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Tandy Overstreet

Junior Alex Patrick escapes an attempted tackle as he carries the ball toward the PC end zone. Patrick ran the ball 37 yards for a touchdown with 2:25 left in the first half.

Plainsmen fall in opener to Dundy County

Despite an opening season loss Friday, Plainsmen Head Football Coach Jonathan Hunt said he saw plenty of good things to build on going forward. 

The Plainsmen opened the 2018 season Friday night at home with a 22-66 loss to the Dundy County Tigers. 

Hunt said he knew the Tigers would be a good team, based on watching last year’s film and the size and number of players coming back this season.

 Looking at the stats, the Plainsmen picked up 260 yards of offense and had 14 first downs and three touchdowns.

What Hunt said hurt the Plainsmen were miscues at inopportune times—like penalties or turnovers. 

Defensively, Hunt said the Plainsmen were right there all night and had some good looks at making plays. 

The Plainsmen had trouble containing Tiger sophomore running back Serbando Diaz. He finished with 205 yards rushing, 72 receiving and three touchdowns.

Hunt credited Diaz for his efforts, noting “he’s the real deal.”

Hunt said on one run, Diaz broke five tackles en route to a score. 

Some of that was the result of younger players who entered the game with little or no varsity game experience.

Hunt said he called on some freshmen to step into varsity roles in their first high school game. 

“They met or exceeded expectations,” Hunt said.

Tigers jump to early lead 

The Plainsmen moved to near midfield before being forced to punt on their opening possession. 

Five plays later, Diaz scored from 34 yards out.

The Plainsmen’s second drive stalled, forcing another punt. This time, Diaz took a pass in the backfield and went 45 yards for the score. 

A fumble on their own 17 ended the next Plainsmen possession. Dundy County needed just three plays before scoring from 14 yards out to build a 22-0 lead in the first quarter. 

The two teams traded possessions with the Plainsmen defense coming up with two consecutive stops.

The second stop came after the Tigers got down to the Plainsmen 1. A Tiger penalty and fumble recovery on the Plainsmen’s own 9 set up Perkins County’s first score. 

That came on a 37-yard run by Alex Patrick with 2:25 left in the first half. 

The Tigers got one more score before half for a 6-30 advantage at the break. 

In the second half, the Tigers led off with three unanswered scores before freshman quarterback Triston Hite broke loose on a 14-yard keeper for the score. A two-point conversion made the score 14-50.

The Tigers would add two more scores before the Plainsmen got their final score from Bryder Hickey. The conversion made the final score 22-66. 

Southwest Friday

The Plainsmen will travel to  Southwest this Friday. They had a bye the opening week so they will be playing their first game. 

Hunt said this could be an advantage for the Plainsmen since Southwest will likely suffer from those first-game jitters and mistakes. 

 

The Grant Tribune-Sentinel

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Grant NE 69140