The Yuma football Outlaws will be trying to get on the right side of the ledger when they head to the hills Friday.
The Outlaws will go to Carbondale, a 300-mile trip, to take on the Roaring Fork Rams. The game originally was scheduled for Saturday afternoon but has been moved to 7 p.m. Friday due to a shortage of referees.
Yuma is 0-1 after opening the season with a 33-6 loss last Friday in Imperial, Nebraska, to the Chase County Longhorns. Roaring Fork is 1-0 after escaping Ellicott last Friday with a 14-13 win.
All North Central Conference teams except Holyoke have begun their seasons. Wiggins lost 41-0 to Forge Christian last week, Limon got past Colorado Springs Christian 42-28, and Wray rolled past Platte Canyon 42-0. Burlington opened a week earlier with a win over Platte Valley.
This week finds Wiggins at Meeker, Holyoke opens its season at Glenrock, Wray hosts Goodland, Kansas, and Limon hosts Flatirons Academy. Burlington has the week off again.
The Outlaws opener last Friday in Imperial did not get away from them until later in the second half.
A lack of offensive production finally caught up to them. The Outlaws had a total of 139 yards. They ran for 96 yards on 37 carries, an average of 2.6 yards per rush, and completed one pass out of nine attempts for 43 yards. Jonathan Thomson had the completion to Damien Kosinski. He also ran for 56 yards and Yuma’s lone touchdown, while Daden Beauprez had 31 yards on nine carries, Marvin Duarte one run for 15 yards, Kosinski four carries for 12 yards.
Chase County had a total of 292 yards, 167 rushing and 125 passing. The Longhorns averaged five yards per rushing attempt. They had two touchdowns through the air.
Yuma had to punt on its first possession, and a 27-yard return set up Chase County at the Outlaws’ 34-yard line. The Longhorns faced a fourth-and-11 at the 24 when they scored on a pass. The extra point made it 7-0.
The home team capped its next drive with a six-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.
Yuma’s defense then came up with some stops, including a fumble recovery, and the Outlaws offense finally got rolling midway through the second quarter. Thompson’s 43-yard pass to Kosinski set them up at Chase County’s 34 yard line. The Outlaws ripped off some nice runs, but faced a third-and-12. Following a timeout, Thomson scored on a quarterback keeper from the 13.
The extra point was blocked, but Yuma was within one score at halftime, 14-6.
The Outlaws had some opportunities early in the third. They recovered a Chase County fumble at the Longhorns’ 45, but could not convert. The punt pinned the Longhorns at its own 10, but Tucker Mollendor ripped off a 50-yard run.
Yuma came up with an interception by Adrian Carranza, but the Outlaws were called for roughing the passer. They then were flagged for a facemask. Chase County eventually took advantage with an eight-yard TD run.
Yuma punted again, and Chase County struck again with a 41-yard TD pass on a perfect post route. The extra point was blocked, but the Outlaws found themselves trailing 27-6. The Longhorns then tacked on one more touchdown in the fourth to wrap up the scoring.
Defensively, Carranza had the interception, and Thomson and Jesus Gordo each recovered a fumble. Thomson was in on eight total tackles, David Covarrubias seven, Gordo seven, James Brandner six, Kosinski four, Duarte four, Iann Duran three, Carranza two, Beauprez two, Christian Munoz two, and Ty Remmich, Christian Thomson, Dallas Brunk, Reyli Trejo, Paulo Trujillo and Tanner Himes one each.