Holcomb rolls Cimarron to improve to 2-0

Courtesy of Kirk Hutchinson
Cimarron, Kan. Coming off a 34-20 road victory over Liberal a week ago, the Holcomb Longhorns picked up another road win Friday, this time at Cimarron, as the Longhorns scored on every possession en route to a 54-6 win.

The Longhorns rolled up 34 1st half points, with rushing touchdowns from Tristan Ortner, Damon Mesa, and Khai Cosner; and touchdown passes from Damon Mesa to Cosner and Ortner.

Holcomb rolled up 289 yards in the 1st half, finishing the game with 521 total yards and 8 touchdowns. Damon Mesa accounted for 300 yards total offense and 5 TDs, with 214 yards and 3 TDs on the ground, 2 TDs through the air on 7-of-9 passing for 71 yards, and a 15-yard catch from back-up QB Keegan Johnson.

On the game’s opening possession, the Longhorn ‘D’ forced a fumble that Kooper Tichenor recovered at the Bluejay 43. Seven plays later, Tristan Ortner took an end-around into the end zone from 5 yards out. Khai Cosner ran in the 2-point conversion and Holcomb led 8-0 just over four minutes into the game.

The defense held Cimarron to a 3-and-out and Holcomb got the ball back on its 38-yard line, following a 24-yard punt. It took the Longhorns eight plays to cover the 62 yards, with Damon Mesa rolling in from 37 yards out. The extra point was no good and Holcomb led 14-0 with just under three minutes left in the opening quarter.

Following another Bluejay punt, the Longhorns went on a 9-play, 79-yard drive, capped by a 4-yard TD run from Cosner. Manny Anguiano booted the extra point and Holcomb led 21-0 with 9:06 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Cimarron started its next drive at the Holcomb 44, but a sack pushed the Bluejays back 13 yards and they never recovered, turning it over on downs at the Longhorn 36. It took Holcomb just four plays to score, with Mesa hitting Cosner for a 16-yard touchdown pass and the Longhorns led 27-0 with 6:29 remaining until halftime.

The Bluejays would again turn the ball over on downs, this time at their own 30-yard line. Four plays later, Mesa hit Ortner with a 10-yard TD pass. The Anguiano PAT made the score 34-0 at halftime.

A mistake on the 2nd half kickoff pinned the Longhorns on their own two-yard line, but it didn’t matter. Holcomb marched 98 yards in 11 plays as Mesa rushed in from 10 yards out to stretch the lead to 40-0, five minutes into the 3rd quarter.

Once again, the Bluejays would turn the ball over on downs, this time at the Holcomb 35. On the second play of the series, Mesa raced 64 yards for his third TD of the night and the Longhorns led 46-0, still in the 3rd quarter.

Cimarron would finally get on the board, thanks to a 9-yard TD run by sophomore quarterback Trace Kopper with 46 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.

With a running clock in the 4th quarter, Holcomb’s back-ups launched an 11-play, 59-yard drive, capped by Javin Farr’s 20-yard touchdown run. Devon Garcia added the 2-point conversion to finish the scoring at 54-6.

In addition to Damon Mesa’s stellar night, Khai Cosner added 75 yards rushing for 1 touchdown and caught a pass for another TD. Tristan Ortner also had both a rushing and a receiving TD. Chris Palacios caught 5 passes for 45 yards.

The Longhorns improve to 2-0, while Cimarron drops to 0-2. Holcomb will play its home opener Friday night against the Ulysses Tigers. It will be homecoming night for the Longhorns.