OLPE — Just when it looked like Olpe might rip away Northern Heights’ chance at redemption, Heights senior running back Michael Glass stepped up and delivered his team a victory.
Glass scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to put the finishing touches on a 41-26 victory for Heights, which made the journey south down Highway 99 hoping to redeem itself after a 51-13 season-opening loss at the hands of Olpe last season.
“Beating Olpe is about the most important thing we could do in our season,” said Glass, who rushed 11 times for 53 yards and caught four passes for 39 yards. “It’s a statement game for us because we came down here last year and got it handed to us. We had some respect to gain back with this game.”
Though Glass’ touchdowns ultimately weren’t needed, they served as a welcome stress reliever for the Heights sideline and fans, as Olpe cut what had been a 28-0 Heights lead to 28-26 with 11:13 to go in the game.
“We just had to make it interesting,” Heights coach Greg French said.
At the game’s start, it appeared Heights (1-0) would run away with the game much like the Eagles did last season. Heights scored on its first three possessions, reaching the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Bishoff and a pair of TD strikes from Kenneth Bronson to Hayden Parks to put the Wildcats ahead, 21-0.
The Heights defense then got in the scoring act when Roman Murray jumped a pass thrown by Olpe quarterback Matt Redeker and took it 28 yards untouched to the end zone to make it 28-0 with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
“That first quarter, we felt really good,” Glass said. “We felt like we couldn’t be stopped.”
But once the first quarter ended, so did Heights’ offensive prowess. From the 1:07 point of the first quarter to the 8:32 mark of the fourth — a span of 28 minutes, 35 seconds — the Wildcats failed to score and gained just 37 yards of offense. By comparison, Heights had 170 yards of offense in the first quarter.
“We put points on the board so fast, and then it seemed like our offense was on the sideline for an hour,” French said. “We just struggled there for quite a while.”
Meanwhile, Olpe (0-1) came roaring back under the direction of Redeker, who spelled starter Cole Krueger on Olpe’s third possession.
The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard with 8:13 left before halftime when Redeker capped an 11-play, 79-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak across the goal line that made it 28-7 in Heights favor.
Then, just before the half, Olpe edged closer, but not without a little controversy.
Olpe got the ball back with 59 seconds left in the second quarter and promptly marched down the field, thanks in part to a 22-yard run by Redeker that put Olpe at Heights’ 9-yard line. After a delay of game backed Olpe up to the 14, Heights was flagged for pass interference in the end zone on Olpe’s Josh Klumpe, giving the Eagles the ball at the 8. One un-timed down was all Olpe needed to get back on the scoreboard, as Redeker hit Krueger in the right corner of the end zone to make it 28-14.
“The end of that second half was big for us,” Redeker said.
The two teams traded interceptions to start the second half, and then Olpe scored again on a 1-yard Redeker run to make it 28-20 after the extra point failed. Redeker capped his night with his third touchdown run one possession later — this one from three yards out — that brought the Eagles to with two at 28-26.
However, Redeker was stopped on the two-point conversion try, which ultimately became the game’s tipping point.
“We had to have a stop on the two-point conversion,” French said, “and they (the defense) stepped up to do that.”
Heights then turned to Glass and the running game to preserve its much-relished victory. After Olpe’s Wade Schmidt fumbled a punt, Glass answered with a 16-yard touchdown run to end Heights’ scoring drought, making it 34-26.
An interception gave the ball back to Heights near midfield, and again, it was Glass who did the scoring, this time taking it in from 11 yards out to make it 41-26.
“We did several dives right before each of the touchdown runs with our big fullback (Bishoff),” Glass said. “He was blasting away at them, and then we ran a counter, so they were really keying on him a little bit. Then my line opened up a big hole for me. That’s all I can ask of them.”
The 53-point swing for Heights from last year’s game represented exactly the type of redemption the Wildcats are seeking after a 3-6 season a year ago.
“I just told the guys in the huddle that this is not where it’s going to stop,” Glass said. “If anything, it shows us where our potential is at and what we can do.”
As for Olpe, which went 12-1 last season but lost every starter to graduation, the game served as a reminder that winning is precious.
“We learn from it,” Redeker said. “We try to take this and improve in practice and see what we can do in the future. We have to play better defense and make better decisions on offense. It’s a learning experience.”
Northern Heights 41, Olpe 26
Friday at Olpe
NH 28 0 0 13 — 41
Olpe 0 14 12 0 — 26
First Quarter
NH — Jeremy Bishoff 1 run (Stephen Nuessen kick)
NH — Hayden Parks 32 pass from Kenneth Bronson (Nuessen kick)
NH — Parks 10 pass from Bronson (Nuessen kick)
NH — Roman Murray 28 interception return (Nuessen kick)
Second Quarter
Olpe — Matt Redeker 1 run (Alex Medenciy kick)
Olpe — Cole Krueger 8 pass from Redeker (Medenciy kick)
Third Quarter
Olpe — Redeker 1 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
Olpe — Redeker 3 run (run failed)
NH — Michael Glass 16 run (Nuessen kick)
NH — Glass 11 run (kick failed)
GAME STATISTICS
NH Olpe
First downs 16 17
Rushes-yards 26-105 61-174
Comp-Att-Int 11-21-2 9-30-4
Passing yards 172 146
Total plays-yards 47-277 91-320
Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 10-77 14-115
Punts-average 3-31.0 1-12.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — NH: Kenneth Bronson 8-23, Michael Glass 11-53, Jeremy Bishoff 7-29; Olpe: Alex Medenciy 20-102, Cole Krueger 5-(-15), Wade Schmidt 2-18, Matt Redeker 10-52, Josh Lambert 4-17.
PASSING — NH: Bronson 11-21-2 172; Olpe: Krueger 0-2-0 0, Redeker 9-28-4 146.
RECEIVING — NH: Levi Hizar 2-65, Hayden Parks 4-70, Glass 4-29; Olpe: Schmidt 1-36, Bradley Argabright 1-47, Krueger 5-35, Josh Klumpe 1-12, Medenciy 1-16.
PUNTING — NH: Stephen Nuessen 3-31.0; Olpe: Medenciy 1-12.0.
RECORDS — NH (1-0); Olpe (0-1).