Louisburg turns things around with win over Piper

Louisburg senior lineman Brayden White brings down the Piper quarterback in the back field Friday during the Wildcats’ 23-6 win over the Pirates at Wildcat Stadium.

Two weeks into the season, things were looking bleak for the Louisburg football team.

The Wildcats lost their first two games, including a 36-point defeat in their home opener, and they were a squad that was decimated by injuries. It couldn’t have been a worse start.

Fast forward to the present and things are a lot brighter for the Wildcats.

Louisburg picked up its second consecutive win with a 23-6 victory Friday over previous undefeated Piper at Wildcat Stadium. The Wildcats are a different team, and despite still dealing with some injuries, they are in a much better place.

“It was a huge win,” Louisburg coach Robert Ebenstein said. “That first game we had a lot to learn and we did it by attrition. That second game, I hate to say it, but we got our butt whooped. Last week, I challenged them to answer with who we really are and they did that. Against Piper, I told the boys they could make a statement with an undefeated team coming onto our home field and they answered.

“They have learned a lot in these last few games and they are growing together as a team and I am really proud of them.”

Defense was the calling card for Louisburg on Friday as the Wildcats held the Pirates to a season-low six points and created a lot of havoc, which didn’t let Piper get into a flow offensively.

The Wildcats (2-2) sacked the quarterback twice, forced two turnovers and held Piper out of the endzone for much of the night. Louisburg gave up just 118 yards of total offense.

“That is all coach (Jeff) Lohse, (Alex) Gentges, (Kade) Larson, (Drew) Harding, (Joel) McGhee, (Pete) Skakal and (Ty) Pfannenstiel,” Ebenstein said. “Those coaches are the defensive guys and they took care of business along with the players. It was a great effort all-around.”

Sophomore linebacker Brandon Doles, who is filling for injured starter Charlie Koontz, had his best game as a Wildcat. Doles led the team with nine tackles, recorded a sack, forced and recovered a fumble on special teams and deflected a pass later in the game that turned into an interception.

Doles also tackled the Pirate punter on a bad snap attempt early in the game that gave the Wildcats a short field with which to work.

“For a sophomore stepping in for a senior, he is learning quick and he played a great game for us,” Ebenstein said. “He is a heck of a player and I think he is going to get better and better in all phases.”

Senior lineman Brayden White also had a big day up front with four tackles, including a sack and a tackle for a loss. Senior lineman Garrett Harding, junior linebacker Ben Wiedenmann and junior defensive back Justin Collins also added four tackles.

Offensively, the Wildcats played conservatively as they took little chunks of yardage at a time and it worked on their opening possession. Louisburg drove 80 yards in 11 plays and found the endzone when Wiedenmann scored on a 6-yard run to put the Wildcats up 6-0.

Wiedenmann had another big game on the ground for Louisburg as he finished with 19 carries for 112 yards and the touchdown.

Both offenses stalled for much of the first half, but the Wildcats made it 9-0 when senior Drake Varns nailed a 30-yard field goal. Piper answered with a touchdown drive, and after a missed extra point, trailed Louisburg by three at halftime.

“That was kind of the plan coming in,” Ebenstein said. “We were going to play football in a phone booth and see if they can match us. Defensively they did match us and they were solid and played tough football. It was nice to see us put a couple drives together and get in the endzone though.”

The Wildcat offense appeared it was going to stall again late in the third quarter when they faced a fourth-and-16 near the redzone. Instead, quarterback Madden Rutherford found Kolby Kattau down the sideline for a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 16-6.

“We drew that up and we knew it was going to be cover 1 on the back out and it came down to just making a play,” Ebenstein said. “Madden put it where it needed to be and Kolby made a nice catch.”

Louisburg’s defense forced Piper to turn the ball over on downs a couple different times near midfield and the Wildcats took advantage of one of those as Rutherford hit Weston Guetterman on a 2-yard touchdown pass to go up 17 with 3 minutes and 49 seconds left in the game.

Guetterman then sealed the win with an interception on Piper’s ensuing possession to give the Wildcats their first home victory of the year.

Louisburg will try and make it three in a row this Friday when it hosts Eudora for homecoming. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the crowning for king and queen will be at 6:30 p.m.

“Eudora is a growing team and they are continuing to get better,” Ebenstein said. “We can’t look past them. They have some linemen that are pretty good, they have a big tight end and they have a great coach. Eudora will be ready to go for sure so we have to come ready to play.”

LOU               6             3             7             7 – 23

PIP                 0             6             0             0 – 6

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

L: Ben Wiedenmann 6 run (2 point failed)

Second quarter

L: Drake Varns 30 FG

P: LeJames White 5 run (kick failed)

Third quarter

L: Kolby Kattau 21 pass from Madden Rutherford (Varns kick)

Fourth quarter

L: Weston Guetterman 2 pass from Rutherford (Varns kick)

STATISTICS

RUSHING – Ben Wiedenmann 19-112; Madden Rutherford 16-44; Andy Hupp 10-21; Justin Collins 4-13

PASSING – Madden Rutherford 6-14-55

RECEIVING – Weston Guetterman 3-25; Kolby Kattau 1-21; Michael Waldron 1-5; Ben Wiedenmann 1-4.

TACKLES – Brandon Doles 9, Ben Wiedenmann 4, Garrett Harding 4, Brayden White 4, Justin Collins 4, Michael Waldron 3, Eli Johnson 3, Drake Varns 2, Andy Hupp 2, Ben Guetterman 1, Kolby Kattau 1, Tom Koontz 1, A.J. Reed 1.

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