The Nemaha Central Middle School Football team had their first home football game against Atchison on Thursday, September 12, 2024. After a tough loss against St. Marys, NC was hoping for to pick up a win.
The start of the quarter was not the best for NC. NC kicked off to Atchison and on the first play, NC knocked the football out of the runner's hand but couldn’t recover it. In no time the Tigers made it into the red zone and ran the ball in for a touchdown. They made the two point conversion from a throw over the top to their wide receiver. NC returned the ball after kickoff to the 20 yard line. On their first possession, they fumbled the ball and Atchison recovered it. In two plays, Atchison ran the ball in for another touchdown. They went for the two point conversion but NC was able to stop them. Both teams played great defense the rest of the quarter and the score remained 0-14, Atchison.
In the second quarter, NC returned the ball to the 30 yard line. The offense slowly made it down the field all the way to the 15 yard line, however, another fumble stopped the NC drive and Atchison ran it 85 yards for a touchdown and converted the extra 2 points. NC was on the move again as they marched down to the 35 yard line. NC was again plagued with a fumble and Atchison was able to get on top of it. In just a few plays, they threw a deep pass to their wide receiver and made a touchdown. The 2 point conversion was unsuccessful. The rest of the quarter was pretty quiet and at halftime the Thunder team was down 0-28.
NC received the ball in the third quarter and Hudson Kuckelman returned the ball to the 20 yard line. Atchison played great defense and NC had to punt the ball to them. After holding Atchison to third down and long they threw a perfect deep pass to their wide receiver for a touchdown. They made the two point conversion to make the score 0-36. On the next kickoff, NC returned the ball to the 40 yard line . They worked hard on this drive and after a 30 yard run, they scored their first touchdown. NC executed their next play to get the two point conversion. Both teams then played great defense and the quarter ended 8-36.
Throughout the fourth quarter, both teams played great defense. NC was so close to scoring again, but they ran out of time in the game. The quarter ended 8-36 with Atchison winning.
The highlight of the game for NC was scoring their first touchdown of the season. The team is working hard to improve and hopes to get a win in one of their next games.
Eighth grader Jon Gordon said, “It wasn’t our best effort, but we had some good plays.”
Seventh grader Korbin Schmelzle said, “Watching us get our first touchdown of the season was my favorite part of the game.”
Article by: Tate Edelman and Trent Stuke