Bronson leads Wildcats to comeback victory
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
As Kenneth Bronson goes, so go the Northern Heights Wildcats.
Friday night was just another example of the senior quarterback’s importance to his team. Bronson struggled early against Council Grove, and it was Braves quarterback Derek Ziegenhirt who shined, throwing for three touchdown passes early to give the Braves a 19-0 lead.
But Council Grove could only keep Bronson and the NHHS offense under wraps for so long. Bronson bounced back from a bad start and Northern Heights came back to win 37-21 in the district opener.
“He’s our leader and when he was down early, so was the team,” Heights co-head coach Tad Hatfield said. “It seems when he’s clicking the team’s clicking and he did a good job of keeping his head up and getting on top of things.”
Bronson put up his usual numbers, 232 yards passing, 119 rushing yards and three touchdowns — one passing and two on the ground. NHHS running back James Crabtree caught seven passes out of the backfield to lead the Wildcats in receiving with 110 yards.
The momentum shifted in the second quarter when Heights’ offense and defense both started to figure out the Braves.
Council Grove mixed the run and pass early, but once the Wildcats figured out how to stop the run by changing their defensive fronts, the Braves offense struggled.
“Mainly the kids just finally realized what they wre doing and got in the right spots and made tackles,” Hatfield said.
Northern Heights took the lead in the fourth quarter, 21-20, on a Stephen Nuessen 28-yard field goal. Bronson added two touchdowns late, a 52-yard run and 32-yard pass to Crabtree.
“This showed us a lot tonight, Hatfield said. “It showed they had a lot of heart and pride, willingness to come back and fight. ... This is huge for us, especially in district play.”
Northern Heights improved to 5-1 in the Flint Hills League, moving out of a tie for second with Council Grove. Mission Valley leads the league at 5-0, but Mission Valley dropped its first game of the year on Friday, losing to Rossville 62-8. Heights travels to Mission Valley next week with a possible league title and playoff berth on the line.
Friday at Northern Heights
Council Grove 13 6 2 0 — 21
Northern Heights 0 13 7 17 — 37
First quarter
CG — LeMay 25 pass from Ziegenhirt (kick good)
CG — Maas 70 pass from Ziegenhirt (kick failed)
Second quarter
CG — Carr 8 pass from Ziegenhirt (kick good)
NH — Mendel 5 pass from Bronson (Nuessen kick)
NH — Murray 28 pass from Bronson (kick failed)
Third quarter
NH — Bronson 1 run (Nuessen kick)
CG — safety by penalty
Fourth quarter
NH — Nuessen 28 field goal
NH — Bronson 52 run (Nuessen kick)
NH — Crabtree 32 from Bronson (Nuessen kick)
GAME STATISTICS
CG NH
Rushes-yards 33-111 21-145
Comp-Att-Int 4-19-2 22-42-1
Passing yards 110 232
Total yards 221 377
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — CG: Ziegenhirt 16-43, Reddick 4-17, Maas 11-35, Dagan 2-16; NH: Bronson 12-119, Britton 3-(minus 1), Murray 1-(minus 5), Crabtree 5-32.
Passing — CG: Ziegenhirt 4-19-2 110; NH: Bronson 22-42-1 232.
Receiving — CG: Maas 1-70, LeMay 1-25, Carr 2-15; NH: Britton 2-2, Murray 7-68, Crabtree 7-110, Atchison 1-10, Mendez 5-52.
Lebo 38, Hartford 36
Lebo played strong for three quarters, then withstood a 24-point fourth-quarter from Hartford to come away with a two-point victory.
Adam Laflin, making a return from a high-ankle sprain injury, led the Wolves with 134 yards on 14 carries and had scoring runs of 19, 26 and nine yards. Coach Butch Jones said Laflin still isn’t healthy.
“He was in and out tonight, but he’s playing better,” Jones said. “He’s at least getting back on his feet a little bit.”
A touchdown run by Colten Barrett in the fourth quarter, followed by TD passes from Barrett to Logan Grieder and Adam Ewy, gave Hartford a chance to finish the comeback. After a Lebo fumble early in the fourth, “all at once, things just almost kind of fell apart,” Jones said. “... But (Hartford) made some nice catches, they made some crucial catches on fourth down.”
Next week, Lebo takes on Eight-Man I’s No. 1 team, undefeated Madison. Hartford will host Marmaton Valley.
Friday at Lebo
Hartford (3-4, 3-3) 6 6 0 24 — 36
Lebo (3-4, 3-3) 6 20 6 6 — 38
First quarter
Lebo — Laflin 19 run (kick failed)
HAR — Smith 17 pass from Barrett (kick failed)
Second quarter
Lebo — Perry 10 run (kick failed)
Lebo — Laflin 26 run (Linsey pass from Johnston)
HAR — Barrett 1 run (kick failed)
Lebo — Linsey 7 pass from Johnston (kick failed)
Third quarter
Lebo — Perry 11 run (kick failed)
Fourth quarter
HAR — Barrett 2 run (Ewy run)
Lebo — Laflin 9 run (kick failed)
HAR — Grieder 20 pass from Barrett (Barrett run)
HAR — Ewy 7 pass from Barrett (Barrett run)
GAME STATISTICS
HAR Lebo
First downs 13 19
Rushes-yards 34-94 47-323
Comp-Att-Int 13-28-1 5-11-1
Passing yards 201 39
Total yards 295 362
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1
Punts-yards 11-87 7-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — HAR: Ewy 18-58, Barrett 12-36, Smith 2-8, Garnder 1-0, Grieder 1-(-8); Lebo: Johnston 12-78, Laflin 14-134, Perry 16-82, Strawder 5-29.
Passing — HAR: Barrett 12-27-1, Payton 1-1-0; Lebo: Johnston 5-11-1.
Receiving — HAR: Grieder 4-66, Smith 3-51, Ewy 2-17, Payton 1-32, Lingenfelter 1-22, Schwinghamer 1-13. Lebo: Linsey 2-15, Weiss 2-165, Strawder 1-9.
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