Colby rolls Thunderbirds, 46-14

The Colby football team improved to 3-0 on the season after defeating the Iola- Scandinavia Thunderbirds at home last Friday evening. The Hornets controlled the first half, holding their opponents scoreless while the offense put up 32 points, eventually allowing them to take a comfortable 46-14 victory.

As in their first two contests, Colby found traction in the ground game, accumulating over 300 yards rushing over the course of the contest. Running back Gavin Voss had an impressive evening, putting up over 200 yards himself. The Hornets’ passing attack also put forward their best performance of the young season, with quarterback Tayt Smith going 5-6 and splitend Caden Kleparski reeling in three catches for 136 yards.

Colby’s defense came out of the gates with a solid first series, holding the Thunderbirds to a three-and-out and forcing them to punt away the ball. The Hornets took advantage, marching down the field with relative ease. Highlighted by a 22-yard scamper from Voss to set up the offense inside the red zone, the drive ended with another Voss run, this one for four yards and a touchdown.

The visitors responded with a long drive of their own, driving down inside the Colby 10-yard line. Despite their momentum, the Hornets defense fended off the Thunderbirds for four straight plays, keeping Iola-Scandinavia out of the end zone and getting a turnover on downs.

Smith found Kleparski on the following possession for the team’s biggest passing play of the season. After hitting the Thunderbirds’ defense with a steady dose of run plays on their first drive, the Hornets picked out the perfect time to break out the play-action pass. Kleparski burned past the corner on his side and Smith hit him in stride for a 74-yard touchdown strike.

The Hornet’s offense had one more scoring drive in them before the half as Smith connected with fullback Brennan Geiger on a 14-yard swing pass that put Colby up 24-0 with just over 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Down by three touchdowns and having to kick off to start the second half, the Thunderbirds tried to push the ball down the field. This turned disastrous for the visitors as Connor Orth picked off a desperate heave by Iola-Scandinavia’s Jensen Rice and took it the other way for a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown. Following Gavin Voss’s third two-point conversion of half, the Hornets held a 32 point lead.

Another deep completion between Smith and Kleparski, this one for 35 yards, highlighted the Hornets first drive of the second half. Voss picked up his second touchdown of the game with a one-yard run three plays later, solidifying Colby’s control over the game.

The Thunderbirds would manage to score twice in the remaining quarter- and-a-half, but with the dominant opening from the Hornets, the lead was never truly threatened. On the first play of scrimmage following the visitors’ second touchdown, Voss broke off an 80-yard touchdown run that put the game away for good.

“It is always good to obviously get a win, however, I didn’t think we came out with a great deal of focus and intensity and after the game our players knew it,” head coach Jim Hagen said after the game. “However, offensively we had a few players who had a really big night such as Gavin Voss on the ground, Tayt Smith and Caden Kleparski through the air. We were finally able to complete some big passes, something we have been waiting for all season.”

Ten Hornets got carries on Friday night’s win. Behind Voss’s 216 yard, three touchdown performance, Colby’s run game was solid, racking up 326 total yards. Geiger added 53 yards on 11 carries, Smith had 20 yards on six carries, and Brody Viegut ended the game with 17 yards on four carries. Orth, Lukas Hannula, Devon Meyer, Will Hennes, and Oliver Steen also hefted the rock on occasion for the Hornets.

Smith’s 147 yards and two touchdowns through the air was an excellent supplement to the running attack. Kleparski served as his main target but Geiger pulled in two catches for 11 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Smith also recorded the most tackles for the Hornets, picking up seven over the course of the game. Kleparski, Hayden Kaiser, and Jacob Hoppe each had four tackles and Kaiser snagged his first interception of the season, giving Colby two on the evening.

“Defensively I felt we played pretty solid, bending a few times but never really breaking and it was fun to see Colton Orth return an interception for a touchdown,” Hagen said.

The Hornets wrap up their non-conference schedule with a trip to Loyal this Friday, Sept. 8. The Greyhounds have stumbled out of the gates, going 0-3 over the first three weeks of the season. Their closest contest was last week against Auburndale, where they lost 27-8 on the road. Last year, Colby defeated their old Cloverbelt foes 48-8. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.