Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Trailing 32-12 at one point in the ball game, Kimball mounted a great come from behind surge to win over visiting Bridgeport in the season finale Friday night at Keith Staehr Field to win 33-32 in exciting Western Trails high school football action.
On another perfect football evening, Kimball struck early after a short Bridgeport kickoff. On the first snap of the game Jonathon Withrow took a pitch right and went 56 yards to score with just :11 seconds gone from the clock but Enrique Cajero's PAT kick was blocked on a night when the point after conversions were hard to come by.
The Bulldogs came right back on a 65 yard drive with Wyatt Pankowski, all 6'3" and 219 pounds of him, getting most of the yards, including the final 8 yards to tie the score at 6-6 on his 8 yard run over the right side. The Horns stopped Pankowski on the PAT run with the clock showing 6:51 left in the opening period.
Kimball's turn as Withrow returned the kickoff to the Kimball 38 yard line and then the Horns drove 62 yards in 10 plays with AJ Spicer getting a pair of big runs of 13 and 15 yards and Withrow 4 yards on a fourth and 3 situation. Withrow scored on a 6 yard sweep left to go up 12-6 with 2:06 left in the first period but the PAT failed leaving it 12-6.
Bridgeport mounted a 68 yard drive on the ensuing kickoff with the tying touchdown corning with 10:07 showing in the second period with Pankowski getting most all of the yards including the 22 yard touchdown run, but once again, the PAT run failed. The Dogs would score once again before half driving 85 yards following a Kimball punt with Pankowski going in from 8 yards out with just 42 seconds left in the half. The PAT failed and Bridgeport took a 18-12 lead to the half time locker room.
Kimball tried an onside kick to start the second half that Bridgeport recovered at the Kimball 44. They had a short gain on the first snap, then lost 5 yards as Ben Sauter bombed through to throw the Dogs for a loss, but on third down, Lawrence Schneider broke loose for a 45 yard scoring run with 10:42 to play in the third period and again the PAT run failed leaving the visitors ahead 24-12.
This time, Bridgeport tried the onside kick and made it work recovering at the Kimball 37. A pair of back to back offside penalties on Kimball helped the Dogs advance and Pankowski went in from 4 yards out with 6:34 to play 3rd period, and then ran in the PAT to go up 32-12. Things were looking a bit bleak for the home town boys but they gathered themselves and started a come back. A 65 yard drive that took only 5 plays got Kimball a score with Jaden Withrow having a key 28 yard carry, Jon Withrow a big key run, a pass from Colton Stull to Michael Ferguson that covered 19 yards and AJ Spicer going the final 12 yards for the TO with 4:10 left third quarter and Cajero kicked the PAT to close the gap to 32-19, the score at the end of 3 periods.
Bridgeport had punted late in the third period and Jon Withrow promptly broke for a 40 yard gain on a sweep left, then got 7 yards on the next 2 carries with Colton Stull going in from 1 yard out on a quarterback sneak with 11:31 remaining in the contest and Cajero's kick made it a 32-26 game.
Bridgeport went 3 and out following the kickoff and had to punt with Kimball starting at their own 22. It took them 10 plays to cover the 78 yards needed with the Withrow brothers getting most all of the yardage along with a 19 yard carry by Spicer and Spicer got the final yard to score with 4:42 left on the clock and again Cajero kicked the PAT which proved to be the 1 point winning margin as the Kimball defense got the job done in the final minutes taking possession at their own 27 yard line and running out the clock with a couple of kneel downs by Stull.
What a come back and what a way to close out a very good 6 and 3 season. On this senior parent's night where the 9 senior players and their parents were honored at half time, emotions were high following the win with fans out on the field taking pictures, high fiving, and hugging their players. The only negative to the season was coming up just short of making the state playoffs as they tied for the #18 spot with the top 16 C-2 schools advancing.
In the final team stats Kimball had 353 yards of offense and Bridgeport 339. Bridgeport ran 68 plays to Kimball's 42 including, 62 rushing attempts for 320 yards to Kimball's 36 attempts for 321 yards. The Dogs were 2 of 6 passing for 19 yards and Kimball was 3 of 6 for 32 yards. Bridgeport had 2 penalties for 20 yards and Kimball 6 for 50. Neither team had a turnover and both teams punted twice. Time of possession was within 10 seconds for the two teams.
It was a show of good running backs as Bridgeport had Pankowski with 37 carries for 157 yards and 4 touchdowns along with Lawrence Schneider with 17 carries for 163 yards and 1 touchdown. Kimball was led by Jon Withrow with 21 carries for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns, AJ Spicer with 6 carries for 59 yards and 2 touchdowns, Jaden Withrow with 3 carries for 49 yards, and Colton Stull 4 carries for 24 yards and 1 touchdown.
Michael Ferguson had 1 catch for 19 yards, Angel Flores 1 for 7 and Jon Withrow 1 for 6. Cajero averaged 41 yards on his 2 punts and kicked 3 PATs.
Lots of standouts on defense with Ben Sauter in on 13 tackles with 6 solo stops and 3 tackles for loss. Jaden Withrow had 16 tackles with 3 solos and l.5 for loss. Jon Withrow in on 12 tackles with 3 solos, Ethan Land 11 with 3 solos, Damien Rutledge 9 with 2 solos, Michael Ferguson 8 with 2 solos, Justin Mohr 7 with a solo, AJ Spicer 5 with a solo and a tackle for loss yardage, Colton Stull 3 with a solo and loss yardage, Angel Flores 3 with a solo and in on a stop for loss yardage, Trent Rutledge in on 3, Enrique Cajero 2 and Tyler Harroun 1.
Score by quarter
Bridgeport 6 12 14 0 - 32
Kimball 12 0 7 14 - 33