A big win last Friday, Sept. 18, extended South Loup’s win streak to three, as the Bobcats held on to hand the Hemingford Bobcats its first loss of the season.

Defense was key in the first quarter of play, with both teams allowing one trip into the end zone. The scoring for the quarter was separated by only a successful point-after conversion for Hemingford, who led 8-6 at the end of the first.

South Loup’s defense remained strong in the second quarter as well, with Hemingford finding the end zone to add another TD to their side of the board and completing their second 2-point conversion. However, the South Loup offense was able to get past their opponent twice in the quarter and complete their PAT attempts as well, to double the score on Hemingford. South Loup took a 22-16 lead at the half.

Hemingford came out of the locker room fired up for the second half of play in front of their home crowd, finding success on both sides of the ball. Their offense put up an additional 14 points while the defense held South Loup scoreless in the period.

However, South Loup was far from done. They reciprocated in the fourth, scoring 12 points while not allowing Hemingford any additional points. When the clock ran out, it was South Loup on top, 34-30.

Tysen Schacher completed 11 of 16 passes for 166 yards. It was on the ground, however, that he was most dangerous. The QB rushed for 151 yards on 32 carries, getting into the end zone for all five of South Loup’s touchdowns.

His primary target through the air was Jett Morgan, who caught 4 passes for 67 yards. Dawson Downing had 2 receptions for 37 yards, while Jacob King came down with 3 catches for 21 yards. Crew Witthuhn and Elijah Cool each had a pass reception for 23 and 18 yards, respectively. Cool also got the ball 14 times off the line and picked up 93 yards rushing. Morgan and Witthuhn each had a successful 2-point conversion reception.

The defense was a true team effort, with Noah Anderson and Witthuhn each recording 6 tackles. T. Schacher and Morgan each had 5 tackles, and Remi Flynn, Cool, and King each finished with 4 tackles.

South Loup is hosting Franklin this evening, Sept. 24, in Arnold. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.