Chase County collars Bulldogs, wins 35-8

    In facing a team moving down from Class B to Class C1, Chase County football coaches knew they had a test in front of them when the Longhorns hosted Alliance Friday.
    CCS Head Coach Nathan Gaswick said coaches expected Alliance to be one of the physically bigger teams that CCS faces, and one with  many returning players.
    “We preached to our guys all week that Week 1 games are almost always won with great defense and special teams as offenses are typically still working the kinks out,” Gaswick said.
    The philosophy proved true  as the first quarter played out. Chase County received the kick, but its first drive ended on a fumble.
    Alliance strung together a 12-play drive, but saw it stall on the CCS 23-yard line.
    The Longhorns took over and drove the length of the field only to fumble into the end zone for a touchback.
    “We struggled early in the game offensively with ball security and turnovers but our defense and special teams gave tremendous efforts all game long,” Gaswick said.
    Chase County’s defense stifled the Bulldogs all night long, forcing Alliance to go 0-2 on fourth down conversions and into three punts.
    After packing away the first game jitters, CCS took control in the second quarter. On its first possesion of the quarter, the Longhorns drove from midfield and scored on a two-yard run by Dawson Mollendor.
    “Later in the second quarter our offense began to hit its stride and utilized a balanced attack to move the ball. I was proud of our guys’ ability to overcome this adversity early in the game and still maintain focus on our goal,” Gaswick said.
    Mollendor found the end zone a second time, this one a 24-yard run, to give the Longhorns a comfortable 14-0 lead at halftime.
    “We found success in the run game early which speaks volumes for the efforts of our young offensive line,” said Gaswick.
    Chase County’s defense didn’t let up coming out of the locker room. On Alliance’s first play of the half, Thomas Reeves scooped up a Bulldog fumble and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.
    CCS forced another fumble early in Alliance’s next possession to set up another Mollendor touchdown.
    “In my mind, the most outstanding performance of the game goes to our defense. They were tested early in the game and did not break and created two big turnovers to start the second half that gave us 14 more quick points on the board,” Gaswick said.
    Alliance’s only score of the game came on an interception return for a touchdown late in the third quarter.
    CCS entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 28-8 advantage, but kept the hammer down.
    The Longhorns recovered another Alliance fumble two plays into the final quarter. The teams traded possessions through the game’s final minutes. CCS scored the game’s last points on an 18-yard touchdown run by James McArthur to cap the 35-8 win.
    Mollendor finished the night with 118 yards rushing on 18 carries. Reeves was close behind, totaling 96 yards on 10 carries.
    Reeves and Isaac Stretesky led the Longhorns in tackles.
Up next
    Chase County will head to Sidney Friday to face the Red Raiders. Sidney lost to Holdrege in its first game, 27-47.