It took parts of two days for Kimball to secure its 35-6 win over Mitchell, but they got the job done over the weekend to run their season record to 3-1 at the half way point in their season.

It was a strange game of football to be certain and one this writer hasn’t experienced prior, when the game had to be called on Friday evening with 2:16 remaining in the first half of play when the town of Mitchell lost all power and went completely dark. After a wait of about an hour, the decision was made to post-pone the balance of the contest to a 2 p.m. start time on Saturday, picking up the action exactly where it ended Friday evening at 7:47 p.m.

It was another near perfect night for football at kickoff with no wind, no rain, and shirt sleeve temperatures with a full moon shining down to greet the Mitchell Homecoming crowd that were enjoying a hamburger feed as the teams warmed up. Who was to know that in a short time, all they would see was the light of the moon along with a showering of cell phone lights, when Mitchell went black.

Mitchell kicked off to start the game and after Kendall Ferguson connected with Brady Land for a 24 yard pass play and a first down, the Tiger defense stiffened and forced a Kimball punt. Mitchell got a pair of first downs before they were forced to return the punt with the Longhorns starting this time at their own 35 yard line. Dalton Lockwood had a nice 8 yard run, and Jake Daum busted loose for a 3-yard run, but on a fourth and 2 at the Mitchell 15, the drive faltered and the Horns attempted a field goal with Ferguson doing the kicking but the kick came up short and the first quarter ended with no score on the clock.

Mitchell went three and out to start the second period with a punt that could have been disastrous after a fumble on the return, but Trevan Hinton pounced on the loose football to give Kimball possession at their own 38. Nice to have Jake Daum back in the lineup after sitting out the Gothenburg game recovering from a dislocated elbow suffered in the first quarter of the Morrill game. The hard running senior back took an inside handoff, broke to the outside and raced 43 yards to the Mitchell 1 yard line. Ferguson was stopped for no gain, but fullback Zach Marosi went up the middle for the needed yard and the touchdown on the next snap to put Kimball on the score board and Ferguson’s PAT kick came with 8:21 showing on the clock in the second period and Kimball leading 7-0.

The Tigers threatened on their next possession following the ensuing kickoff. Alberto Alvizar broke loose for a 43 yard run but Dalton Lockwood showed his own speed in running him down to save a touchdown. On a fourth and 3 at the Kimball 25, the Tigers went for it and got only 2 yards as the Kimball defense rose to the occassion and stopped Jonas Cardona short. The Horns took over on their own 22. Lockwood ran for 8 yards and then Ferguson found Brady Land wide open and all alone down field for a 70 yard touchdown pass with the clock showing 4:19 before the half. Ferguson’s kick for the conversion point was no good and it was a 13-0 ball game.

Mitchell ran 6 more plays and had picked up a first down before the BLACK OUT! The Mitchell band had already gathered in the south end zone for their half time performance and the balance of the Homecoming night, but it was not to be. The band did play in the darkness as the crowd sat silently awaiting the return of the lights, or an announcement of what to expect.

An announcement did come later on a battery operated speaker system telling the fans that the game would be continued on the next day at 2 p.m. By the time the team bus had arrived at a fast food spot in Scottsbluff, word was the lights had come back on in Mitchell. Chase County, playing at Morrill, experienced the same black out, but that game was moved to Torrington where they completed play after the Torrington game was complete.

Kimball fans who were planning on taking in all of the annual Farmer’s Day activities back in Kimball on Saturday, had to cut short their plans and travel back to Mitchell. The game started over with Mitchell facing a 4th and 6 situation at their own 41 yard line with 2:16 to play in the second period. The Tigers set up to punt but had a bad snap from center and punter Stephen Cardona had to fall on the football at the Tiger 32 where Kimball took over. Lockwood ran for 5 and Daum for 10 and a first down. Lockwood got 4 more and Ferguson threw incomplete before connecting with Daum on a 13 yard TD pass and in five plays the Horns had made it a 19-0 ball game. Daum ran in the PAT and it was 21-0 with 1:22 left in the half, and that was the score at intermission.

After an abbreviated ten minute half time, Kimball kicked off with freshman Henry Heeg doing the honors after Ferguson took a hit in his back that caused him some pain he treated during the half time break. Mitchell got a first down but had to punt with Kimball taking over at their own 24. The Horns turned it back over on their first play after a fumble, but Colton Hergenreter broke through to tackle Alvizar for a 3 yard loss and a Tiger personal foul penalty for a 15 yard step off brought yet another Mitchell punt. Lockwood returned the pooch punt to the Kimball 28 where the Horns started a four play drive that ended with Daum scoring on an 11 yard run. Big plays on the drive were a 21 yard run by Lockwood and a 31 yard pass from Ferguson to Land. With the clock showing 7:02 in the third period, Ferguson’s kick made it a 28-0 margin and that’s the way the quarter ended.

In the fourth quarter Kimball turned it over on another fumble, but on the next snap, Jeff Greenwood came up with an interception and return at the Kimball 40. It kept his streak intact with

4 intercepts in four games! The Horns drove the 60 yards in

12 plays with Ferguson scoring on a quarterback keeper left from 13 yards out on a fourth down play with 2:36 left in the contest. The PAT kick was good and Kimball’s scoring was over for the night. Mitchell would get on the score board on the following kickoff

when Evan Detling would run it back 89 yards to avoid the shut out. The PAT kick was no good and the final score was 35-6 as the game ended with Henry Heeg taking a knee as the Kimball reserves

played out the final minutes.

The final stat sheets showed Kimball with 18 first downs to 9 for Mitchell. Kimball had 4 fumbles and lost 2 while Mitchell

had 1 and lost it. Kimball was penalized 9 times for 70 yards

and Mitchell 5 for 40. Kimball rushed 46 times for 296 yards and Mitchell 41 times for 129. Kimball was 6 of 9 passing for 157 yards and

2 touchdowns with Mitchell 3 of 10 for 30 yards. Kimball had

453 total yards and Mitchell 159. Kimball punted twice for a 40.5 yard average and Mitchell 6 times for a 26 yard average.



In the fourth quarter Kimball turned it over on another fumble, but on the next snap, Jeff Greenwood came up with an interception and return at the Kimball 40. It kept his streak intact with 4 intercepts in four games! The Horns drove the 60 yards in 12 plays with Ferguson scoring on a quarterback keeper left from 13 yards out on a fourth down play with 2:36 left in the contest. The PAT kick was good and Kimball’s scoring was over for the night. Mitchell would get on the score board on the following kickoff when Evan Detling would run it back 89 yards to avoid the shut out. The PAT kick was no good and the final score was 35-6 as the game ended with Henry Heeg taking a knee as the Kimball reserves played out the final minutes.

The final stat sheets showed Kimball with 18 first downs to 9 for Mitchell. Kimball had 4 fumbles and lost 2 while Mitchell had 1 and lost it. Kimball was penalized 9 times for 70 yards and Mitchell 5 for 40. Kimball rushed 46 times for 296 yards and Mitchell 41 times for 129. Kimball was 6 of 9 passing for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns with Mitchell 3 of 10 for 30 yards. Kimball had 453 total yards and Mitchell 159. Kimball punted twice for a 40.5 yard average and Mitchell 6 times for a 26 yard average.

Jake Daum came back in fine fashion after sitting out a game and three quarters. He accounted for 146 yards rushing on 11 carries scoring two touchdowns and a running PAT. Dalton Lockwood gets better every game and had 61 yards on 13 carries. Jeff Greenwood had 28 yards on 6 carries, Zach Marosi 28 yards on 8 carries with 1 touchdown, Kendall Ferguson 13 yards on 3 carries with 1 touchdown.

Ferguson was 6 of 9 passing for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. Brady Land had 4 catches for 131 yards and 1 TD, and Daum had 2 catches for 26 yards and 1 TD.

From the defensive stat sheet Daum led the pack with 6 unassisted tackles and 3 assists. Brent Bussinger had 4 tackles and 4 assists with 2 for loss of yards, Jeff Greenwood was 3-3 with 1 for loss yardage and 1 interception, James Feryuson was 3-3, Jake Reader 2-4 with 2 for loss yardage, Brady Land 2-4, Kendall Ferguson 2-4, Andrew Barrett 5-2, Henry Heeg 2-1, Trevan Hinton 1-2 with a fumble recovery, Dalton Lockwood 1-3, Bernie Bridge 1-0, Zach Marosi 0-2, and Colton Hergenreter 2-0 with 1 for loss.

In his post game comments, coach Chauncey Pedersen said, “I was happy with the win and how we responded in having to come back on Saturday. When we scored right away Saturday, it set the tone for the balance of the game. I was happy overall, especially with our rushing game. Kendall ran the game well and threw well. Great to have Jake back, on both sides of the ball.”

As to individuals, Pedersen singled out the defensive play of Brent Bussinger and James Ferguson but said he was not real happy with the defense the first half, but was happy with how they adjusted after some changes.

Kimball came out of the game in good shape injury wise. They may face their toghest test of the season this Friday when they host state ranked Ogallala who was holding down the #5 spot in the Class C-l ratings by the Omaha World Herald this past week. The Indians will come to Kimball fresh off a 35-8 win over #7 ranked Gordon/Rushville in last Friday night action.

“Ogallala will be a tough test. They have a couple of big kids but they are not real huge. They are fundamentally sound. We will need to play mistake free and play hard from start to finish. I told the kids this is like a Gothenburg game and we know now we can play with this kind of fotoball team,” said Pedersen.

Friday night’s game at Keith Staehr Field will kickoff at 7 p.m.

Kimball   0 21  7  7---35

Mitchell    0  0  0  6--- 6