Olpe starts season with decisive win
Tim Keller
Saturday, September 5, 2009
There’s a certain excitement in the air that comes with the opening game of the season. As the crowd sits and watches the clock tick down to kickoff you can feel the tension building.
The Olpe Eagles are coming off a powerful season that saw them reach the Class 2A State championship game. They are bringing back five offensive starters, three of which earned All-State honorable mention. Northern Heights is replacing 10 of 13 offensive starters. Nothing is ever set in stone, especially when a ball bounces and two teams familiar with each other are meeting on the field. But Olpe was dominant on Friday night, beating Heights 40-0.
As the teams lined up for the opening kickoff, all the talk was over. It was time to get dirty, and after a day of rain, it wouldn’t take either long to get their feet wet. The Wildcats lined up to kick, and Teeino Tabares sent the football down the field. Bradley Argabright caught the opening kickoff and broke right and sprinted down field for a touchdown. It was the first play of the season and Argabright had put the Eagles up 6-0.
Now it was the Wildcats’ turn. They took the ball at their own 31, and starting quarterback Gail Lee came out gunning, determined to answer back. Lee put together 4-for-4 passing for 27 yards on the opening drive, along with good runs from both Tabares and Nick Mendez the Wildcats were clawing at the end zone. Looking to answer back, Lee took the snap on 1st-and-goal from the 5, but as he turned, the ball slipped out and Olpe recovered at its own 14-yard line.
The Eagles started their second drive on their own 11 at the end of the first quarter. Linden Stueve showed off his speed with a quick 13-yard run, and Olpe was finding its groove. The very next play went to Argabright, who ran outside to the left and with a quick juke he was gone, 70 yards for a touchdown. Olpe was taking over.
The Wildcats were not ready to concede yet, and with good field position, they came out strong. The drive started with Lee completing his first two passes to Mendez for a combined 13 yards. D.J. Bronson took over the quarterback spot, completing two of his first three passes for 19 yards, including an 11-yard strike to Mendez on 4th-and-2. Again, the Eagles defense buckled down, forcing three straight incomplete passes before sacking the quarterback on 4th-and-10 and taking the ball back on downs.
Leading 13-0 and taking over on the Olpe 38, the Eagles gave to Stueve, who ran for 14 yards. The drive marched forward with solid running continuing. As the Eagles plowed down the field, the run carried them. Then for the first time, Matt Redeker stepped back to pass and hit a wide-open Argabright all alone behind the secondary for a 29-yard touchdown to make it 19-0.
Argabright extended the lead going just before half, running back a punt 55 yards for his fourth touchdown.
Starting the second half, Olpe had a 26-0 lead. The Wildcats got the ball first in the second half, but Redeker pulled down an interception and ran the ball toward the end zone before being tackled at the 18. Olpe continued to grind all the way to the 1-yard line, where it fumbled. The Wildcats took over, but on the next play fumbled into their own end zone, and Alex Dreier recovered for the defensive touchdown.
The Wildcats would get the ball back, but they were trailing and battered, and it was more of the same. Olpe stood tall on defense, and Redeker added a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles up 40-0 at the end of the third quarter.
“ I think we played well, but there’s definitely room for improvement,” Olpe coach Chris Schmidt said. “We got some younger guys playing in some spots, and it was a good learning experience for them. We’re going to need to see these guys step up in the future. ”
Olpe(0-0) 6 20 14 0 40
Heights(0-0) 0 0 0 0 0
First quarter
Olpe—Argabright kickoff return (Burenheide kick failed)
Second quarter
Olpe — Argabright 70 run (Burenheide Kick)
Olpe — Argabright 29 pass from Redeker (Burenheide kick failed)
Olpe — Argabright 55 punt return (Burenheide kick)
Third quarter
Olpe — Dreier fumble recovery in end zone (Burenheide kick)
Olpe — Redeker 1 run (Burenheide kick)
GAME STATISTICS
Olpe NHHS
First Downs 10 17
Rushes-Yards 34-213 30-162
Comp-Att-Int 2-3 10-17-1
Passing yards 23 75
Total yards 236 236
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 1/5 9/58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Olpe: Stueve 15-104, Argabright 3-71, Redeker 8-21, Pettijohn 5-25, Brinkman 1-1, McIlvain 1-(minus-3), Hogan 1-(minus-6); NHHS: Tabares 14-64, Mendez 8-65, Lee 3-18, Murray 5-15, Atchison 1-0.
Passing — Olpe: Redeker 2-3-0, 23 yards. NHHS: Lee 8-11-1, 56 yards; Bronson 2-6-0, 19 yards.