Hornets win border battle with Falcons

Colby sets up rematch with Auburndale

The motivations for Abbotsford and Colby going into their Level Two playoff game last week varied, but not in their desired outcome.

It was a long awaited match after their mid-season game was cancelled on account of illness on the Falcons squad, and Abbotsford relished the chance to finally play top seeded Colby.

“I think we went into this game with our heads high and knowing we are a good team,” senior Falcon lineman Garrett Short said.

For the Falcons, the game represented a chance to silence their critics once and for all. For Colby, the home game was an opportunity to make their claim as the best football team along Hwy. 29.

The Hornets proved that with a onesided 48-8 victory over their neighbors, and their reward is a rematch with the Auburndale Eagles in Level Three, and one step closer to state.

Colby head coach Jim Hagen said the Hornets were eager and ready for their cross-town clash with the Falcons, and their execution was second to none.

“I thought our focus for this game was outstanding from the minute the players came into the locker room,” Hagen stated. “The first half was as good as any first half that we have played all year.”

The Falcons gave the Hornets a challenge, holding them to short yardage on many of their plays, but Colby’s big play ability from the likes of Brent Jeske, Caden Healy and Mason Voss proved too much as the Hornets scored on seven of their eight possessions.

“Same as the rest of the year,” Abby head coach Jake Knapmiller lamented. “Play solid for some time, and then give up a big one. We were consistently doing that all year.”

The Hornets flashed their potent combination of speed, power and big play potential almost from the get-go. It took Colby less than a minute to light up the scoreboard as Hornet QB Brent Jeske called his own number and rumbled 60-yards for a Colby TD with 11:06 left in the first quarter.

A Tucker Brost PAT made it 7-0, and Abby tried to answer. Ty Falteisek got the Falcons into Colby territory, but the Hornets turned Abbotsford over on downs. Abby nearly returned the favor, but on 3 and 15, Colby’s Caden Healy found the edge and sprung free for a 58-yard score with 7:21 to go in the first quarter.

Abby chewed up some time and some yardage in their second drive, using big bodies like linemen Carlos Lara, Garrett Short and Devin Thums to open up lanes for Falteisek to sneak through.

“We were lucky to have him return and be healthy all year,” Knapmiller said about Falteisek. “I think everyone knew he would be our bell cow and just hope for him to make it through all the carries and he did!”

But try as he might, Falteisek, who came into the game with over 1,400 rushing yards and 16 TDs in just eight games, could not find the endzone.

“Defensively I am so proud of our players for limiting their offense to less than 200 yards, and holding their outstanding running back Falteisek to less than 100 yards,” Hagen said. “That is no easy thing to do. Our defense also held them on fourth down three times throughout the night.”

The Falcons saw another promising drive come to an end, and Colby took over, battering the Abbotsford line to make way for a streaking Mateo Lopez, who scored from 13-yards out with 6:51 remaining in the first half.

“The big plays were tough and really shut us down early,” Knapmiller said. “We struggled with keeping the weak side edge all season for various reasons, and could never find an answer obviously.”

Colby padded their lead with a pair of late second quarter touchdowns to make it 35-0 just before the break.

Brent Jeske was key to both scores, with the swift signal caller barreling in from five yards out for one TD, and then Jeske worked his magic on the second one.

“Although we only completed two passes, those two plays were crucial right before half,” Hagen said. “Quarterback Brent Jeske made an unbelievable play and throw for a touchdown with eight seconds remaining before half-time.”

Jeske bought time, scrambling away from Abby defenders to find Brody Decker in the back of the endzone from 18-yards out that all but put the game away for the Falcons.

“We knew coming into this that if we were going to pull off the upset we needed to run our game almost flawlessly,” Short would say after the game. “Ultimately, we didn’t do that, but it’s hard to run a flawless offense and flawless defense for 48 minutes.”

The Hornets continued to keep the Falcons out of the endzone in the third, and with 3:22 to go before the fourth, Mason Voss scored on a five yard pick up. A Brost PAT made it 42-0.

In the fourth quarter Abby finally got on board. Falteisek and JV Castillo drove the Falcons into the Red Zone, and Jake Hirsch finished off the drive with a five yard scoring scamper.

A successful two-point conversion from Abbotsford made it 42-8. Gavin Voss become the sixth Hornet to score on the evening after he punched the ball into the endzone off a four-yard carry.

With the loss, the Falcons’ record drops to 6-5 on the season, but no matter how you look at it, the 2021 season was a vast improvement for Abby, especially given 2020’s COVID-19 marred year.

“We obviously are happy to make playoffs and get our nine games, but bittersweet end as always, with losing our senior crew,” Knapmiller said. “They made a huge impact on me, and on the young ones, and honestly rejuvenated me as a coach with their focus and willingness to sacrifice!”

Falteisek finished with 98 yards on the night. His 1,527 yards in just nine games is one of the top single season rushing performances in Abby history.

Meanwhile, Brent Jeske’s 145 yards on 14 carries leaves him less than 60-yards from 1,000. Mason Voss is also closing in on 1,000 rushing yards thanks to his 55-yards, eight carry performance against the Falcons.

Caden Healy added another 62-yards while Brody Decker hauled in two receptions for 32-yards and a score as the Hornets piled up nearly 400 yards.

Tristan Stange and Brent Jeske led Colby’s defense with eight tackles, along with Pierce Geiger’s seven.

Conrad Flink, a senior on the Abbotsford squad, aptly summed up the Falcons’ season, a season in which multiple pundits wondered if this would be a down year for Abby.

Flink said that he, like the Falcons, felt Abbotsford showed just how much talent is there, and will return, in 2022.

“It felt great that I could show what I could do, show people that I’m more than what they think I am. This season felt like I lifted a weight off my chest.”

Colby’s march through the playoffs continues, with a rematch with the Auburndale Eagles, a team Colby defeated 54-7 in their regular season finale.

But the Hornets take no team lightly, and after upsetting two higher seeded teams already, Hagen and his Hornets are taking the Eagles seriously.

“We now have to keep our focus up this week as we prepare for Auburndale once again,” Hagen stated. “They are playing well as they have all season, and have beaten two higher ranked opponents so far in the play-offs.”

DOWNFIELD BLOCKER -Abbotsford offensive lineman Devin Thums (#55) keeps Colby’s Mason Voss (#28) at bay as Thums attempts to buy JV Castillo (#24) time to pick up a first down.

UNSTOPPABLE -Pierce Geiger celebrates after stopping the Falcons on fourth down during the first half of Friday’s Level Two playoff game.

CRUNCH! -Erik Martinez (#51) and Brekyn Lieders (#86) tackle Abbotsford’s JV Castillo to the turf during the conference rivals Level Two playoff game in Colby last week. The Hornets held Abbotsford to under 200-yards off offense, and racked up nearly 75 total tackles.STAFF PHOTO/ROSS PATTERMANN