The Kimball High football team celebrated Senior Parent’s Night with an upset win over previously state ranked Gordon/Rushville and the senior members of the 2010 Longhorn football program could say they secured one of the most meaningful wins of many years in their final regular season game at Keith Staehr Field.

The 2010 seniors and their fellow team mates gave the home town fans something extra to cheer about on this cool, damp, windy football evening as they posted an 18-14 victory over the visiting Mustangs of Gordon/Rushville.

In researching my files and those of stat man/former coach, Jerry Beguin, the last time Kimball won over Gordon and Rushville was the season of 1999, the same year the Horns played in their last state playoff. Did I mention the win over Gordon/Rushville gave Kimball the Western Trails Conference championship? This was truly a huge win for the Kimball football team of 2010 and for the Kimball High football program! I make mention of the last state playoff season as the Horns also put more points into the system that will determine the state playoff field this year. They are sitting 10th in the Wild Card Points after the win Friday night according to coach Chauncey Pedersen and things are looking favorable if the Horns continue to take care of business.

Kimball kicked off to start the contest and coach Pedersen tried the unusual with an onside kick. The Mustangs controlled the kickoff and retained possession but senior Alan Muneio made a hit on the Mustang ball carrier that could be heard through out the stadium. It set the tone for a night of hard hits from both clubs. Gordon Rushville had the ball at their own 46 yard line and it took them 12 plays to cover the 54 yards to score with the clock showing 8:18 left in the opening period. The PAT kick was no good and the visitors led 6-0. Andrew Loy, 180 pound senior running back got the touchdown on a 3 yard carry.

Following an exchange of punts from the two teams, Kimball started a drive of their own from their own 35 yard line late in the first period that led to a second quarter touchdown to tie the game with Jake Daum sweeping wide right to score from 1 yard out with 7:55 remaining in the second quarter of play. On the drive, Kimball got key runs from Daum, Bernie Bridge, and Dalton Lockwood, plus an 18 yard pass completion from Kendall Ferguson to Daum, and a 5 yarder to Brent Bussinger that set up Daum’s TD run on a fourth and goal situation. Ferguson’s PAT kick was wide left and the score was knotted at 6-6.

The Mustangs got a nice return on the ensuing kickoff to the Gordon/Rushville 31 and then mounted a 15 play drive to cover the 69 needed yards to pay dirt with Mr. Loy carrying 9 times including the final 4 yards for his second TD. The clock showed 2:30 before half time when quarterback Chris Conroy ran the double conversion on a keeper right to go up 14-6. The first half scoring was not over however as Kimball answered right back with a 6 play/60 yard drive. The Horns got the ball on their own 40 after the Mustangs kicked off out of bounds. Bridge got 2 yards and Daum 8 more after reversing his field and getting the first down. Ferguson then hooked up with Brady Land on a 44 yard pass after scrambling to get loose and find Land open down field. With a first and goal at the 6 yard line, Bridge got 3 yards, Daum was stopped for no gain, but Dalton Lockwood found the end zone on a 3 yard burst. Kimball went for the two point conversion to tie the game but Bridge was cut down short, and with  :41 seconds left before intermission, the visitors led 14-12.



The first half ended with Conroy taking a knee and watching time run out.

The deciding touchdown came for Kimball with 2:14 left in the third period, the result of a big play by freshman Henry Heeg who raced down field to pounce on a Gordon/Rushville fumble following a Kimball punt. Heeg got the loose football at the Mustang 4 yard line and Daum got his second TD of the night on the next snap, starting left and then cutting hard up the middle. The Horns fumbled, and recovered, short on the PAT run, and the scoring was over for the night.

Early in the third period the Horns had some key defensive stops including a Trevan Hinton tackle when Loy broke loose for a 24 yard scamper in what looked like a touchdown run for certain. On a fourth down situation, Ferguson knocked down a pass to give the Horns the football.



down situation, Ferguson knocked down a pass to give the Horns the football.

The fourth quarter was a defensive stand off. For what ever reason, Loy, who ended the night with 158 yards on 22 carries, never touched the football in the final period. He had been pretty much unstoppable all night long! Kimball continued to mix up their offense with some hard running and a couple of key pass completions to account for first downs and retain possession as they battled the clock.

The Horns had a defensive stand late that gave them the ball on downs with 3:27 left. A 14 yard pass from Ferguson to Daum accounted for one first down. A tough 7 yard carry by Lockwood got another first down, and the game ended with Ferguson taking a knee and letting the clock run out. The Horns had done what many thought couldn’t be done. Conference Champs!

From the stat sheets, the first downs were close with Gordon/Rushville with 15 and Kimball 14. Both teams lost 1 fumble with Heeg’s recovery, one Kimball fans can talk about for years to come. Kimball was penalized 3 times for 25 yards and the visitors 10 times for 86 yards. Kimball rushed 48 times for 122 yards and the Mustangs 41 times for 217 yards. Ferguson was 7 of 8 passing for 89 yards with no interceptions and the visitors were 5 of 17 for 22 yards. Gordon/Rushville had 239 total yards and Kimball 211.

Both teams punted twice.

In individual stats for Kimball, Jake Daum rushed 20 times for 74 yards and had 2 touchdowns. Bernie Bridge ran hard all night and had 35 yards on 10 carries. Same goes for Dalton Lockwood who had 18 yards on 7 carries. Ferguson had 6 yards on 7 rushes and Jeff Greenwood 1 net yard on 4 attempts. Brady Land had 3 catches for 49 net yards, Daum 3 for 35 yards, and Bussinger 1 for 5.

As mentioned, the hitting was hard all night on both sides. Dalton Lockwood found himself one on one with Loy many times and led the tackle charts with 15 tackles including 7 solo stops. Bernie Bridge, the sophomore transfer from Grover has done a fantastic job of filling in for the injured Zach Marosi and was charted with 11 tackles including 4 solo stops. Kendall Ferguson had a busy night with 12 tackles and 4 solos. Jake 4 and 4, Brady Land 3 and 1, Jake Reader 2 and 3, Andrew 2 and 3, Trevan Hinton 2 and 3, Jeff Greenwood 1 and 2. Jorge DeLeon, Alan Muneio, and Brent Bussinger were also on the tackle charts.

We can’t say enough about the offensive line and the job they did. At the college and professional level, offensive linemen are graded by the job they do after reviewing films. At the high school level there is not a system to grade each player in the offensive line, play by play. Let it be said that coach Pedersen was full of praise for the job his offensive line did.

“I was very pleased with our offense tonight, especially with the play of the line. We challenged these kids before the game and they really came through. A good percentage of our plays went for positive yardage and this was against a real good defense,” said Pedersen.

Coach Pedersen went on to say, “On defense as the game went along we did a little better job. Our corners played real well all night. It was a big win for us and one that our kids really needed. It should give us a lot of confidence. I told the boys we don’t want to be satisfied with Friday’s win, but we want to finish out the year strong and go get a couple more wins at Cozad and Chadron.”

It’s Cozad this Friday as the Horns finish out the regular season on the road. Fans be aware that kickoff will be a 6 p.m. Kimball time and 7 p.m. Cozad time.

Kimball   0  12   6   0---18

Gordon/Rushville 6   8   0   0---14