SCHS Defense Struggles Against Reno County

The South Central football team couldn’t get its defense off the field against Reno County last Friday and it proved costly.

The Timberwolves ran 33 plays for 319 yards of total offense, while the Sabres ran 72 plays on offense for 313 yards. Of that, SCHS had 209 passing yards and 110 rushing yards while Reno County had 100 passing yards and 213 rushing yards.

The end result was the Timberwolves losing 30-28. It was a game in which the Timberwolves had no third-down conversions and two fourth-down conversions out of three attempts, while the Sabres converted eight of 13 third downs and two of five fourth downs.

“If the defense could have just given us two more possessions and gotten off the field, we would have had two more possessions, and we could have scored two more times,” said head coach Brett Westrup. “I mean, they literally could not stop us offensively. We stopped ourselves. We’ve got to figure out a way to get off the field on defense.”

Westrup said the Timberwolves scored quickly on offense, whereas the Sabres would get about four yards per play and chewed up the clock.

He added that two SCHS turnovers didn’t help matters. Quarterback Easton Huck completed seven of 10 passes for 110 yards with a touchdown, but he had two interceptions.

As for the Sabres, Westrup said their offensive line was good, with tackles who blocked well and did a lot to allow Reno County’s running backs to gain yards and keep drives going. While a roster for Reno County wasn’t available, the lead running back had 150 yards on 40 carries with four touchdowns.

Despite the loss, Westrup said this was the type of team the Timberwolves needed to face to figure out where they need to improve.

“This kind of game was good for us because it’s going to show us how we stack up against other good teams,” he said. “It’s going to show those weaknesses.

“It’s going to show our weak areas that we’re, you know, if we want to make a deep playoff run, we have to get these areas fixed. And we found some areas where we’re just going to have to get better if we want to make a deep run.”

Westrup said the main thing is the Timberwolves need to get better defensively and do more to force teams into three and outs. He noted that the Sabres never punted, though the Timberwolves did force them to turn the ball over on downs.

“We’ve got to get teams in third and long and force them to punt the ball,” Westrup said. “And then, offensively, we’ve just got to take care of the ball.”

The head coach noted that this game was the first time the Timberwolves have had to deal with adversity and the players didn’t quit.

“We’ve just got to fix the little things — and they’re not major things,” Westrup said. “They’re just little things, but, you know, I think they did a good job of fighting through the adversity, never giving up. When you’re down, you just keep rolling with it, scrapping and fighting.”

Parker Price led the team in receiving with 167 yards on seven receptions and two touchdowns. J Petty had a 38-yard touchdown reception. Westynn Stapleton was perfect on three passing attempts with two touchdown passes.

Huck led the Timberwolves in rushing with 59 yards on 11 carries and Coda Lindsay added 51 yards on five carries.

On defense, Colt Yoder led SCHS with 14 tackles, Price had 12, Jack Willems had 10 and Stapleton had nine.

The Timberwolves will travel to Sublette this Friday. The Larks didn’t get to play their season opener because of hot temperatures, then had to forfeit their game this past week against Dighton because the Larks didn’t have enough players available.

Thus, Westrup said, he doesn’t know what the Larks will bring to the table this season.

“We’re literally going to go into this game blind,” he said. “We haven’t played Sublette in three years.”

But Westrup said he expects the Larks to have athletic players, as they have had in the past, and if the past is any indication, the Larks will bring a lot of defensive pressure.

“They’re going to try to use their speed on offense and get kids to the perimeter,” Westrup said. “I haven’t seen that on film, but that’s what they’ve always done in the past. So I’m guessing that’s what they’re going to do again this year, even though they haven’t played yet.”

The head coach said the focus in practice will be on doing a better job of blocking and reading through progressions on offense. On defense, Westrup said, the emphasis will be on stopping the run, coming up to fill gaps and force teams to throw the ball more often.