JETMORE – Rivals Spearville and Hodgeman County alternated touchdowns on the game’s first five possessions. The Lancers led by eight when Hodgeman County senior quarterback Jacob Salmans threw deep to senior Trevor Morgan.
Spearville senior Waylon Strecker, in 1-on-1 coverage, delivered a diving interception in the end zone with 1.5 seconds left in the first quarter. The Lancers eventually scored off the miscue, part of 30 straight points to end the first half. Spearville eventually pulled away for a 64-34 road win at Sayler Field.
“In this type of game, it really comes down to who can string together a couple of stops, and we were able to do that,” Spearville coach Matt Fowler said. “That interception was a tremendous play. He covered so much ground.”
“They had us in a blown coverage, because we should have had another guy deep, and he was not there, and Waylon was supposed to be in the other half, and he came clear across from the other half to make that play, so that was incredible,” Fowler added.
On a night when he honored his brother, Strecker delivered key plays in all three phases, part of a balanced team effort. The single-wing offense produced 537 yards. Spearville, ranked fourth in Eight-Man, Division I, moved to 2-0 and won its fourth straight in the series. Hodgeman County, third-ranked in Division II, dropped to 1-1.
“We struggled just bad defensively tonight,” Hodgeman County coach Matt Housman said. “We were going strike for strike offense with them, but defensively, we still just didn’t have the answer. Last year’s game plan, we kind of tried it again, and obviously they can make adjustments. That’s kind of the beauty of their system is they know it inside and out.”
Salmans, a four-year starter, threw just the 14th interception of his career. He completed 10 of 21 for 137 yards and the miscue. Salmans rushed 21 times for 87 yards and three scores. His brother, sophomore Eli, led the Longhorns with 21 carries for 110 rushing yards and a TD.
“That was a big pick and a nice catch,” Housman said. “That was a big play.”
The Longhorns played their first game without junior fullback/linebacker Luke Shiew, the team’s leading tackler in ’16 and last Friday. Shiew suffered a career-ending neck injury and wore a neck brace on the sideline.
“It’s kind of eye-opening really,” Strecker said. “You never really understand how many games you have left until something like this happens, either to you or to someone else. It’s gives you an understanding of what can happen.”
This fall, the Lancers had to replace its entire offensive line. Fowler labeled Friday’s line performance “night and day difference” from the first contest.
“We improved quite a bit since we missed a lot of assignments the first week,” senior center Wyatt Stimpert said. “But we really buckled down in practice and got everything figured out. I would say a lot of credit goes to our past senior classes preparing us for that, because they are some of the best teams in the state every day, and then our head coach putting us through the chute, teaching us to hit low and harder.”
Senior Bailey Sites finished with 19 carries for 128 yards and four rushing scores. Hurt most of last season, Sites set a career best in carries and had his most yards since the third game of his freshman season.
“He was really primed to have a huge season last year, and then he has the knee injury in the summer,” Fowler said. “So, he kind of had to go backwards a little bit before he could go forward again. I think that was pretty devastating. But it is just a testament to how hard he has worked to get himself ready.”
Junior Kolby Stein recorded 18 carries for 100 yards and three rushing TDs. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
“They really had their assignments down,” Housman said. “They looked like a completely different team against us. I really thought their line really looked sharp tonight.”
Strecker normally wears 10, but wore 58 for his brother, Wyatt, Spearville’s all-state center last season. He tallied seven carries for a career-best 105 yards and a touchdown.
“You can know you can trust everybody with the ball, and they are going to do their job,” Strecker said.
Spearville, with no starting lineman above 200 pounds, used the end run well but especially had strong carries up the middle.
“I would say it’s the best feeling on earth,” Stimpert said of power football. “There is nothing better than knowing that they are just right behind you, and you get to drive your feet through defensive blockers every play.”
In the second round of the 2016 playoffs, Waylon Strecker suffered a severe concussion toward the end of a road win at Central Plains. Strecker missed the sub-state loss to St. Francis.
“It was kind of scary,” Fowler said. “They cut (the jersey) off. He was having trouble breathing.”
The Lancers ordered Strecker a new jersey, but it came in as 20. The Lancers already had a player who wore 20. Fowler asked the 170-pound Strecker what he wanted to do. Strecker wanted to honor his brother even though the jersey doesn’t fit.
“It’s hangs off him a lot more than it did on big Streck,” Fowler said. “But he is about 50-60 pounds lighter than big Streck.”
Wyatt Strecker blocked for a high-scoring offense that averaged more than 50 points a game each year and lost just four games in his career. However, No. 58 never crossed the goal line. Because of his hustle, Waylon Strecker nearly scored on special teams in the second quarter.
“(Waylon) is probably the guy who has probably played the most football for us over the years,” Fowler said. “We have a lot of guys, this is their first year starting, but he has played an awful lot for us. He always had that chip on his shoulder, and he plays the game hard, he plays the game well. Sure glad he is on our team.”
With 5 minutes, 16 seconds left in the half, Spearville led 28-14 when Hodgeman County forced the Lancers’ first punt of the contest. Morgan muffed the punt at its own 3-yard line. Strecker collected the fumble at the three. Two plays later, Sites scored from a yard out for a 36-14 lead.
“I just wanted to get close enough to kind of disrupt his flow of catching,” Strecker said. “And then once he dropped the ball, I just capitalized on it.”
At the 10:15 mark in the third quarter, Strecker tallied the score. He popped free and scored just inside the left pylon on a 48-yard touchdown run. The score bumped Spearville’s lead to 50-20.
“I made sure that one was for him,” Strecker said. “Because I know how much it would mean to him.”
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