92.1 KMZA Broadcast - Holton at Nemaha Central - click here to listen

For many years the Holton Wildcats had dominated and stood atop the Big Seven League but the past few years the League crown has belonged to Nemaha Central. The two have played some tight contests the last two years with Thunder earning the win each time and this time the Thunder was victorious again but by a wider margin 30-18. 

The game started off with a bang as Nemaha Central held up Holton on defense early and forced a punt and that's when the first big play of the contest came. Noe Gauna and crew broke through the line and blocked the punt and Gauna scooped up the ball and returned it 20 yards for the touchdown and an early 7-0 Thunder lead. After another strong defensive stand the Thunder got the ball for the first time offensively and put together a strong drive in which they converted a fourth and one in their own territory and tossed a 32-yard halfback pass from Cole Kramer to Alec Suther and capped the drive with a four-yard Mitchell Henry touchdown run and it was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. 

With 9:43 on the clock in the second quarter Nemaha Central found the endzone for the third time on the night and in third different variety as Henry intercepted a Mason Strader pass and took it back 45-yards for a pick six to make it 21-0. The Holton Wildcats finally started to move the ball effectively and capped a strong drive with their second pass completion of the year as it went for a 28-yard touchdown from Strader to AJ Haussler and with the two-point conversion the contest was 21-8. After the Thunder looked to be perhaps on their way to another score Holton came up with a stop and got the ball back with roughly 1:43 left in the first half and put together a drive that led to a 35-yard field goal by Paul Kuffner to make it 21-11 at halftime. 

Nemaha Central got the ball first in the second half and didn't let Holton have the ball much as the Thunder marched down the field and scored a touchdown on a 16-yard run by Henry and it was 27-11. Caleb Henry added to that led with a 27-yard field with just under a minute left in the third quarter to give Nemaha Central a 30-11 lead. Holton managed a late score with 42 seconds left getting into the endzone on a two-yard touchdown run by Haussler led to the final 30-18 score. 

In the win Nemaha Central took advantage of three Holton turnovers, scoring on a pick six and a blocked punt recovery guiding them to a 3-0 record on the season. Mitchell Henry led the charge with 101 yards on 23 carries with two scores, while also having the pick six earning him Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA.

The loss moved Holton to 1-2 on the season as Haussler led the Wildcats with 80 yards rushing on 17 carries with a touchdown and also a receiving touchdown. Jayger Carson and Dylan Aeschliman had 60 and 54 yards each on the night. 

Big Seven League play continues for both teams next week in week four as Nemaha Central travels to Jeff West, while Holton will host Riverside.