Second half rally pushes Hornets past Spencer/CC
By Nathaniel Underwood
Jacob Hoppe had a 70-yard fumble return, Luke Hannula found Colton Orth for a goahead touchdown pass on fourth-down and Hunter Reynolds dragged down Spencer/ Columbus Catholic quarterback Devlin Timmler for a game-saving fourth-down sack in a 28-20 home victory over their CWC-Large rivals last Friday evening.
Big plays abounded in a back-and-forth contest between the Hornets and Spencer/ Columbus, both squads fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive. Heading into Friday night’s game, both teams sat at two wins each, making a victory almost all but necessary for either team to make it into the playoffs. The result was a tightly contested affair that went right down to the wire.
With just over three minutes left in the game, Brody Viegut broke away from the Spencer/Columbus defense on a huge 44yard touchdown run that put the Hornets up by eight, 28-20. Colby could not punch in the two-point conversion to make it a two-possession game, however, and with three minutes left, the visitors had more than enough time to try to force overtime.
After returning the ensuing kickoff to the 40 yard line, Spencer/Columbus turned to a passing game that had served them well all evening. While the Hornets were able to make several nice defensive plays, penalties and an inadvertent whistle were able to keep the visitors’ drive alive long enough for Timmler to find his receivers for some big plays. Spencer/Columbus eventually worked itself inside Colby’s 10-yard line with just over a minute left in the game. Hayden Kaiser came up with a key pass break up at the goal line before coming up to make a tackle on a swing pass on third down to force Spencer/Columbus back.
On fourth-down from the 10 yard line, Timmler dropped back to pass but the right side of the pocket collapsed as Gavin Voss and Reynolds broke through, with Reynolds wrapping up the Spencer/Columbus quarterback and Tucker Hayes finishing him off to seal Colby’s victory.
The hold was part of a big late-game swing for the Hornets. The situation was starting to look grim after a fumble midway through the third quarter gave Spencer/Columbus the ball at Colby’s 34 yard line. Down 14-6 and with their only score coming on a three-yard run by Orth in the second quarter, there were questions on whether the Hornets could muster enough offense to come back if they fell behind by two touchdowns.
The Hornets never had to consider that situation seriously, however, as Hoppe came up with a game-changing fumble recovery a few plays later. A backwards pass out to Spencer/Columbus’s Carter Luepke escaped the running back’s grasp and Hoppe was able to scoop up the loose ball, taking it all the way back 70 yards for a touchdown. A successful two-point conversion pass from Hannula to Hayes followed and the Hornets had tied the game at 14-14.
After trading empty possessions, Spencer/ Columbus moved the ball up to midfield before deciding to go for it on fourth and inches. Colby’s defense, which had been stout against the run all evening, came up with a key stop, holding the visitors short of the line to gain and turning the ball back over to their offense.
The Hornets found themselves in a fourthdown situation themselves a few plays later. Sitting at the Spencer/Columbus 25 yard line with under eight minutes to play, Colby needed two yards to keep their drive alive. With Colby having not completed a pass outside of the two-point conversion to Hayes, the visiting defense bit up on the run, allowing Orth to run past the safety on a streak down the field. Hannula found his target in stride and Orth finished the job, scoring the go-ahead touchdown for the Hornets. Another important two-point conversion connection between Hannula and Hayes gave Colby a 22-14 lead.
It was a game of completely different offenses. Hannula’s touchdown pass to Orth
See COLBY FOOTBALL/ Page 20
DEFENSIVE STOP - Hunter Reynolds (67), Gavin Voss (30), Tucker Hayes (87) and Brennan Geiger (54) celebrate after bringing down Spencer/Columbus quarterback Devlin Timmler for a game-ending sack on fourth-down. The play by the Hornets’ defensive line was key in maintaining Colby’s 28-20 lead.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Colby football
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was his only completion outside of the pair of two-point conversions, with the Hornets largely relying on the ground game, racking up 265 yards on 43 carries. Meanwhile, Spencer could not find any success running against Colby’s front, finishing the game with -2 yards rushing. However, Timmler ended the game completing 20 of his 31 pass attempts for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
Viegut led the team in rushing, putting up 92 yards on 10 carries and scoring the important insurance touchdown. Voss had 82 yards on 12 touches and Orth picked up 59 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
In addition to his fumble-turned-touchdown, Hoppe led the team with nine tackles. Kaiser and Tristen Smazal added eight tackles each and Reynolds ended the game with two sacks. Voss had one sack and one forced fumble for the Hornets.
Colby will conclude their 2024 regular season campaign with a trip to Weyauwega-Fremont this Friday, Oct. 18. The Warhawks are currently 4-4 this season and are coming off a 60-46 victory over Loyal/Greenwood last week. Running back Dawson Lind and quarterback Kameron Zielke are the Warhawks primary sources of offense, with the former averaging 7.9 yards per carry and the latter accounting for 22 total touchdowns this season. The game will start at 7 p.m.
SNIFFING OUT THE END ZONE - Colton Orth follows his blockers around the left side of the Hornets’ line on Colby’s first score against Spencer/Columbus. He also had a receiving touchdown later in the game.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
