Longhorns run over Mitchell for 45-6 victory

A huge win came for the Kimball High School football team this past Friday night as they ran over the hosting Mitchell Tigers 45-6 to run their record to 2-1. Up next for Kimball is Chase County, which comes to Keith Staehr Stadium this Friday night.

The Longhorns struck early and often as they jumped to a 42-0 lead by halftime and then pretty much turned the game over to the backups the second half. The Horns kicked off to start the game and forced a punt as Mitchell went three and out. A good return by Jaden Withrow left the Horns 64 yards from pay dirt but it took them just five plays to cover the distance with senior fullback AJ Spicer bursting for 24 yards and capping the drive with a 10-yard plunge off his own left guard. The clock showed 8:08 to go in the first quarter when Enrique Cajero kicked the first PAT and the Big Red was off and running.

Jonathon Withrow had already contributed an 18-yard run on the opening drive, thanks in large part to a great down field block by Ben Sauter. On the next possession he showed he can catch the ball as well as he went up between two defenders to snag a perfect throw from Colton Stull that covered 33 yards. Jon, AJ, and Stull all had big runs as well on this 81-yard drive with Withrow going in from three yards out with 2:45 left in the first period and Cajero's kick made it 14-0.

The Horns scored early in the second period to cap a 57-yard drive with Stull completing a 14-yard aerial to Michael Ferguson along the way. Withrow had an 18-yard scamper behind another Sauter downfield block and then went the final five yards on the next play with 10:40 showing on the first half clock with Cajero's kick making it a 21-0 margin.

Angel Flores made a touchdown saving tackle to keep Mitchell off the scoreboard following the kickoff as speedy Drew Gillilan broke for a 55-yard run and Kimball held and took over at their own 8-yard line. An exchange of punts brought about the next score as Jaden Withrow returned the Mitchell punt 57 yards for the touchdown as he showed his speed in cutting to the west sideline and outrunning everyone to the goal line. A 15-yard penalty on the PAT attempt moved Cajero back, but he still converted the 35-yard PAT on the next kick to go up 28-0 with 3:48 left in the half.

The Horns would score twice more in a short time before intermission with Jon Withrow doing all of the damage on the next touchdown with runs of 12 and 25 yards with Damien Rutledge leading the way downfield with a solid block. With blockers in front of him, Withrow went 51 yards down the east side line to tally with 1:18 showing on the clock, but the Horns wanted more before the break as Anthony Williams recovered the Kimball short pooch kickoff to give the Horns the football at the Mitchell 42, and following a series of penalties, Jon Withrow did it again. Hit behind the line, he broke tackles and then evaded more tackles as he raced 50 yards to the goal line with 6.7 seconds left before the teams went to the halftime locker room. Cajero's kick made it 42-0.

Coach Nick Kuxhausen started the third period with a complete set of second team players on the field and Mitchell got their only score of the night with Seth Marcoe going in from 9 yards out to finish out an 80-yard drive. Spicer, Ethan Land, and Ferguson ganged up to stop the 2-point conversion try. The final scoring for the night came on the first play of the fourth quarter when Cajero kicked a 24-yard field goal on a fourth down situation despite the reserves moving the ball on nice runs by Jaden Withrow and Logan Stahla to the Mitchell 7. Key plays in the fourth period were an interception by Land at the Kimball 19 and on the final play of the game, Jon Withrow recovered a Mitchell fumble and could have easily hoofed it to the goal line but chose to angle out of bounds untouched and showed his class by not converting yet another touchdown.

On the night, Withrow had four touchdowns and piled up 231 yards on 16 carries for a 14.4 yard average, had the 33 yard reception, and the fumble recovery plus playing some tough defense.

AJ Spicer wound up with 63 yards on five attempts for a 12.6 yard average with one touchdown. Logan Stahla had four carries for 35 yards, Jaden Withrow had seven for 33 yards, and Colton Stull three for 29. The Horns were content to stay on the ground with Stull completing 2-of-3 passes for 47 yards.

Kimball wound up with 392 yards rushing on 38 attempts while Mitchell rushed 33 times for 188 yards and the Tigers were 5-of-9 passing for 50 yards. Kimball had eight penalties for 67 yards and Mitchell had seven for 50. There were no turnovers for Kimball, while Mitchell had two. Kimball punted three times for a 37.3 yard average, and Mitchell punted five times for a 28.4 average.

The Kimball game plan was to use short squib kicks to keep the ball away from Gilliland, who has had success with some long returns and Cajero did it up in fine fashion. Nonetheless, the speedy junior quarterback ended up with 125 yards on 15 carries but never crossed the goal line thanks to a stingy Kimball defense. Leading that defense was Damien Rutledge with six solo and two assisted tackles. Jaden Withrow had three solo stops and four assists and Jon Withrow four solos and two assists. Tyler Magninie had four solo tackles and one assist, Michael Ferguson one and five, Angel Flores three and zero, Ethan Land one and two, Ben Sauter one and two, and AJ Spicer zero and three. Lots of others also making the tackle charts. Land had the interception, Williams had an onside kick recovery, and Withrow had a fumble recovery also in the defensive stat department.

It was a night of exceptional down field blocking and coach Nick Kuxhausen commented, "We were not getting a real hard rush from the Mitchell defense allowing us to get down field and block more than usual. Our line as a whole did a great job on the night and the defense played strong as well. Jon's stats show his value and AJ ran very hard and protected the ball well. I was very pleased and happy with the play of everyone. It was a complete team victory."

A tough night is awaiting the Horns this Friday with Chase County coming to town for the 7 p.m. kickoff. Do not forget to come early and partake of the Music Parents Soup Supper.

Chase County, located in Imperial, brings with them a record 2-1 with its lone loss this past week to a very good C-l Cozad by a score of just 14-12. "We will need to play at a very high level if we want to win," said Kuxhausen.