Colby cuts down the ‘Cards, 54-6

The Colby Hornets hosted the Thorp Cardinals on Friday, Sept. 25 for Homecoming on a beautifully warm evening for this late in September.

In what should have been a Week 6 match-up, Colby began the game by receiving the ball and taking over at their own 38-yard line. However, the drive stalled after Colby picked up just one first down and Thorp took over at their own 15-yard line.

On Thorp’s second play they fumbled and junior linebacker Tristen Stange jumped on the ball, giving Colby excellent field position at Thorp’s 15-yard line.

Two plays later running back Mason Voss went around the right side on a sweep, and with good blocking, dashed into the end zone from 11-yards out.

The Hornets went for two and senior running back Joe Hawthorne took a sweep around the left edge into the end zone giving Colby a 8-0 lead with 8:37 left in the first quarter.

Thorp took possession at their own 33yard line, but punted after three plays. Colby took over possession at their own 45-yard line and the Hornets went to the air immediately. Junior quarterback Brent Jeske hit a wide open Brandon Voelker for a 33-yard gain to the Cardinals’ 22-yard line.

On the next play Hawthorne took a sweep around the left edge for a 15-yard gain to the seven yard line. A holding call backed the Hornets up to the 19-yard line and on the next play, Brent Jeske faked out the defensive and kept the ball himself and bolted into the end zone from 19-yards out.

The Hornets went for two and Voss took a pitch and went into the end zone, giving Colby a 16-0 lead with 6:18 left in the first quarter. Thorp took over possession at their own 42-yard line and were unable to gain a first down.

However, the Cardinals opted to go for it on fourth down. The Hornets held tough and took over at Thorp’s 44-yard line, but due to several penalties could not capitalize on the good field position and were forced to punt, where Thorp took over at their own 21-yard line.

After another penalty by the Hornets, Thorp had decent field position at their own 40-yard line. However, on first down, Hawthorne and junior defensive end Andrew Jeske sacked the quarterback for a 10-yard loss. The Cardinals once again went for it on fourth down and were held short of the first down marker and the Hornets took over at Thorp’s 43-yard line.

Colby marched the ball downfield and Voss did the rest, going around the left edge on sweep and into the end zone from 15-yards out for his second score of the evening. The two point conversion failed but Colby had a 22-0 lead with 9:38 left in the second.

Thorp took over at their own 30-yard line and immediately linebacker Brent Jeske sacked the quarterback for a 10yard loss. Thorp was then forced to punt after three plays and the Hornets took over at Thorp’s 44-yard line.

On the first play, the Hornets aired it out and Jeske connected with junior wide receiver Brody Decker for a dazzling 46yard touchdown catch and run. The two point conversion failed once again, but the Hornets now had a commanding 28-0 lead with 7:50 left in the second quarter.

The Cardinals took over possession at their own 36-yard line but were forced once again to punt after three plays and Colby took over at Thorp’s 48-yard line. Five plays later, Colby was knocking at the door once again. Brent Jeske kept it from two yards out, finding the end zone for his second time of the night.

Senior running back Ross Elmhorst went around the left edge on sweep for a successful two point conversion that gave the Hornets a 36-0 lead with 4:31 left in the second.

Thorp started their next possession at the 50-yard line and on the second play, Stange read the quarterback’s eyes and intercepted a ball thrown over the middle. Both teams had possessions on offense but were not able to capitalize and the first half ended with Colby up 36-0 with a running clock in the second half.

Coach Hagen stated, “In the first half, our defense played extremely well. Our defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, we got excellent pressure on the quarterback and our defensive backs played tight coverage. Thorp could only manage one first down and had only 23 yards of total offense.

“Meanwhile, our offensive line of juniors Derek Jeske, Tristen Stange, Brayden Boyer, Carter Grewe and Corey Steen did a nice job blocking up front allowing our run game to make some big plays and allowing our quarterback time in the pocket. The only negative regarding the 1st half were too many penalties.”

Thorp received the 2nd half kick-off and started at their own 46-yard line and the fireworks for the Hornets started on the first play. Brent Jeske forced a fumble that lineman Derek Jeske scooped up the and sprinted 46-yards into the endzone.

“I cannot remember the last time a Hornetdefensivelinemanscoredatouchdown and from that far out,” remarked Hagen after Jeske’s 46-yard rumble.

The two point conversion failed, but the Hornets now had a 42-0 lead with 11:43 left in the 3rd quarter. The Cardinals took over possession on their own Cutting

35-yard line and once again on their first play, defensive end Andrew Jeske stripped the ball and defensive lineman Carter Grewe jumped on it, giving the Hornets excellent field position at Thorp’s 30-yard line.

On the fourth play, sophomore running back Mateo Lopez took the ball around the right edge on a sweep from 21-yards out and dove into the end zone for a touchdown. The two point conversion failed and Colby now had a 48-0 lead with 6:59 left in the 3rd quarter.

Thorp took over possession at their 40yard line and on 4th down went for it but the Hornet defense stiffened once again holding them short of the first down. Colby took over at Thorp’s 40-yard line.

On the third play, sophomore quarterback Kaden Wiese stood in the pocket and just before getting hit, threw a high arching pass to a wide open sophomore receiver Nathaniel Robida for a 46-yard pass play down to the 5-yard line.

Sophomore running back Isaac Raatz then bulldozed into the end zone from five yards out and the two conversion failed, but Colby now had a 54-0 lead with 1:24 left in the third.

On Thorp’s next possession, they managed to go on a nice 70-yard drive and scored on a run from five yards out but the extra point failed. The score was now 54-6 with 9:08 left on the clock, and remained locked on that until the very end.

Colby had 13 first downs with 242 rushing yards and 132 passing yards for a total of 374 yards. Brent Jeske had 77 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns and Mason Voss had 40 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns.

Brent Jeske completed 3 of 6 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown. Brody Decker had one catch for 46 yards and a touchdown, Nathaniel Robida had one catch for 46 yards and Brandon Voelker had one catch for 33 yards.

Thorp had seven first downs with 50 yards rushing and 44 yards passing completing only seven passes on 23 attempts. The Cardinals had three fumbles and threw one interception.

“This was a good win for the first game of the season. All 32 players who suited up played and offensively, 14 players touched the ball. That was really neat to see so many players get an opportunity to touch the ball and have some fun under the lights.

“Defensively, I was really pleased to see how well we played. We didn’t give up big plays and we created four turnovers.”

Colby’s game with Marathon was cancelled due to COVID, so the Hornets will travel to play Hurley in a non-conference game on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.

“BIG D” GETS THE TD -Junior defensive lineman Derek Jeske (#52) rumbles downfield with a fleet of blockers after picking up a fumble as he takes it to the house for a 46-yard touchdown. The Hornets romped to a 54-6 victory in their first game of the season.STAFF PHOTOS/ROSS PATTERMANN

TAG TEAM ON THORP -Brent Jeske (#7) and Carter Grewe (#74) work together to take Thorp’s Aiden Rosemeyer to the ground. Grewe had one fumble recovery and Jeske had one sack.STAFF PHOTO/ROSS PATTERMANN