September 26, 2014
By Jim Steier
Beatrice raced to a 28-0 advantage in the first quarter and cruised to
a 54-0 shutout of visiting Mount Michael on Friday night.
The 9th-ranked Orangemen football team needed only seven plays after
the opening kickoff to score its first touchdown and establish its dominance
early. “Beatrice is just a very good squad,” Mount Michael Coach Jon Borer
said. “We just couldn’t find a way to get to the ball carrier all night.”
Beatrice controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
The Orangemen rushed for 502 yards on 50 carries to keep the Knights on their
heels all evening. “The Beatrice linemen were a lot faster than any of the
teams we have faced all season,” Mount Michael senior lineman Ryan Anderson
said. “They didn’t just rely on their size and weight. They were extremely
athletic.”
Mount Michael was led defensively by safety Alex Miklas with eight tackles. Mick Steier and Nathan Carpenter contributed
five each, while Eric Sullivan, Jeff Petry, Caiden Groff, Jake Mumby and Mat
Mumby added four stops apiece.
“The last two weeks, we have struggled tackling,” Steier said. “And our
overall execution on offense and defense was not good enough for us to compete
against a quality team like Beatrice.”
On the offensive side of the ball, the Knights finished with 103 yards
rushing and 138 through the air. Quarterback Jake Batenhorst went 12-for-24 for
104 yards and Nathan Carpenter was 2-for-4 for 34 yards.
Chris Riddle, Steier and Jake Mumby led the Knights’ receiving corps
with 3 receptions each. Ryan Riddle helped out by hauling in two passes for 34
yards. On the ground, Mount Michael was led by Mat Mumby, who ran for 70 yards
on nine carries. Mat’s older brother,
Jake, pitched in 32 yards on 11 attempts.
“We just need to get back to work and focus on improving,” Borer said.
“I was very proud of our kids for not quitting, especially our younger players.
We had some young guys get some playing time this week and they made some great
plays.”
Mount Michael fell to 3-2 with the loss, while Beatrice improved to
3-2. The Knights will attempt to bounce back next week when they host
undefeated Elkhorn South on Friday night.
