Wildcats roll Atchison for fourth straight win

Louisburg running back Andy Hupp looks for an opening during the Wildcats’ road game Friday at Atchison High School. The Wildcats cruised to a 41-12 win over the Redmen.

ATCHISON – Louisburg used the same recipe for success against Atchison as it did in its last three victories.

Get off to a good start, run the ball and play good defense.

All of those things came to fruition again Friday for the Wildcats as they scored on their opening possession and never looked back in a 41-12 victory over the Redmen at Atchison High School. It is now the fourth straight win for Louisburg after starting the season off with a pair of lossess.

“It was a good showing,” Louisburg coach Robert Ebenstein said. “We came in with a plan and we were able to execute it. We still gave up a big play or two and we are going to get better to where we don’t have those mental lapses. Atchison is a good team, they have a great coach and their kids showed up. I am just really pleased with all our guys and being able to stay focused with no school Thursday or Friday is always tough, so it was a good game.”

Louisburg (4-2) got the start it was looking for as it scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on its opening drive from junior Ben Wiedenmann, who accounted for the team’s three touchdowns in the first half, and had runs of 19 and 14 yards on the drive.

Late in the first quarter, the Wildcats struck again as Wiedenmann scored on an 8-yard run to put Louisburg up 14-0 after a Drake Varns extra point.

Senior Charlie Koontz recovered an Atchison fumble, which was the Redmen’s second turnover of the half, and that all set up Wiedenmann’s 6-yard score to give Louisburg a 21-0 lead with under eight minutes in the first half.

Atchison broke through the Wildcat defense on a 32-yard touchdown pass to trim Louisburg’s lead to 21-6 and went into the break with some momentum.

Louisburg also had to deal with a little adversity of its own as Wiedenmann had to leave the game with an injury and was unavailable in the second half. Enter Koontz, who took over where Wiedenmann left off.

Koontz carried the ball 12 times for 72 yards in the second half to keep the Wildcat offense going after Wiedenmann carried the ball for 98 yards in the first half.

“Hopefully we will get to the point where we are healthy enough to where both players will be on the field at the same time,” Ebenstein said. “Chuck got hurt at the beginning of the season so he now he is back, and Ben is going to be fine, but once we get both of them healthy then maybe we can get our maximum speed out there and do some good things. I thought both guys came out and ran hard for us.”

Late in the third, the Wildcats found themselves in a fourth-and-goal opportunity from the 3-yard line when junior Andy Hupp ran the ball in for the score and put the Wildcats up 27-6.

Louisburg got a strong push from its offensive line as Brayden White, Garrett Harding, Ian McGuire, Jackson Rooney, Andrew Krause, Sam Kratochvil and tight end Michael Waldron provided a lot of holes up front as the Wildcats ran for 259 total yards.

“I thought our offensive line did a really good job,” Ebenstein said. “We made a couple of changes and shifted some guys around and we are still trying to find our best fit, but they played physical all game long and we’re definitely setting the edge and doing some good stuff.”

The Wildcats iced the game when quarterback Madden Rutherford found Weston Guetterman on a 10-yard touchdown pass.

After an Atchison touchdown, the Wildcats put their reserves in and they were able to find the endzone when backup quarterback Maverick Rockers scored on a 1-yard sneak up the middle. That score was set up by a 19-yard pass from Rockers to Aiden Barker.

Defensively, Hupp led Louisburg with 11 tackles and Koontz added 10 of his own. Koontz, a senior linebacker, also had a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Brandon Doles also had a fumble recovery.

Harding and junior Justin Collins also contributed six and five tackles, respectively, for Louisburg.

The Wildcats will try for their fifth win in a row this Friday when it travels to Ottawa. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“Ottawa is going to be ready to go,” Ebenstein said. “I know their coach and he is a great coach and he will have his guys ready. It will be a good game.”

LOU               14           7             6             14 – 41

ATCH             0             6             0             6 – 12

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

L: Ben Wiedenmann 1 run (Drake Varns kick)

L: Wiedenmann 8 run (Varns kick)

Second quarter

L: Wiedenmann 6 run (Varns kick)

A: 32 yard pass (extra point failed)

Third quarter

L: Andy Hupp 3 run (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

L: Weston Guetterman 15 pass from Madden Rutherford (Varns kick)

A: 41 yard run (two point failed)

L: Maverick Rockers 1 run (Varns kick)

STATISTICS

RUSHING – Ben Wiedenmann 10-96; Charlie Koontz 12-72; Madden Rutherford 11-58; Kolby Kattau 3-19; Andy Hupp 8-15

PASSING – Madden Rutherford 2-5-21; Maverick Rockers 1-1-19

RECEIVING – Aiden Barker 1-19; Weston Guetterman 1-15; Konnor Vohs 1-6

TACKLES – Andy Hupp 11, Charlie Koontz 10, Garrett Harding 6, Justin Collins 5, Brandon Doles 4, Brayden White 4, A.J. Reed 3, Terrance Foster 3, Ben Wiedenmann 2, Tom Koontz 2, Eli Johnson 2, Weston Guetterman 1, Aiden Barker 1, Drake Varns 1, Michael Waldron 1, Hayden Feikert 1, Andrew Krause 1

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