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| Durant's Jake Conley (8) tries to escape an arm tackle during the Wildcats 22-7 2016 opening win over Columbus Junction last Friday. The Wildcats snapped a 6-game losing streak dating back to last year. Photo by Ryan Stonebraker. |
DURANT — The Durant Wildcats upended the Columbus Junction Wildcats, 22 to 7 in the 2016 season opener for both teams last Friday in Durant. Durant won on the opening night for the second time in three years, having beaten Mid-Prairie 7-6 in the 2014 season opener. Durant led 14-0 in the first half and traded scores with Columbus Junction to cruise to the win.
“This was a big win for our program,” said Durant football coach Greg White. “After losing most all of our starters, our young team worked hard and competed this summer and fall and it paid off,” said White.
Durant scored the game’s first points with 27 seconds left in the opening quarter. The Wildcats moved the football well in each of their first two possessions, but had to punt each time. On their third possession, the Wildcats finally found the endzone. The Wildcats forced a big turnover on a 3rd and long for Columbus Junction to get the football close to the red zone at the 24-yard line. A big 3rd and 8 play from the CJ 22 saw Bryce Lafrenz rumble ahead for 10 yards and get the first down at the 12. A Lafrenz carry for 5 yards gave the Wildcats the ball inside the 10. Two plays later, Lafrenz smashed his way into the endzone from 7 yards out for the Wildcats first score of the season. A two-point run by Tristan Hughes put the score at 8-0.
Durant added to their lead with their second touchdown with 9:12 left before halftime. As the quarter changed, Columbus Junction’s next drive stalled and they punted. Durant took over in CJ territory and facing a 3rd and 4 from the 33 the Wildcats had a choice. Durant took a gamble and went for the big play. On the snap, Leo Callison scrambled, found a streaking Mason Compton who had beaten the CJ defensive back, and connected with the speedy receiver for a 67-yard touchdown pass. The 2-point pass failed, but Durant led 14-0.
Columbus Junction answered with their only touchdown of the football game with 6:21 left in the first half. A Carter Colby 7-yard run and Ruben Paz PAT kick put the score at 14-7, capping a 10-play drive.
Durant had 304 yards of total offense in the game with 182 rushing and 122 passing yards. Those numbers are more than enough for an offense with only two returners at the skill positions. The Wildcats were able to spread the ball around to five running backs and rely on senior quarterback Leo Callison who was the backup to 2015 graduate and multi year starter Will Bentley.
Callison accounted for nearly half of the Wildcats total yards with 151 total yards. Callison passed for 122 yards on 7-for-11 attempts with two touchdowns and added 29 yards rushing on six carries.
The stable of running backs combined for 182 yards and all four running backs had at least 37 yards rushing in the game. Tristan Hughes led Durant with 50 yards on 13 carries while Jake Conley rushed for 45 yards on 10 carries and Cale Frett rushed for 43 yards on eight carries. Bryce Lafrenz had the second most carries in the game at 12, rushed for 37 yards and scored Durant’s only rushing touchdown.
In the second half, Columbus Junction gambled early in the third quarter. Facing a fourth and long deep in Durant territory, CJ went for it and was stopped. The Wildcats then did what they do best, chewed up the game clock. Durant went on a 16-play drive eating the rest of the third quarter clock. Though the Wildcats did not score, they kept the ball away from Columbus Junction.
After turning over the ball on downs, Columbus Junction took over early in the fourth quarter, but had to punt. On the ensuing Durant drive, the Wildcats put the game away, capping off a 10-play drive with another Callison to Compton touchdown pass, this one for 24 yards to give Durant a 20-7 lead. A Cale Free two-point conversion run set the score at 22-7.
Defensively, White said that his unit came up big in key spots.
“They came up big in keys spots allowing only 141 yards of total offensive, which is impressive. They were getting turnovers and sacks or pressure at key moments in the game,” said White.
Luke Whitlock and Hughes had big games with Whitlock causing three fumbles and Hughes getting a big 4th down sack.
Durant held senior Colby Carter down offensively. Carter had over 1,700 yards of total offense last season and averaged a littler over 195 yards a game last season. This season, Colby had 62 yards - 47 passing and 15 rushing. Carter’s production, or lack thereof, was key in the game. Carter had 16 touchdowns last season and did not pass for a score in the Durant game. Senior Ruben Paz led Columbus Junction in rushing with 38 yards on five carries. Paz also was the leading receiver with 35 yards on one reception.
Columbus Junction was led on defense by Nick Hernandez with 7 tackles while Abel Mena had 6.
White knows that his team has not arrived and that there are plenty of things to work on.
“We made plenty of mistakes and penalties you would expect to see from a young team, but we will work on those things this week in film and practice,” said White.
“We won't be able to enjoy this victory long as we have a huge challenge this coming Friday against a well coached Wilton team who is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. We definitely will have our work cut out for us, but I'm proud of what our players accomplished Friday night and we hope to build on that this year,” he said.
Durant will travel to Wilton to face the Beavers. Wilton also 1-0 after a 32-8 season opening win at Tipton, will be a stiff test for the young Wildcats.
Team Statistics:
CJ DUR
First Downs 8 16
Rushes-yds. 31-100 48-182
Pass C-A-I 4-12-2 7-11-0
Passing yards 41 122
Total yards 141 304
Punts-Ave. 3-30.6 4-23.5
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yds. 2-15 8-64
Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Columbus Junction 0 7 0 0 7
Durant 8 6 0 8 22
Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr (0:27) - DUR - Bryce Lafrenz 7-yard run (Tristan Hughes run)
2nd Qtr (9:10) - DUR - Mason Compton 67-yard pass from Leo Callison (Callison pass failed)
2nd Qtr (6:21) - CJ - Carter Colby 7-yard run (Ruben Paz kick)
4th Qtr (5:06) - DUR - Mason Compton 24-yard pass from Leo Callison (Cale Frett run)
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: CJ - Ruben Paz 5-38, Abel Mena 8-28, Nick Hernandez 3-26, Carter Colby 9-15, Daniel Fuentes 3-7, Ricky Briones 2-(-1). Durant -
Passing: CJ - Carter Colby 2-for-8 47 yards, 0 TD’s, 1 INT. Durant -
Receiving: CJ - Ruben Paz 1-35, Tommy Pretz 1-12. Durant -
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: CJ - Ruben Paz 1-53 yards. Durant - N/A.
Punting: CJ - Ruben Paz 2-81 yards, 40.5 ave. Durant - N/A.
Kick-Off Returns: CJ - Chance Colby 1-23 yards. Durant - N/A.
Punt Returns: CJ - N/A. Durant - N/A.
PAT Kicking: CJ - Ruben Paz 1-for-1. Durant - N/A.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): CJ - Nick Hernandez 6-1 7, Abel Mena 6-0 6, Ruben Paz 2-2 4, Jacob Tiffany 3-1 4, Ricky Briones 3-1 4, Angel Hernandez 2-0 2, Andrew King 2-0 2, Tommy Pretz 2-0 2, Carter Colby 1-1 2, Chance Colby 1-1 2, Eric Rees 1-1 2, Bryan Solis 0-1 1, Ricardo Corrales 1-0 1.
Durant: Dawson Frett 2-6 8, Cale Frett 2-5 7, Tristan Hughes 2-4 6, Denver Feurbach 0-5 5, Luke Whitlock 1-3 4, Jake Conley 3-1 4, Mason Bird 1-2 3, Jacob Prunchak 1-1 2, Cole Miedema 0-2 2, Mason Compton 1-1 2, Curtis Lilienthal 0-1 1, Bryce Lafrenz 0-1 1, Joe Lilienthal 0-1 1,
Interceptions: CJ - none. Durant - N/A.
Fumble Recoveries: CJ - Tommy Pretz 1. Durant - N/A.
Tackles for Loss: CJ - Chance Cbbly 1, Ricardo Corrales 1, Daniel Fuentes 1. Durant - N/A.
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| Durant's Mason Compton hauls in one of his five catches in the Wildcat's 22-7 win over Columbus Junction last Friday. Photo by Ryan Stonebraker. |
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