Jackson Heights Football vs. ACCHS
After a back-and-forth first half in which neither the Jackson Heights Cobras nor the Atchison County Tigers could put any points on the board, the Cobras exploded for 30 points in the third quarter on the strength of three touchdown runs by junior Cooper Williams to shut out ACCHS 38-0 on a recent Friday.
Cobra Head Coach Caleb Wick said he was proud of the rushing work by Williams, who combined three runs totaling more than 200 yards in the third frame.
“Really, there wasn’t a lot of discussion to fire the kids up at halftime,” coach Wick said about the third-quarter run. “We got into the locker room and drew the plays up and made some adjustments, and they ran a lot better into the second half.”
The Cobras’ record improved to 2-0 after the win, while the Tigers fell to 1-1.
In the first half, the Cobra defense was seemingly at the mercy of Tiger senior quarterback Matthew Oswalt, whose air assault marched the Tigers down the field on several occasions before ACCHS got tripped up by offensive penalties and, on more than one occasion, turned the ball over on downs.
Despite some impressive running plays, the Cobras were unable to capitalize on a few possessions that could have resulted in points on the board. In the second quarter, Heights senior Kolby Rethman ran the ball 65 yards into the Tiger end zone, but the touchdown was called back on an illegal block by the Cobra offense.
“Our offensive line was confused at the beginning of the game,” Wick said. “We tried to bring them to the sideline and really tell them what to do… They were more upset than I was.”
But a minute and a half into the third quarter, Williams grabbed the ball and rushed 60 yards for the first of his three touchdowns that quarter. Less than two minutes later, with 8:35 to go in the third, Williams sprinted all the way from the Cobra 10-yard line into the Tiger end zone to add another six.
The Cobras got their next score within two minutes when Rethman rushed for a 31-yard touchdown at 6:42 remaining in the third, and Williams iced the cake with a 53-yard touchdown rush with 2:15 left in the frame.
Jackson Heights struck again less than a minute into the fourth quarter, when senior Conlan Bruggeman rushed for 15 yards into the Tiger end zone. A successful PAT made the score 38-0, where it stayed for the rest of the game, and Wick was able to play some junior varsity team members on offense for the rest of the game.
“There was a running clock after we scored in the fourth quarter, and we were able to get our JV offense in there and rotate everybody around, so everybody got to play,” Wick said.
Overall, the Cobras rushed for 415 yards on 34 plays, led by Williams’ 280 yards on 11 runs. Rethman picked up 45 yards on eight runs, while Bruggeman carried the ball six times for 38 yards and sophomore Dylan Thompson picked up 31 yards on four carries.
Defensively, Wick said he was “really pleased” with the overall work, including 12 tackles from Bruggeman, including a fumble recovery, and 10 tackles from Rethman, including a pass deflection and an interception.
“We had some high tackle totals this game,” Wick said. “We had nine tackles for a loss, four sacks and two interceptions — actually, I think there were four interceptions, including two that got called as incomplete passes.”
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