Olpe runs over turnover-prone Chase County, 41-7
Scott Hayes
Saturday, October 20, 2007
OLPE — The Olpe Eagles responded to Chase County scoring on its first drive of the game by unloading for 41 unanswered points on the Bulldogs, rolling to a 41-7 win Friday night.
The win moved the Eagles to 5-3 on the season and all but solidified Olpe a spot in the State playoffs, improving to 2-0 in District play.
As good as Olpe was in the final three quarters of the game, the Bulldogs were in control early.
After forcing the Eagles to a three-and-out on their first possession, Chase County drove 71 yards in six plays, set up by a Nathan Phipps 58-yard run and capped by a 1-yard Shawn Talkington touchdown run.
The Bulldogs led 7-0 after the first quarter, but Olpe took over from there.
The Eagles hit the scoring column with 8:50 remaining in the first half on a Matt Redeker 1-yard touchdown run, which capped a nine-play, 49-yard scoring drive. Alex Medenciy pushed the extra point wide right, keeping Chase County in front, 7-6.
Olpe didn’t waste much time, scoring on its next possession in less than a minute and a half. Redeker found Medenciy behind the Bulldog defense for a 27-yard TD pass, wrapping up a three-play, 46-yard drive. Redeker then found Cole Krueger at the side of the end zone for the two-point conversion to help Olpe take the 14-7 lead.
Olpe’s defense gave the Eagles another chance before the half, as Wade Schimdt picked off Talkington for the first of Talkington’s four interceptions, giving the Eagles the ball at the Chase County 27 with 2:38 to play in the half.
The Eagles scored on the first of Krueger’s two touchdown runs with 20 seconds to go before halftime. The snap on the extra point was low and Olpe couldn’t get the kick off for the extra point, taking a 20-7 lead into the break.
Neither team could find the end zone in the third quarter, but Olpe finally broke the second-half stalemate early in the fourth.
With two seconds to play in the third, Talkington was intercepted when his pass tipped off the hands of his intended receiver, Greg Davis. Olpe’s Linden Stueve kept the play alive by kicking the ball back in the air while laying on his back, and the ball was scooped out of the air by Bradley Argabright.
Krueger capped a four-play, 46-yard Olpe scoring drive with a 3-yard run, and after a Medenciy extra point, the Eagles were up 27-7.
Argabright got his second interception of the game two possessions later, setting Olpe up with the ball at the Chase County 15-yard line with just over 6 minutes to play. Medenciy found pay dirt on an 8-yard run, and then added the extra point to push the lead to 34-7.
The final score of the night came on Talkington’s fourth interception of the game with two and a half minutes to play. Linden Stueve stepped in front of a pass to the flat and coasted down the sideline 48 yards for the touchdown.
Olpe was efficient on offense, gaining 244 totals yards on 46 plays. The Bulldogs were held to 210 yards of offense on 56 plays. Chase County running back Brian Palermo was kept in check by a swarming Eagles defense, gaining just 65 yards rushing on 18 carries.
Olpe 41, Chase County 7
Friday at Olpe
Olpe 0 20 0 21 — 41
Chase Co. 7 0 0 0 — 7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Olpe: Josh Lambert 18-80, Cole Krueger 6-27, Matt Redeker 7-32, Alex Medenciy 6-10, Wade Schmidt 1-3. CC: Nathan Phipps 11-81, Brian Palermo 17-65, Shawn Talkington 8-20, Kyle Grokett 1-3, Cole Starkey 1-(-1).
Passing — Olpe: Matt Redeker 5-7-0 92 yds. CC: Shawn Talkington 6-15-4 50. Receiving — Olpe: Alex Medenciy 2-44, Bradley Argabright 1-21, Josh Klumpe 1-16, Cole Krueger 1-11.