Fans young and old turned out in full force Friday evening, Sept. 2, to watch the South Loup football team earn their first win in Arnold since 2019 - and they thrilled fans with a high-energy victory over Maywood/Hayes Center, with a final score of 64-8.
This week the offense stayed grounded with 450 rushing yards and 53 passing yards in 48 plays. Three Bobcat players rushed for more than 100 yards: Trey Connell with 197; A.J. Starr with 109; and Conner Paulsen with 106. Connell had all 53 passing yards. 
The Bobcats had the first score of the game with a 2-yard run by Connell and a 2-point conversion pass by Connell to Cache Gracey with 7:44 left in the first quarter. Within three minutes, Connell found the end zone and scored another touchdown to make the score 14-0.
The South Loup defense only allowed MHC one opportunity to score in the first quarter with 1:41 left to bring the score to 14-8. This was the lone score for the Wolves the entire game.
During the second quarter, the Bobcats scored four more times - right out of the gate with a 5-yard run by Conner Paulsen; a 33-yard run by A.J. Starr and a two-point conversion run by Connell with 9:19 remaining; and two more touchdowns and a two-point conversion from Connell to end the half with a score of 42-8.
A.J. Starr ran away with the show during the third quarter to score two more touchdowns first with 8:34 remaining in the quarter and again with just 8 seconds left. Conner Paulsen tacked on four more points by way of 2-point conversions this quarter for a score of 58-8.
The Bobcat underclassmen got some play time during the fourth quarter with freshman Dylan Pandorf scoring the lone touchdown that quarter to bring the final score to 64-8.
The Bobcat defense was strong all game long, holding MHC to 143 passing yards and a mere 30 yards rushing. Harper Johnson had seven tackles, followed by Conner Paulsen, Rio Remund, and Ethan Furne with five each. 
The South Loup defense only allowed nine first downs for MHC and stopped 10 of 13 third-down attempts. 
South Loup will face Hitchcock County at Callaway on Friday, Sept. 9, for an afternoon game with kickoff at 2:30 p.m.