Horns battle with Centura defense in season opener

The Kimball Longhorns traveled to North Platte on Thursday, Aug. 25 for their season opener against the Centura Centurions of Cairo, in a non-conference game and brought home a hard fought 14-6 loss.

Head coach Nick Kuxhausen said that among the few offensive positives was a long pass from Jaden Withrow to Kyle Spicer in the third quarter for the first touchdown of the game.

The second note-worthy play was in the final quarter when the Horns made their last offensive drive of the game, which ended up being the most productive in terms of moving the ball, according to Kuxhausen.

“We drove the length of the field and had an opportunity to score,” he added. “That drive was led by Izaac Reuter at QB, Withrow and Spicer carried a majority of the carries, and Reuter completed a long pass to (Ryan) Soper on the drive as well. We will look to build on what we did on that drive to finish the game.”

Centura answered each of the Horns 108 offensive yards with 263 of their own and made a total of 56 play averaging 4.7 yards on each compared to Kimball’s 49 plays at 2.2 yards, though Kimball was credited with 18.3 passing yards to none for the Centurions.

“We struggled offensively as a unit. We did not block well, nor execute a majority of our play,” Kuxhausen said. “Centura had a fast and physical defense that our offense was not ready for, and we have a lot of work this week to get ready for Gordon-Rushville.”

According to Kuxhausen that work will include continued work on fundamentals at practice with a focus on offensive play.

“We have to be more productive with this unit,” he said. “We need to be more physical and consistent on first downs. Our defense played very well and was the reason we were in the game until the end.”

The Longhorn defense was credited with forcing seven fumbles, three of which they were able to recover.

“Our offense needs to convert on opportunities our defense gives us,” Kuxhausen said. “Defensively, the entire unit played a really good game. Tackle leaders for the Longhorns were Withrow with 14 tackles, (James) Merryfield with eight tackles from the DT position and 5.5 of those were for a loss, (Cody) Kirby had seven tackles and 1.5 of those were for a loss. Merryfield and Kirby were solid in the defensive line for us all night.”

Sam Tussing also contributed five tackles, two solo and six assists followed by Eric Escajeda and Spicer with four tackles, two assists each.

“Centura was a tough opponent and a good first test to see where we stand. They are a veteran team with 12 seniors and eight juniors on the roster,” Kuxhausen said. “As young as our team is I felt we competed really well, and we look to get better week in and week out. Centura’s defense gave us problems all night and we look to improve on those mistakes we made against them.”

The Horns will host the Gordon-Rushville Mustangs on Sept. 2, who lost their season opener against Valentine 19-0.

“We are excited for this week’s upcoming opponent in Gordon-Rushville,” Kuxhausen concluded. “We look for another competitive, physical game.”