Some equations are almost incontrovertible, at least in football terms. For instance, Ogallala entered Friday night’s game against the Longhorns ranked third in the state according to every poll, including the influential Omaha World Herald list. They’ve been in class B and seem to be bucking for a return, while Kimball is one of the smaller C-1 schools. The Indians staff seven coaches, outnumbering Chauncey Pedersen and his three assistants. More importantly, they suited up 58 players to the Longhorns 35.

And on the scoreboard, they outgunned Kimball 40-10.

“That’s nothing to hang our heads about,” the coach said afterwards. “Ogallala is a good team with a lot of speed.”

The Longhorns countered with youth. Fullback-linebacker Bernie Bridge, who scored four touchdowns last week, and his backup Jonathan Poss were unavailable, so little Daniel Valdez and freshman A.J. Spicer shared backfield duties. Another freshman, Damian Rutledge, started at center in place of the injured Preston Lukassen. Colton Stull and Jonathan Withrow saw significant playing time in the defensive backfield.

“The freshmen really stepped up,” Pedersen pointed out.

For a time it even looked as if the coach and his depleted roster might keep things close. On the game’s opening possession, Dalton Lockwood and Todd O’Hare carried the Longhorns to a first down and close to midfield before the drive stalled—chewing 4:05 off the clock in the process, as team’s now familiar ball control scheme aimed to limit Ogallala’s options.

But the Indians proved just as methodical. Jake Reader, Caleb Reuter and Kimball’s defensive unit flushed quarterback Garrett Folchert from the pocket twice and caused a couple of incompletions, so Ogallala turned to their backfield tandem of Pat Knott and speedy John Jeffers.

From the Kimball 34 Knott—the fullback—broke loose on a draw for 18 yards, finally dragged down by Daniel Valdez. It took the home side five more plays, thanks largely to buckling hits by Brent Bussinger and Alex Rawlings, but Jeffers eventually finished things off with a burst from the six.

The game’s complexion changed on Kimball’s next possession. On third and ten from their own 19, quarterback Trevan Hinton’s pass was intercepted. The Indians turned immediately to the air, Folchert connecting with a wide open Jeffers for a 36 yard touchdown.

Suddenly the score stood at 14-0.

Midway through the second quarter, Folchert aired it out again, hitting wideout Colt Washa on a 37 yard strike, taking the ball down to Kimball’s one. Folchert dove across on the next snap, increasing the Indians lead to 20-0.

Folchert threw for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

“They’re the toughest team we’ve faced,” said Jeff Greenwood. “They were last year, too.”

Kimball prepared during the week for Folchert’s arm, but it’s difficult to replicate well-timed throws to Ferrari-fast receivers in practice.

“I thought we could play with them a little closer than we did,” Pedersen reported.

Near halftime, however, the Longhorns found new life. O’Hare stuffed Jeffers on a second down run and Bussinger sacked Folchert on the next play for an eight yard loss. On fourth and 16 from their own 20, Indians head coach Jeff McBride risked a fake punt, but Folchert’s pass fell through the arms of Knott. Kimball responded with a Henry Heeg field goal.

“I did,” Greenwood said when asked if he felt the team could come back in the second half. “They had a couple of big plays, but we can put together big plays, too.”

Unfortunately for the Longhorns, Ogallala emerged from the locker room in big play stride. Starting from their own 24, the Indians decided to stay on the ground. Jeffers—who carried 18 times for 190 yards on the night—found room on the left side, sprinting free down the sideline until collared from behind by Greenwood, 37 yards later. Knott pushed the ball inside the red zone, then Jeffers took a handoff, bounced off several would be tacklers and waltzed into the end zone.

The drive consumed all of 40 seconds, adding six more points to Ogallala’s lead.

“That hurt,” Pedersen admitted. “There was a big letdown on both sides of the ball.”

Kimball lost ground on their next possession, while the Indians tacked on another touchdown, Folchert flipping to Washa.

In the fourth quarter, the home squad stretched their advantage to 40-3. But the Longhorns refused to quit.

With 6:21 remaining in the game, Hinton led the team on an eight play drive covering 52 yards—all on the ground. First Lockwood pushed the ball across midfield. O’Hare, Lockwood and Greenwood then carried Kimball to the Ogallala 26. Greenwood then found a gap and drove inside the ten. On the next play, Hinton gave Spicer a shot, and he bulled his way to the four.

From there, O’Hare went back to work, racing in for the Longhorns’ first touchdown.

“They belong in class B for sure,” Greenwood said of the Indians.

For Pedersen, the pain of losing is mitigated by Ogallala’s state ranking and obvious depth. Besides, he pointed out, this week’s game at Gordon-Rushville will decide the conference championship and—likely—Kimball’s playoff standing.

In other words, according to the coach, the game against Ogallala’s many Indians was just a game. Gordon, on the other hand, “is a big game.”

Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. in Gordon.