Anselmo-Merna to Challenge Overton; Bacon, It Goes With Peanut Butter

I’ll be honest. In the preseason I probably spent a little more time on Overton and that hornets nest of a district the Eagles play in (Loomis, Hitchcock, Cambridge, others) than my Custer County friends in and around greater Merna. (And Anselmo, of course.)

I did know Anselmo-Merna had some talented underclassmen returning – and a go-to stud in junior Dane Duryea – but last week’s 36-34 win over Sandhills/Thedford was a little bit of an eye opener. Not only that, but they rallied with 14 unanswered fourth-quarter points to make it happen.

That’ll move the Coyotes a few rungs higher on the ol’ developmental ladder…

Duryea is a horse – as have all Duryeas been in my recollection- coming in at a long, muscular 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. He put that physical frame to the test last week, carrying the ball 36 times for 283 yards and four touchdowns. Good guy to have around.

“I thought the boys played really tough and fought for four solid quarters,” says Anselmo-Merna head coach Troy Gilligan. “I thought we blocked well up front. We struggled to take care of the ball at times, but made up for it on the defensive end late in the game. I thought offensively we did a great job all around other than turnovers. Defensively, we need to clean up some tackling but we played violent, downhill football.”

Duryea is also a team captain, along with senior linemen Brayden Wilson and Drake Doss, and junior receiver Caenyn Priest. They will be leading their team against a squad which won nine games last season, and looking awfully good in its season opener. Overton beat Axtell, 67-22, rushing for over 300 yards and having five players score touchdowns. My boy Eli Luther came up big in his debut as the team’s quarterback, going 4-of-4 through the air and accounting for five TDs.

“They have some really good athletes,” says Coach Gilligan of the Eagles. “Offensively, they have multiple weapons they like to use. We will have to tackle well and keep them in front of us. Defensively, they are sound. We will need to get our run game going to hopefully open up some play action.”

This is one of those beautiful Week 2 games where there is more than a hint of mystery the precedes it. All I know for sure is, this is two good football teams.

Bridgeport Not Done Yet?

Bridgeport (1-0) is back at it, this time hitting the road to face No. 2 Dundy County-Stratton (1-0), after last week dispatching North Platte St. Pat’s, 44-28. Back home they call that “a big win for the program.”

Can they double down against the Tigers? That seems like a pretty tall task but it would be worth your five or six bucks to watch Dundy’s Ethan Latta match wits with Bridgeport’s Nik Weibert, as Ethan closes in on the eight-man all-time interception record.

Summerland Still in the Mix

Hey, wait a minute. I thought Summerland graduated all their guys?

Not quite all of ‘em. The Bobcats still have talent on hand, and benefitting from last year’s momentum they came out and smacked struggling Newman Grove/St. Edward, 51-0. We will get the real news this week when they face an angry bunch of Crofton Warriors, who were victims of that exhausting 78-76, four-overtime loss at the hands of Wynot.

Wouldn’t appear a shutout’s in order, does it?

What Would Kyle Jensen Do?

OK, so Johnson-Brock didn’t beat Sandy Creek. Not sure if any team will. But Friday the Eagles do play EMF, which for a team that suffered its own off-season losses sure looked healthy in its 32-6 win over Clarkson/Leigh. Two outstanding programs will do battle tonight at Milligan, can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Bacon, It’s What’s For Dinner

Speaking of Clarkson/Leigh, the Patriots play Howells-Dodge tonight in the annual Bacon Bowl. A tip for the winner, I sure love a bacon and peanut butter sandwich. You should try it.