CLAY CENTER – The Clay Center Tigers defeated Abilene Cowboys for a fourth straight time Friday night with a 58-14 victory at Otto Unruh Stadium. Clay Center has now won 2 straight games after opening the season with a 45-6 loss at Wamego. Last week, the Tigers won at Chapman 24-0.
Friday night, Clay Center got off to a fast start, as they scored on their first 5 drives of the game. They led 17-0 at the end of the 1st quarter, 37-0 at halftime and 51-7 after 3 quarters. The Tigers finished, unofficially, with 564 yards of total offense, with 464 on the ground.
Clay Center got 3 touchdowns from Junior, Brody Hayes on runs of 7 & 79 yards and a 26 yard touchdown reception. He finished with 101 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving. Junior, Carter Long scored 2 touchdowns on runs of 8 & 39 yards. He finished with 122 yards on the ground. Sophomore, Owen Craig didn’t score but led the team with 134 yards rushing. Senior Quarterback, Mark Hoffman, threw for a touchdown and ran for a 1 yard score. His back-up, Sophomore, Colton Tadtman scored on a 2 yard run. Finally, the coach’s son, Jackson Henry, connected on a 29 yard field goal and had a pick-6 for a score.
Abilene got on the board on the opening possession of the second half with a Freshman, Heath Hoekman 63 yard touchdown reception. It was his first varsity touchdown of his career. He was the Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game. He finished with 3 catches for a team-high 79 yards. Senior lineman, Tristan Randles was the defensive Player of the Game. Hoekman’s touchdown pulled Abilene to within 37-7 with 10:39 to play in the 3rd quarter. Hoekman wasn’t the only Cowboy to score his first touchdown. Sophomore, Thomas Keener got his first on a 22 yard run with 8:34 to play in the game, to make the score 51-14.
Abilene finished with 251 total yards on the night. The Cowboys dropped to 2-1, 2-1 (NCKL) and will try to bounce back against Chapman next Friday. The Irish picked up their first victory of the season with a 22-9 win Friday night.
