Miscues lead to shutout at Cozad

    Drive-killing mistakes kept the Chase County Longhorns out of the end zone in a 13-0 road loss to the Cozad Haymakers Friday.
    A combination of penalties, bad snaps, fumbles and an interception killed five of six Longhorn drives in a game that was scoreless going into the fourth quarter.
    The Longhorns went into the game without starting center/linebacker Blaine Dorn, who failed concussion protocol late in the week.
     That meant Head Coach Dan Lenners  didn’t have any practice time to prepare for Dorn’s absence.
    Lenners shifted personnel around defensively and brought Kenyan Biesecker in at center.
    Then, in the fourth quarter, starting quarterback/linebacker Bennett Bauerle left the game with an injury, forcing more personnel reassignments.
    The Longhorns’ best drive of the night came at the start of the second  quarter. Starting at their own 20, the Horns picked up four third-down conversions to advance to the Haymaker 15.
    Faced with a fourth-and-two at the Cozad 7, the Longhorns were unable to convert and turned the ball over on downs.
    After forcing a Cozad punt, the Longhorns started on their own 20. Two pass completions  of 21 and 28 yards from Bauerle to Chase Rowley moved the Longhorns down to the 35.
    A penalty, two incomplete passes and a fumbled snap killed another drive, forcing a punt after losing nine yards.
`    The Longhorns got the ball to open the second half and moved to the Cozad 20 on a 29 completion from Bauerle to Logan Jussel.
    The Longhorns caught a break after a penalty and sack left them with a third-and-22. Bauerle’s pass attempt was incomplete but Cozad got flagged on the play to give the Longhorns a new set of downs.

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