Cougars Beat Winside, Raise Record to 4-2

By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

Northeast’s Cougars raised their record to 4-2 with a 72-22 win over (1-5) Winside.  They are undefeated in district action with two games to play.  They will test their 3-0 district record against Emerson-Hubbard who is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the district this week.

After a hard fought first quarter, the game became a rout in the second period.  Montana Riecken’s 1 yard run was the only score of the quarter, but Riecken’s interception on the last play of the period set up LDNE for a 15 yard scoring run by Marcus Hegy as the second quarter started.

Coach Maresh turned to his bag of tricks and pulled off an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. After the successful attempt Northeast marched for a score by Riecken.  Northeast caught the Wildcats off guard a second time with another onside kick and built a 26-0 lead when Hegy scored from three yards out.

Things got even worse for the visitors as they fumbled on their first play from scrimmage after the score.  Northeast got another score by Riecken to reach a 34-0 lead.  A 39 yard romp by Hegy and 5 yard dash by Benny Estrada put the running clock in effect for the second half.

The Cougars offense continued its explosive play as they gained 462 total yards.  According to MaxPreps, Northeast leads all eight man teams in Nebraska with 450.2 per game. They have an average of 352 yards rushing with 7.7 yards a carry.  They have 38 rushing and 6 passing TDs.

Montana Riecken was held to a season low of 85 yards rushing.  He scored three times to bring his total to 19.  The junior passes 7 times, completing 5 for 130 and a touchdown. For the year he has rushed for 1097 and passed for 588.

Riecken passed to Jon Christiansen four times for 100 yards.  Jon had a 35 yard TD reception in the third period.  Tyler Kroger made a 30 yard reception.

Marcus Hegy rushed for 141 yards and 3 TDs.  For the season he has gained 583 yards and scored 13 times.

Benny Estrada added 91 yards with three touchdowns and Jacob Whitaker rushed three times for 15 yards.

The defense was headed by Jon Christiansen who had 10 tackles 2 TFLs and an interception.  The Cougars limited the Wildcats to 156 yards rushing on 34 carries.  Winside gained 116 yards passing on 6 completions of 20 attempts.

Tackles Solo Asst Total  TFLs  F Rec   Int
Marcus Hegy 3 4 7
Jacob Whitaker 2 1 3
Jayden Vetick 3 3 6 1
Mont Riecken 5 2 7 1 1 1
Dustin Burgett 1 2 3 1
Benny Estrada 2 2 4
Tyler Hardeman 4 1 5
Bren Shatto 1 4 5
Nick Ronnfeldt 0 1 1
J Christiansen 3 7 10 2 1
Tyler Kroger 4 1 5
Dean Gibbs 0 0 0 1

Winside         0 8 8 6 -22
LDNE 6 42 8 16 -72

1st Quarter

Riecken 1 yard TD Run
2-pt run no good                  6-0

2nd Quarter

Hegy 15 Yard TD Run
2-pt Pass no good 12-0

Riecken 1 yard TD Run
Hegy 2 Pt Run good 20-0

Hegy 3 Yard TD Run
2-pt run no good 26-0

Riecken 6 Yard TD Run
Hegy 2 pt run good 34-0

Hegy 39 Yard TD Run
2 pt no good 40-0

Benny Estrada 5 Yard TD Run
2 pass from Riecken to Burgett         48-0

Winside Watters to Escalara 4 Yard TD Pass
2pt pass Good 48-8

3rd Quarter

Riecken to Christiansen 35 Yard TD Pass
Hegy Run good 56-8

Winside Watters to King 4 Yard Pass
Pass Good 56-16

4th Quarter

Estrada 9 Yard TD Run
Estrada Run Good 64-16

Winside Escalara 4 Yard TD Run
no good 64-22

Estrada 23 Yard TD run
Whitaker 2 pt run good         72-22