The Long Thin Line . . . Parents and students taking part in Cross Country and Football stretched almost from goal post to goal post on the football field last Friday night as they were each introduced before the football game at Lawrence football field.
Looks can be deceiving . . . Bayln Bargen looks like he's being tackled by two Kenesaw defenders in this picture. However, if a person was watching, Bargen caught a pass from Connor Janda, turned and got hit by a number of Kenesaw defenders, but did not go down. He continued for a 63 yard TD pass reception and run for the first points of the game last Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Kaylee Haba)
The L-N Raider football team improved their season record to four wins and two losses last Friday with a 32 to 20 victory over always tough Kenesaw. The game resembled that old saying of "two steps forward and one step back." The old saying seemed to repeat itself, more or less, throughout the game. To wit:
Quarter No. 1: Three downs and punt. Kenesaw first; L-N second; Kenesaw third.
Enough of that . . . following a Rocky Miller tackle on a Kenesaw 3rd and 1 yard to go situation that forced a Kenesaw punt, L-N had their second possession of the game on their own 12 yard line after a 15 yd. penalty on the punt.
The Raiders first pass of the game was from Janda to Bargen and went for 63 yards as Bargen kept taking hit after hit and kept running for the TD. An eight yard PAT pass from Janda to Nolan Ostdiek was good and put L-N up 8-0.
Quarter No. 2: One play . . . one TD on a two yard run by Janda who also ran the PAT. Score 16 to 0. ('O, yes, almost forgot to mention the Raider used 8 plays and the end of the 1st period to move the ball 55 yards just before the first period ended.)
The remainder of this period was fast moving, exciting and a person almost ran out of fingers and toes to keep track of the scoring. • After Nolan Ostdiek and Roy Davidson stopped a Kenesaw running back for a three yard loss, Kenesaw punted, but quickly regained the ball with a pass interception. • Kenesaw need just one play to score on a 35 yard run. PAT failed: 16-6. • Next possession L-N used over seven and one-half minutes of the clock to move the ball 61 yards down field to score. Jack Williams, Cody Funk and Connor Janda traded off running duties and two pass completions to Clay Williams all contributed as Janda scored the TD on a 13 yard run and ran the PAT. 24-6. • Next possession, Kenesaw used just two plays throwing passes for 55 yards to score: 24-14. • The thrill of the game continued right up to the end of the first half. The Raiders moved the ball 46 yards, right up to the Kenesaw 4 yard line before being unable to score on a 4th down play.
Quarter No. 3: This period did not have the fireworks of the 2nd quarter, but the Raiders did add an insurance TD to calm down fears of a Kenesaw come-back. After the teams exchanged possession of the ball, L-N had the ball on their own 32 yard line when Jack Williams showed a little power breaking free for a 48 yard TD run midway through the period. A Janda to Clay Williams pass scored the PAT: 32-14. The Raider defense dug in hard when it counted. Kenesaw move the ball down field 46 yards but was stopped.
Quarter No. 4: This was an interesting period, even if scoring was limited. Kenesaw ran off 20 plays and picked up a total of 45 yards and one TD for their work while L-N ran only 11 plays, gaining 38 yards without any points. But a couple of highlights were: • You may have hear of a "shoe-string" tackle, but Connor Janda had a "shirt-tail" tackle. Unable to grab onto the body, Janda was able to get his hand onto the shirt tail of a Kenesaw runner and was able to hold on (as he was being drug downfield ten yard) until Roy Davidson came to stop the runner from making what looked like a TD run. • The whole defensive unit played well, but a couple of defensive efforts that sort of stood out was a Rocky Miller tackle and Clay Williams knocking down a pass. After Kenesaw scored, Caden Culbertson caught the Kenesaw 'on-side' kickoff to secure possession for L-N the last two minutes of the game.
Considering Playoff standings, L-N is in District D2-6 and records are: Axtell 4-2, L-N 4-2, Silver Lake 4-2, Kenesaw 3-3, Blue Hill 1-5 and Deshler 1-5. Two more wins would help insure a better seating in the Playoffs for L-N and that would begin this Friday when Silver Lake comes over for the L-N Homecoming game.
Offense: Rushing: L-N 260 yds.; Kenesaw 155 yds.; Passing: L-N 95 yds.; Kenesaw 115 yds.; Total: L-N 355 yds.; Kenesaw 270 yds.
Individual Rushing: Connor Janda 141 yds. on 20 carries; Jack Williams 93 yds. on 7 carries; Cody Funk 26 yds. on 4 carries.
Passing: Janda: 95 yds. on 6 of 12 attempts; Receptions: Bayln Bargen 1 for 63 yds.; Nolan Ostdiek 1 for 8 yds.; Clay Williams 4 for 24 yds.
Defensive: (U-unassisted; A-assisted) Riley Cannaday 1A, 1U; Caden Culbertson 2A; Cody Funk 1 A, 1 U, 1 sack; Clay Williams 2 A, 1 U, 2 pass tips; Roy Davidson 6 A, 2 U; Connor Janda 7 A, 3 U; Jack Williams 2 A; Nolan Ostdiek 2 A, 2 U; Aidan Zikmund 1A, 7 U, Rocky Miller 5 U; Nathan Elledge 1 A.
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