Nemaha Central 31 - Sabetha 8

The first half was the story of the first game of the 2015 season as both teams only had three possessions before the intermission, and Nemaha pushed their way to a trio of scores and 24-0 advantage at the break. In their second season, Nemaha Central dominated every phase of the game in the first half and coasted to a 31-8 victory against their Big 7 League rivals.  

Sabetha managed only 57 total yards before the break while Nemaha controlled the ball with a 15 play drive that went 82 yards, a 17 play drive that went 78 yards and a 54 yard drive in eight plays following a Sabetha fumble.  Junior quarterback, Ryan Hasenkamp ran in scores of 4 and 6 yards before connecting with Tristan Allen on a 19 yard scoring pass and Jacob Koelzer added a trio of two-point-conversions on the same play for the 24-0 advantage.  

Both teams scored one touchdown in the second half as Kyle Rethman had a five yard run to make it 31-0 late in the third quarter and Sabetha avoided the shutout with an eight yard run by Brock Frey with 8:18 to play.  The Bluejays moved the football and outgained Nemaha 144 to 91 yards in the second half, but they had a second fumble and turned the ball over on downs twice inside the 30 yard line.  The Thunder finished with 312 yards and a pair of second half turnovers as well, but they were the quicker and more balanced team as Hasenkamp completed 6 of 11 passes for 101 yards and ran for another 44 to earn Citizens State Bank and Trust of Hiawatha Player to Bank on honors.  Rethman added 89 yards on 17 carries while Koelzer had 53 yards on just 7 totes.  Tristan Allen led receivers with 64 yards on 4 catches while Dylan Steinloge added a couple catches for 37 yards and all the Nemaha passing came in the first half.  

Nemaha did have 45 yards on 7 penalties, but will take another step towards matching their 4-0 start of 2014 when they travel to Riverside in week two.  Nemaha has still not lost at home to Sabetha since 2007.  Dalton Hiltibrand was named Denison State Bank Lineman of the game for his work in the defensive trenches.    

Sabetha looks to build on a much better second half when they travel to face ACCHS (1-0) next week. The Jays got 78 yards from Frey on 20 carries and Trae Snyder added 63 yards on 15 touches while Brandon Poe was 2 of 6 passing for 19 yards and Sabetha only had three plays of more than 10 yards.