Hornets grab first win as defense dominates
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Colby Hornets football team grabbed their first victory of the season last Friday evening, when they cruised to a 44-0 home win over the new Loyal/Greenwood co-op.
After facing a gauntlet of top-10 squads in their first three contests, the Hornets were able to bounce back in their second CWCLarge contest of the season. Colby dominated in all three phases of the game. The defense turned in a complete game shutout and picked up an early turnover, the offense racked up over 300 yards and scored five touchdowns and the special teams had a number of big punt returns, including Brody Viegut’s 76-yard return for a touchdown in the second quarter.
The Hornets defense was stifling all evening, not allowing Loyal/Greenwood any room to operate on the ground. The co-op only managed 43 yards on their 33 rushing attempts, averaging just 1.3 yards per carry. They also forced three fumbles, recovering two of them. The first came on the visitors’ opening play from scrimmage as Jacob Hoppe and Brennan Geiger combined on the tackle to strip the ball and Tucker Hayes came up with it at the bottom of the pile.
Colby also held Loyal/Greenwood quarterback Eli Zettler to just one completion for one yard on five attempts. Hayden Kaiser was also able to pick him off in the first quarter.
Kaiser’s pick set up Colby’s first touchdown of the evening, which the senior also had a part in. On third-and-four from Loyal/ Greenwood’s 25 yard line, the Hornets decided to turn to the air. Quarterback Tayt Smith found Kaiser on a familiar corner route and the receiver reached the ball across the pylon to put the home team on the board. Smith then converted the two-point conversion with his feet, diving across the goal line to give Colby an 8-0 lead.
The first of Viegut’s big punt returns came at the end of the first quarter. The senior weaved his way through Loyal/Greenwood’s punt coverage team before finally being brought down at the visitors’ 10 yard line. Gavin Voss punched it in one play later, scoring his first of two touchdowns on a 10 yard run. Smith found Viegut on the two-point conversion and the Hornets went up 16-0 with just seconds left in the first quarter.
The first half scoring didn’t end there as the Hornets continued to lay it on in the second quarter. After using short fields to score their first two touchdowns, Colby had to go a bit further on their third scoring drive, marching 52 yards down the field before Voss scampered 23 yards for his second score of the evening. Another run by Voss on the successful two-point conversion that followed gave Colby a 24-0 lead.
Viegut helped the Hornets stretch out their lead even further before the end of the half with a huge punt return for a touchdown, slicing his way through would-be tacklers and, following a two-point conversion pitch and catch between himself and Smith, gave Colby a 32-0 lead heading into halftime.
Another connection between Viegut and Smith kept the Hornets first drive of the second half alive, the catch and run helping the Hornets convert on third-and-20. Smith then found Kaiser in the endzone a few plays later, Kaiser’s diving catch pushing the lead out even further.
An impressive 73 yard touchdown run from Luke Hannula capped off the scoring for the evening. The junior quarterback, subbing in for Smith in the fourth quarter, reversed the field on a bootkeep and ran away from the rest of the field on the longest play of scrimmage of the evening.
Voss led all rushers with 76 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Viegut added 19 yards on eight carries, Colton Orth had 21 yards on three carries and Chase Heeg picked up 11 yards on five touches. Hannula’s only carry was his 73 yard touchdown.
Smith had a solid day passing, completing seven of his eight passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The only incompletion he had on Friday night found its way into the hands of a Loyal/Greenwood defender.
Viegut was the recipient of five of those passes, ending the game with five catches for 56 yards. Both of Kaisers catches were touchdowns, finishing with 49 yards receiving.
Hoppe led the team in tackles, recording seven solo tackles and eight total tackles. Smith, Viegut and Geiger all had five tackles each and Smith recovered a backwards pass in the second quarter for the Hornets. Voss had the only sack of the game for Colby.
The Hornets will continue their CWCLarge campaign with a trip to Marathon this coming Friday, September 20. The Red Raiders are 2-2 this season and are coming off of a 47-7 loss to Amherst. Marathon has turned to the air more often than not this season, recording 734 passing yards compared to just 349 on the ground. The two conference opponents are set to square off at 7 p.m.
TEAM-UP TACKLE - Jacob Hoppe (57) Luke Hannula (1) and Hunter Reynolds (67) combine to bring down the Loyal/ Greenwood runner during the Hornets dominating win over their CWC-Large foes on Friday. The Colby defense held their opponents to under 50 yards of total offense and did not allow them to score in the victory.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
FULL EXTENSION - Hayden Kaiser stretches out to secure his second touchdown catch of the evening, securing the ball in the back of the end zone in the third quarter.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
PUNT RETURN SPECIALIST - Brody Viegut (20) cuts back inside Hayden Kaiser (8) on a punt return that he would take down to the Loyal/Greenwood 10 yard line. He also returned a punt for a touchdown in the second quarter.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
