense, CCS Head Coach Nathan Gaswick said Chase County’s offensive line is starting to click and its younger players are beginning to play with a lot more confidence.
    Bernhardt finished with 196 yards rushing and six solo tackles.
    Mollendor added 67 yards on the ground.
Up next
    CCS, 3-5, will host 5-3 Gordon-Rushville Friday to end the season.
    Gaswick said the Longhorns struggled defensively in the second half against Bridgeport and it’s something that CCS will have to focus on correcting going into its upcoming game.
    Gordon-Rushville has a good balance between run/pass and do a lot of things well, Gaswick said, adding it is always a good feeling to finish the season playing in front of their home crowd.

Stats at a glance
Team Totals    CCS    BHS
TTotal Plays     55     66
Total Yards     392     329
Passing Yards     128     35
Rushing Yards     264     294
First Downs     19     18
Third Down Conv.     5-9    2-8
Fourth Down Conv.     -     2-4
Turnovers     -     1
Fumbles Lost     -     -
Interceptions Thrown     -     1
Penalties-Yds     5-35    8-55
Tackles (solos-assists-TFL)—Ryan Bernhardt, 6-5-0; Zach Herbert, 4-13-1; Luis Co, 3-1-0; Isaac Stretesky, 2-5-0; Jaret Peterson, 1-6-1; Juan Ruiz, 1-6-1; Thomas Reeves, 1-4-1; Jensen Olsen, 1-3-0; Zach Tarin, 1-2-0; Colby Nickless, 1-1-0; Sean Heermann, 1-0-0; Dawson Mollendor, 0-3-0; Kade Adnerson, 0-2-0; Easton Fries, 0-3-0; Morel Jurado, 0-5-0; Cooper Dillan, 0-4-0; Jesse Krausnick, 0-1-0.
Rushing (attempts-yards-TD)—Bernhardt, 17-196-4; Mollendor, 14-67-1; Co, 1-1-0.
Passing (completions-attempts-yards-TD-INT)—Bernhardt, 7-18-128-0-0.
Receiving (receptions-yards-TD)—Anderson, 4-71-0; Fries, 1-37-0; Co, 2-20-0.
Scoring
First Quarter
CCS: Dawson Mollendor 7 Yd Run (Kick no good)
Second Quarter
BHS: 62 Yd Run (Kick no good)
CCS: Ryan Bernhardt 10 Yd Run (Bernhardt Two-Point Conversion)
Third Quarter
BHS: 7 Yd Run (Conversion good)
CCS: Bernhardt 45 Yd Run (Failed Conversion)
BHS: 10 Yd Run (Failed Conversion)
Fourth Quarter
CCS: Bernhardt 8 Yd Run (Mollendor run)
BHS: 60 Yd Kickoff Return (Failed Conversion)
CCS: Bernhardt 76 Yd Run (Mollendor Two-Point Conversion)
BHS: 3 Yd Run (Kick)
Score by quarters:
CCS    6     8     6     16 —36
BHS    0     6     14     13 —33