Holcomb soars past Pratt

Christian Merz hauled in three of Trey Teeter’s five touchdown passes and Brandon Stegman grabbed the other two, as the Holcomb Longhorns routed the Pratt Greenbacks 33-7 in district play.

The first quarter was about ball control as Pratt had the ball for the first three minutes of the game and Holcomb held it for the next seven minutes plus, driving 70 yards in 13 plays to score the game’s first touchdown with 1:20 left in the opening period. The Horns capped the long drive with a 5-yard pitch and catch from Trey Teeter to Christian Merz to lead 6-0. On their second possession, which came in the 2nd quarter, the Longhorns needed just three plays to cover 88 yards. After the first two plays of the drive put the ball at midfield, Teeter hit Merz over the middle at the Pratt 40 and the Holcomb senior wideout did the rest with his legs, racing to the end zone and extending the Longhorn lead to 12-0. Holcomb finished off the first half scoring with a 10 play 58 yard drive, as Teeter connected with Merz, this time from 14 yards out. On the play, the Greenback defender went for the pick and whiffed, allowing Merz to catch the ball at the front left pylon and tiptoe into the end zone. The 2-point conversion stretched the lead to 20-0. Pratt’s only threat to score in the 1st half ended when Alex Ortega picked off a pass at the Holcomb 10.

The Longhorns kept rolling to open the second half, driving 82 yards in 8 plays as Teeter hit Brandon Stegman from 21 yards out and Teeter’s PAT kick made it 27-0. Holcomb’s final score came on the second play of the 4th quarter when a Teeter pass sailed through the hands of a Pratt defender into the waiting arms of Stegman who managed to catch it in bounds for the TD. Pratt would score with 31 seconds left in the game when fullback Landon Baird pushed his way into the end zone.

The Longhorns improve to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in district play, setting up a district showdown with Hugoton next Friday. The Eagles are also 2-0 in district play, after holding off Larned 35-28. Pregame from Hugoton begins at 6:30 p.m., with kickoff at 7:00 on AM 1030 KBUF.