The Kimball High football team went on the road Friday to  Cozad and assured themselves of a winning season and a state playoff with their 42-20 win over the Haymakers. With the win, Kimball improved their season win-loss record to 5-2 with this Friday’s game at Chadron to close out the regular season.

The Horns are now guaranteed a berth in the upcoming State Playoffs that begin on Thursday, Oct. 28, with the opponent and site to be announced after this weekend’s play.

Once again it was a clear football evening with a light wind when the teams took the field at Cozad. The Haymakers kicked off to start the contest and on the second snap from scrimmage Bernie Bridge broke for a 40 yard scamper, his best of the season. The drive faltered after Bridge’s run however and Kimball had to punt.

On Cozad’s first play from scrimmage, Jeff Greenwood intercepted a Cozad pass, his first of three in the game, and Kimball mounted a 7 play 44 yard drive culminated with a Jake Daum 4 yard touchdown run on a sweep right with the clock showing 6:50 left first period. Kendall Ferguson’s PAT kick was good and the Horns jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The big play on the drive was a 20 yard pass from Kendall Ferguson to Dalton Lockwood.

Cozad actually scored on a 27 yard pass play in the opening period but had it called back on a holding penalty. Kimball’s next touchdown came after Greenwood’s second interception which he pirated at the Kimball 40 and returned it 56 yards to the Cozad 4. After a 3 yard loss on a run by Daum, Greenwood got the TD on a 7 yard run to the left with 11:12 left in the second quarter. The kick failed and Kimball led 13-0.

Kimball’s next score came following a heads-up defensive play by Jake Daum who picked up a Cozad fumble and returned it 81 yards to pay dirt. With the clock showing 6:41 before the half, Ferguson fired complete to Brady Land for the double conversion points to go up 21-0.

The Horns would score one more time before intermission with the Horns going 65 yards in 11 plays with Ferguson finding Land all alone in the end zone on a 9 yard touchdown pass. Big play in the drive was another 20 yard pass play from Ferguson to Lockwood. Ferguson’s kick made it a 28-0 margin at the half time break. The first half ended with Greenwood’s third interception which he picked off at the Kimball 10 and returned 50 yards before pitching to Ferguson who got another 10 yards before he was tackled with time expired on the clock. An amazing stat coming out of the first half saw Greenwood with three interceptions and 106 return yards!

The half time locker room talks were in favor of the hosts as they came out and quickly went 64 yards in 10 plays to get on the scoreboard on a 13 yard run by quarterback Jed Paulsen with 7:39 on the clock, third period. The PAT kick was no good leaving Kimball on top 28-6. Key plays as the third period wound down included an 18 yard burst by Alan Muneio for a first down and a tackle by Jake Daum on a fourth down play for Cozad that halted their drive and gave Kimball the football which led to another score. Kimball  took possession at their own 41 yard line and 6 plays later Ferguson connected with Greenwood on a 15 yard pass for the touchdown with time running out in the third period. Key plays on the short drive were a 25 yard run by Muneio, and a 13 yard pass from Ferguson to Greenwood. (Nebraska could have used Greenwood’s hands this past Saturday) Kimball led 35-6 after three quarters of play.

Cozad would score next with Paulsen going 26 yards but the PAT run failed leaving the score board showing 35-12 with 9:25 to play. Kimball got their final score on a 2 yard run by Muneio after a five play 65 yard drive where Ferguson hit Land for 7 yards, Trevan Hinton for 35 yards, and Brent Bussinger for 18. Ferguson kicked the PAT to go up 42-12.

Both teams had pretty much turned the game over to the reserves at this point and Cozad got their final touchdown on a 38 yard run by Tyler Lauby with Micah Neill running in the PAT. The scoring was over for the night but Kimball was moving the football when time ran out picking up three first downs with Henry Heeg quarterbacking. The reserves saw good runs from Trevan Hinton, Austin Pile, Zach Rockhold-O’Brien, and Jonathan Poss.

The team stats showed Kimball with 17 first downs and Cozad with 14.

No turnovers for Kimball while Cozad had 4 with 1 lost fumble with Jake Daum turning that one into 6 points for Kimball. Kimball had 10 penalties for 90 yards and Cozad 8 for 64. Kimball had 40 rushing attempts for 200 yards and Cozad 45 for 318 yards.

Ferguson was 10 of 16 passing for 164 yards and Cozad was 2 of 14 for 11 yards. Kimball punted 3 times and Cozad twice.

The linebackers did a lot of the tackling for Kimball with Jake Daum charted with 12 including 7 solo stops. Dalton Lockwood had 6 solo stops and 3 assists, Bernie Bridge was 4-3, Jake Reader 3-3, Kendall Ferguson 3-3, Brady Land 3-1, James Ferguson 2-3, Brent Bussinger 2-1, Henry Heeg and Andrew Barrett both 1-1.

Jonathan Poss, Cade Dickerson, Alan Muneio, Trevan Hinton, Colton Hergenreter, Lance Winters and Mitchell Poss and Austin Pile also made the tackle charts.

Give the game ball to Jeff Greenwood, he worked hard all night at trying to steal the pigskin. He has a knack of getting his hands around the football, on defense or offense. With his three interceptions, all in the one half, on Friday, he now has 7 for the season! Coach Chauncey Pedersen singled out the play of Greenwood. He also mentioned the play of Alan Muneio who is finally healthy and got some offensive carries at Cozad. Pedersen went on to comment “I was a bit disappointed with our play in the third period. We didn’t come out very strong after the half. We played better in the fourth quarter, but we gave up way too many yards on the ground. I think our offensive line did a good job again. We used some different offensive sets and we had lots of plays that went for positive yards.”

The Horns came out of the game healthy and may be as strong this Friday at Chadron as they have been all season. On a positive note, Zach Marosi, who was injured a few weeks back, could possibly be cleared to play as his cracked knee cap has healed quite well. Alan Muneio looked very quick during his carries at Cozad and he is ready to go. Mitchell Poss was back after sitting out a game. Kimball has accomplished a lot this season already, but a win Friday at Chadron would be great. It has been a long time since Kimball has won over Chadron. A win over the Cardinals would almost assure the Horns a home site in the playoffs. Kickoff is 7 p.m

Kimball used 11 ball carriers at Cozad with Bridge charted with 4 carries and 49 yards, Daum 13 for 44, Muneio 4 for 45, Poss 3 for 16, Lockwood 2 for 13, Greenwood 2 for 12, Ferguson 3 for 8, Pile 3 for 12, and Rockhold-O’Brien 2 for 13. Kimball’s depth is getting better all the time as well.

Kimball  7  21  7  7---42

Cozad    0   0  6  14--20