Hornets douse Northstar’s shine

The Colby Hornets traveled north on Friday, Oct. 2, to play the Hurley Northstars. The long trip was well worth it, as the Hornets defeated the Northstars 37-14 in a tough, physical game.

Colby started by receiving the football and taking over possession at their own 38-yard line. The Hornets went on an eight play drive, while picking up three first downs.

Highlights of the drive came from senior running back Joe Hawthorne, who scampered for 28-yards, and then capped the drive off by falling into the end zone from one yard out. Junior quarterback Brent Jeske ran in for the two point conversion, and the Hornets led 8-0 with 8:32 left in the first quarter.

Hurley and Colby were each held to three plays apiece on their ensuing possessions, and were forced to punt. After Colby’s first points, it was Hurley that scored next.

On their second possession the Northstars went on a ten play drive that was capped by a 44-yard touchdown run. Their PAT was no good, so the Hornets still had a lead of 8-6 with 11:20 left in the second quarter.

Colby started their third possession of the night at their own 36-yard line, and went on a nine play scoring drive. Junior running back Mason Voss highlighted this offensive series with a 26-yard run, and then finished the drive with a four yard touchdown run.

The Hornets went for two, and Brent Jeske dropped back to pass, first scrambling right and then all the way across field to his left. Somehow, he flicked it into the end zone to a wide open junior wide receiver Pierce Geiger, giving the Hornets a 16-6 lead with 7:37 left in the second quarter.

Hurley started their next possession at their own 45-yard line, and went on a twelve play drive down to Colby’s 15-yard line. The Hornets’ defense rose to the occasion and forced a fumble. Senior defensive back Mason Schmutzler pounced on the ball, stopping the Northstars’ drive with little time left on the clock before halftime.

The Hornets ran two plays before time expired and Colby hung on for a 16-6 lead at half. Coach Jim Hagen stated that “The first half we truly only had three possessions, and we were able to score on two of them. Fortunately, our defense forced a turnover right before half as Hurley was knocking at our door.”

Hurley started the second half by receiving the football at their own 27-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage they found a seam in Colby’s defense and took a trap 65-yards deep into scoring territory. On fourth and long, Hurley went to the air, and found a wide open receiver for a touchdown.

The Northstars went for two and converted, closing the score to 16-14 with 11:20 left in the third quarter.

The Hornets took over possession at their own 40-yard line, and went on an impressive twelve play drive that included four first downs. A big highlight of the drive was a pass from Brent Jeske to Hawthorne of 55-yards. Hawthorne made several nice cuts and outran all defenders, unfortunately, the play was called back for a block in the back.

However, the Hornets withstood the penalty, and continued to march down field. Brent Jeske capped off the drive by calling his own number on a quarterback sneak from one yard out. The two point conversion failed but, the Hornets had a 22-14 lead with 3:40 left in the third.

The Northstars started their next possession at their own 31-yard line, and once again went on a nice drive of their own of eleven plays. The Hornets defense stiffened, stopping Hurley on fourth down, giving Colby the ball at their own 40-yard line.

Fireworks started for the Hornets offense once again on an eight play drive. Voss had a run of 28-yards and Hawthorne again took a screen pass from Brent Jeske into the end zone from 19-yards out. But once again it got called back from a penalty. However, on the next play, Brent Jeske found a wide open junior wide receiver Brandon Voelker for a 19-yard touchdown.

Hawthorne capped it off with a run around the left edge for the two point conversion and the Hornets now had a 30-14 lead with 6:17 left in the fourth quarter.

Hurley started their next possession at their own 33-yard line, and the Hornets defense came up big once again. On the first play, Hawthorne forced a fumble and pounced on the recovery, giving Colby wonderful field position at Hurley’s 25yard line.

Brent Jeske had a nice run into the end zone from 28-yards out, but that play was nullified by a penalty. However, Voss capped off the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run up the middle, and sophomore kicker Tucker Brost booted the PAT through the uprights, giving the Hornets a commanding 37-14 lead with only 2:15 left in the game. This would be the final score of the game as Colby moves to 2-0.

Colby had 12 first downs, with 262 rushing yards and 88 passing yards for 350 yards of total offense.

Brent Jeske had 129 yards on thirteen carries and one touchdown. Mason Voss had 100 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Brent Jeske completed 6 of 10 passes for 88 yards and one touchdown. Brandon Voelker had three catches for 57 yards and one touchdown.

Hurley had 11 first downs with 235 yards rushing and 30 yards passing, completing only two of four attempts. The Northstars also had two fumbles.

“This was a good win for us, on the road against a very physical and good football team. We definitely needed to face a team like this where our players needed to dig down inside themselves to find a way to win and they did that,” Hagen stated.

“Offensively, we only truly had six possessions and we were able to score on five of them. Once again, we had too many penalties on offense, which took away on some long scoring plays. Defensively, we gave up a few big plays but we were also able to create two turnovers, which were at key times during the game.”

The Hornets will take another long road trip on Friday, Oct. 9, when they battle the Crivitz Wolverines for a nonconference game. Kick-off is at 7 p.m.