Holcomb Longhorns steamroll Colby
Courtesy of Kirk Hutchinson
Holcomb, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–After falling behind early, the Holcomb Longhorns built a 14-point halftime lead and rolled to a 55-21 rout of the Colby Eagles.
The Longhorn defense opened the game forcing a three-and-out, but Manny Reyes muffed the Colby punt and the Eagles took over on the Holcomb 48 yard line. Eight plays later, quarterback Casen Carroll found Kasey Giesenhagen for a 34-yard touchdown pass and the Eagles took a 7-0 lead.
Holcomb responded with an eight-play, 65-yard drive, with Damon Mesa scoring from eight yards out. Manny Anguiano’s extra point tied the game at 7-all.
The Longhorn defense forced another punt, setting the offense up on the 45 yard line. It took five plays and on the second play of the second quarter Keegan Johnson found Korbin Johnson all alone down the sideline for a 44-yard TD pass. The PAT made it 14-7.
After another Colby punt, the Longhorns drove 78 yards in six plays, as Keegan Johnson found Korbin Johnson behind the Eagle defense again, this time for a 30-yard strike. The extra point put Holcomb up 21-7.
Colby’s offense then came to life and the Eagles drove 68 yards in five plays. The big play was a 54-yard catch and run by Brayden Foss. The Eagles finished it off with a 7-yard pass from Carroll to Guy Tubbs.
Holcomb answered again, driving 62 yards in just four plays. Johnson found Jareht Herrell wide open along the sideline for a 46-yard TD pass and the Longhorns built the lead to 28-14.
Colby responded by driving to the Holcomb 4-yard line, but the Longhorns turned the Eagles away on 4th down and took the two-touchdown lead into the locker room.
Holcomb came out of halftime and raced down the field in just four plays, with Damon Mesa punching it in from one yard out. Anguiano’s fifth extra point of the night stretched the Longhorns’ lead to 35-14.
The defenses controlled the rest of the 3rd quarter, but the Longhorns struck on the first play of the 4th quarter, with Johnson finding Damon Mesa for a 28-yard TD pass to make it 41-14.
Then the Longhorn secondary piled on with back-to-back interceptions returned for touchdowns. First, it was Korbin Johnson intercepting a Carroll pass at midfield and running it back for his third “pick-six” of the season. On the next series, Jhavid Corral snagged an interception and returned it 36 yards for the touchdown. Midway through the final quarter, Holcomb led 55-14.
Colby closed out the scoring with a late touchdown.
Holcomb QB Keegan Johnson completed 8 out of 11 passes for 192 yards and 4 TDs, with Korbin Johnson catching two of them. Damon Mesa rushed 14 times for 86 yards, scoring two touchdowns on the ground, as well as one through the air. Manny Reyes rushed for 114 yards, as Holcomb rolled up 205 yards on the ground, for 391 yards total offense. Manny Anguiano was good on 8-of-9 extra point attempts.
Holcomb improves to 4-1 on the season, 2-0 in district play, and will go on the road Saturday night to face off against the Scott City Beavers. The winner will be in the driver’s seat for the district title.
