Top-ranked Stratton/Liberty got its 6-man football season off to a resounding start with a 64-19 home win over the Genoa-Hugo Pirates, last Friday night at Liberty.
Now the Knighted Eagles host seventh-ranked Eads, Friday night at Stratton. Kickoff is at 7.
“Eads is a very good team that will create so challenges for our team on both sides of the ball,” coach Toby Kechter said, “and we look forward to playing them.”
Eads opened its season last Friday with a 54-13 home win over Kiowa. The Eagles lost to Kit Carson in the playoffs last season. Stratton/Liberty reached the state championship game last season, losing by one point to Fleming.
Stratton/Liberty and Eads did not play last season.
The Knighted Eagles got this strange, late-starting 2020 season started in the right direction with its dominating win last Friday.
Genoa-Hugo scored on a kickoff return in the first quarter, but the Knighted Eagles scored on runs by Jaret Lichty and Charlie Clapper.
The home team really broke it open in the second quarter. Lichty had two rushing touchdowns. The passing game also started producing as Charlie Tagtmeyer threw touchdown passes to Logan Breyer and Alex Cruz.
Leading 44-14, the third quarter began with Lichty tossing a touchdown pass to Riggin Williams. Clayton Craig also hooked up with Dawson Thompson for a touchdown toss.
Cyler Notter scored on a run in the fourth for a 64-13 lead. Genoa-Hugo closed out the scoring with a rushing touchdown on the last play of the game.
Clapper ran for 75 yards and a touchdown on three carriers, Lichty 61 yards and three TDs on 10 attempts, Notter 48 yards and a TD on two carries, and Cruz five carriers for 34 yards. Tagtmeyer completed all five of his passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Craig completed one pass for 19 yards and a touchdown, and Lichty one complete for a four-yard touchdown. Stratton/Liberty completed all seven of its attempts.
Cruz had two receptions for 37 yards and a TD Williams two for 31 yards and a TD, Breyer two catches for 23 yards and a TD, and Thompson one catch for a 19-yard TD.
Defensively, Clapper and Williams each had five tackles, Cruz four, Lichty, Craig and Witzel three, Breyer, Notter, Ethan Bohnen and Joe Shean two each, and Thompson and Gallardo one each. Witzel had two sacks.
“I sas very pleased with our team,” Kechter said. “For the first game of the year we looked pretty good with very few penalties and zero turnovers. We made some mistakes that we can clean up but thought we played very hard.”
Otis opens with loss
The Otis High School football team experienced a rough start to its season, losing 55-12 to the Briggsdale Falcons.
The game was played in Otis last Friday night. Briggsdale is ranked No. 9 in the 6-man Top 10.
No statistics were available at press time.
The Bulldogs now host Weldon Valley on Friday at 7 p.m. in their season opener. Weldon Valley also opened its season with a loss, 26-12 to Peetz.
Arickaree/Woodlin loses opener
The Arickaree/Woodlin football team opened its delayed 2020 season last weekend with a 54-6 loss to second-ranked Fleming.
The Indian Mustangs now open conference play Friday night at home against the Idalia Wolves, who also opened the season with a loss.
Arickaree/Woodlin had trouble generating any offense last Friday against the defending state champion Wildcats, finishing with 65 rushing yards. Samuel Koolstra ran for 69 yards on 10 carriers, but the rest of the team had minus-4 yards rushing on three attempts.
Defensively, Koolstra was in on four total tackles, Logan Wright three, and Jacob Jefferson, Hayden Page, Angel Severin, and Estavan Ramirez two each. The Indian Mustangs are very young with only one senior and five juniors on its 15-man roster.