ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
Goessel 70, Chase 24
The Bluebirds broke open a fairly close, high-scoring game with 46 unanswered points to raise its season record to 2-0 and give Troy Kemling his first win as the Bluebirds’ head coach.
Kemling was appointed head coach after Jay Goering resigned last week for health reasons.
Goessel jumped to a 16-0 lead on touchdown runs of four yards by Dylan Buller and 14 yards by Ben Schmidt, plus two 2-point conversion runs.
Chase came back with three first-quarter scores to grab the lead, 18-16. The two teams traded scores for a 24-24 tie before Goessel took control.
Schmidt finished with four touchdowns, and Buller added three.
The Bluebirds will travel to Pretty Prairie Friday for an HOA contest. Game time is 7 p.m.
Centre 45, St. Xavier 0
Mark Pagenkopf scored two rushing touchdowns in less than three minutes during the first quarter to spark the Cougars (2-0) to an easy win over St. Xavier in Centre’s home opener.
Pagenkopf broke loose for a 71-yard scoring run at the 8:50 mark of the opening period, than hit paydirt again on a 14-yard run at the 6:11 mark.
Kyle Luna’s 16-yard run gave the Cougars a 24-0 lead by quarter’s end.
In the second quarter, Luna added a second 16-yard touchdown run and Curtis Gutsch threw touchdown passes of 31 yards to Eric Peterson and 34 yards to Pagenkopf to inflate the margin to 45-0 by intermission. The game ended with the mercy rule.
Pagenkopf finished with 100 yards rushing on only five carries, Luna rolled up 119 yards on six carries.
Leading the defense was Travis Burns, who finished with five tackles and seven assists, and Derek Belton, who had six tackles and three assists.
The Cougars will play host to White City in an early-season showdown of undefeated teams. Game time is 7 p.m.
Peabody 19, Halstead 7
Halstead scored first, but the Warriors got two touchdowns from Chris Hamm to win their first game of the season.
With the Dragons leading 7-0 on a 47-yard pass play in the first quarter, Hamm scored from three yards out in the second quarter to pull the Warriors to within a point. Mario Nava then put Peabody-Burns on top in the third quarter with a 27-yard run.
Hamm’s 71-yard scoring run gave Peabody-Burns some breathing room in the final quarter.
The Warriors (1-1) will play Sedgwick (0-2) for its homecoming game on Friday. It will also be the team’s first Heart of America League game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Ell-Saline 39, Canton-Galva 6
The Eagles dropped their second game of the season but scored their first points at Brookville Friday.
Canton-Galva got on the board when Scott Jowers returned the second-half kickoff 90 yards for the score. He finished as the team’s leading rusher also, picking up 34 yards on 12 carries.
The Eagles threw the ball 30 times and completed 12 for 108 yards.
Derek Isaacson rolled up 255 yards rushing and scored twice to pace Ell-Saline.
On Friday, Canton-Galva (0-2) will play host to Hutchinson Trinity in a Heart of America League contest. Game time is 7 p.m.
