Wildcats run over Eudora to get dramatic win in final seconds

The Louisburg defense celebrates a big fourth down stop of Eudora on Friday during the Wildcats’ 13-12 victory at Wildcat Stadium.

Fourth down, with the ball sitting on the 1-yard line and 15 seconds left in the game, one play was going to decide it all.

Louisburg was down five points and the Wildcats had just one play left to win the game. It was then that coach Robert Ebenstein saw something that gave him hope.

Eudora had overloaded the strong side, but Ebenstein and quarterback Declan Battle had a plan for that.

“We had run our ‘nasty’ set the whole half and we got them where we wanted them on the strong side,” Ebenstein said. “We told them all week that Eudora would overload it, and that when they did, we would go weak side. It just so happened to be on 4th and 1 for the game winner.”

Battle took the snap, went weak side, and followed blocker Kolby Kattau into the end zone as he stretched out for the winning touchdown and the 13-12 victory.

“In that situation it was Kolby and Declan versus their outside guy and I will take that all day,” Ebenstein said.

It was the second win of the season for the Wildcats and both have come in dramatic fashion as they defeated Tonganoxie in overtime earlier in the year. This win snapped a two-game losing streak for Louisburg.

“This win was huge and our kids really needed that,” Ebenstein said. “This was our best week of practice all season so far. I am not sure why, and I don’t know what changed, but they had a great week. For them to get a win on their home field, on homecoming night against a team with a lot of talented kids is awesome.”

Louisburg trailed 12-7 at halftime, but Ebenstein wanted to make a change to help get his offense going, so the Wildcats went to their “nasty” package.

It was their offensive line, tight end, and then brought in another offensive lineman, Nathan Vincent and running back Ashton Moore to the right of quarterback Declan Battle. Kolby Kattau was also next to Battle in the shotgun package and made an emphasis to run the ball.

“We just wanted to get a mentality,” Ebenstein said. “Numbers and X’s and O’s aside, we just wanted to will ourselves to get positive yards — 3 or 4 at a time. We wanted to show we had more heart than they did and those guys came out and did it.”

The offensive line of Will Hutsell, Brayton Brueggen, Scott Thornton, Reid Justesen and Aiden Barber, along with tight end Isaiah Whitley, all helped pave the way up front. Ebenstein especially liked what he saw from Hutsell at the tackle spot.

“Our offensive line, these guys don’t get much credit and I am on their butt all the time,” Ebenstein said. “Will Hutsell came out and really played like a man out there. He really came out and played some football.”

That line helped create holes for Battle, who finished the game with 142 yards on the ground and two touchdowns to lead the way for the Wildcats. Senior Kolby Kattau also rushed for close to 50 yards.

That mentality on offense made the defense’s job easier in the second half as the Wildcats dominated the time of possession. Eudora had just three possessions in the second half — one that ended in three plays and a punt, a turnover on downs on just four plays and a couple more plays in the final seconds after the Wildcats scored late.

Still, when they were out there, the Wildcats got the stops they were looking for as they shut down the Cardinals’ rushing attack.

“The coaches on the defensive side — (Drew) Harding, (Alex) Gentges and (Kade) Larson — are just doing a great job,” Ebenstein said. “Eudora did something different than what we were preparing for and those guys went inside at halftime and just fixed it. Our guys played well.”

Senior linebacker Brandon Doles led the Louisburg defense with 11 tackles and juniors Jase Hovey and Vincent each finished with nine.

Louisburg will try to continue this momentum this Friday when the Wildcats travel to Bonner Springs for another Frontier League matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

LOU 0 7 0 6 — 13

EUD 6 6 0 0 — 12

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

E: Silas Etter 19 run (kick blocked)

Second quarter

L: Declan Battle 2 run (Layne Ryals kick)

E: Gage Hayden 8 run (2-point failed)

Fourth quarter

L: Battle 1 run (2-point failed)

STATISTICS

RUSHING — Declan Battle 35-142; Kolby Kattau 13-49; Mason Dobbins 1-2; Ashton Moore 1-1. 

PASSING — Battle 3-11-23

RECEIVING — Dobbins 3-23

TACKLES — Brandon Doles 11, Jase Hovey 9, Nathan Vincent 9, Wyatt Holland 6, Tom Koontz 6, Kolby Kattau 4, Layne Ryals 4, Aiden Barker 3, Hunter Heinrich 2, J.R. Rooney 2, Jackson Howard 1

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