Longhorns beat Amherst 24-6, host Gibbon Friday

    The Chase County football team added another check in the win column Friday with a victory over Amherst.
    Nothing came easy early on and the game was scoreless throughout the first quarter.
    Chase County Head Coach Nathan Gaswick said the Longhorns struggled to establish their run game in the first half, but their defense picked up the slack and kept Amherst scoreless in the first half.
    With both teams struggling with a north wind, the first half’s only points came in the second quarter when Amherst dropped a backward pass as it drove deep into CCS territory. James McArthur scooped up the ball and ran it back for a touchdown.
    McArthur had a nice night kicking for Chase County. McArthur hit three PAT attempts and added a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter to give the Longhorns a 10-0 lead.
    Amherst cut into the CCS advantage in the fourth quarter. With the wind at their backs, the Broncos drove down the field and scored from the one-yard line. Chase County maintained a four-point lead, 10-6, after the missed extra point.
    The Longhorns answered. With seven minutes left in the game, Chase County put together an 80-yard, six-play drive into the wind.
    “Unable to throw the ball into the wind, we put it all onto our offensive linemen and backfield. Big runs by Thomas Reeves, Dawson Mollendor and Luis Co helped us crank the clock while shifting field position into our favor,” Gaswick said.
    Mollendor dove into the end zone on a two-yard run to give CCS a 17-6 lead with McArthur’s kick.
    Gaswick credited his defense for continuing to step up and shut down the Amherst offense on the Broncos’ half of the field.
    Mollendor scored on a three-yard run to cap off the 24-6 win.
    “I was extremely proud of all of our guys. This was a difficult week as we continue to deal with adversity on our offensive and defensive line, but our guys stepped up when we needed it most and found a way to overcome adversity,” Gaswick said.
Up next
    The Longhorns have another home game before it starts district competition Sept. 23 at Gordon-Rushville. CCS will host 0-3 Gibbon Friday.
    It’ll also be the second week in a row for a brand new opponent. Gaswick said he doesn’t think CCS has ever faced the Buffaloes.
    Despite being winless, Gaswick said Gibbon has faced some very good football teams—Hershey, Wood River and Hastings St. Cecilia—and it’s a similar team to Amherst.
    “On film, they possess a downhill power run game and can also throw the ball well. This will be another big week for our football team as we work to control our own destiny throughout the regular season,” he said.

Stats at a glance
Team Totals    CCS    AHS
Total Plays    54    61
Total Yards    234    185
Passing Yards    73    29
Rushing Yards    161    156
First Downs    10    13
Third Down Eff.    2-13    3-11
Fourth Down Eff.     2-2    0-3
Turnovers    1    3
Fumbles Lost    -     2
Interceptions Thrown    1    1
Penalties    3/10    2/15
Tackles (solos-assists-TFL)—Luis Co, 5-6-1; Thomas Reeves, 3-3-3; Kade Anderson, 3-2-0; Stephen Murray, 3-2-0; Isaac Stretesky, 2-8-1; Sean Heermann, 2-8-0; Tyler O’Neil, 2-6-6; Dawson Mollendor, 1-2-0; Tristan Jablonski, 1-4-0; Zach Tarin, 1-3-1; Zach Herbert, 1-0-0; James McArthur, 0-2-0; Tucker Mollendor, 0-2-0; Cristobal Tarango, 0-1-0; Easton Fries, 0-1-0.
Rushing (attempts-yards-TD)—D. Mollendor, 23-59-2; Co, 3-51-0; Reeves, 9-47-0; Anderson, 1-4-0; Carter Leibbrandt, 3-0-0; McArthur, 1-0-0.
Passing (completions-attempts-yards-TD-INT)—Leibbrandt, 5-12-73-0-1.
Receiving (receptions-yards-TD)—Anderson, 2-35-0; Leibbrandt, 1-29-0; Murraym 2-9-0.
Scoring
Second Quarter
CCS: James McArthur fumble return (McArthur kick)
Third Quarter
CCS: McArthur 29-yd field goal
Fourth Quarter
AHS: 1-yd run (kick no good)
CCS: Dawson Mollendor 2-yd run (McArthur kick)
CCS: Mollendor 3-yd run (McArthur kick)
Score by quarters:
CCS    0    7    3     14—24
Amherst    0    0    0    6—60