Wauneta-Palisade football suffers first loss, falls to Southwest

    A Friday trip to Southwest was not kind to the Wauneta-Palisade football team last week. The Broncos fell to 3-1 Southwest 21-58.
    WP Co-Head Coach Joseph Frecks said the Broncos shot themselves in the foot early in the game on special teams and with penalties.  
    The Roughriders returned the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown. A Bronco turnover set up Southwest’s second touchdown. Southwest scooped up the ensuing onside kick and scored another touchdown six plays later.
    “We just dug ourselves too deep of a hole to climb out of.  We had a chance to get back in the game right before half time, but just missed on a couple plays on both sides of the ball,” Frecks said.
    Southwest added a fourth touchdown early in the second quarter, but WP responded. The Broncos used an 18-yard completion from Michael Duvel to Jacksen Littrel to set up a five-yard touchdown run by Blake Nickerson.
    The Broncos traded touchdowns with Southwest through the middle part of the second quarter. WP scored to cap a nine-play drive that included receptions by Aden Acton, Jacksen Littrel and Grayden Sutherland. Nickerson earned the touchdown with a three-yard run.
    The Broncos’ offense struggled to get going in the second half and turned the ball over on their first two possessions.
    WP’s final touchdown of the game came late in the fourth quarter. The Broncos blocked a punt, setting up a nine-yard run by Draven Miner.
    Frecks said Southwest played an extremely clean football game and was well prepared.  
    “We look forward to the growth we can make this week in practice after the loss, and will work to be more prepared for another really good district opponent in Wallace,” he added.
Up next
    The Broncos will host RPAC and district foe Wallace for Homecoming Friday.
    Frecks said Wallace has arguably the best player in the state in Carson Glunz.  
    “He is the focal point of their offense and defense. They are a well coached team. We will need to be very disciplined and be able to stop the run to be successful next week,” he said.
    Wallace (1-3) started the season ranked third in Class D6, but has lost to Cody-Kilgore (4-1), Garden County (3-1) and Brady (3-1). The Wildcats’ only win was a 58-8 victory over South Platte.

Stats at a glance
Team Totals    WP    SW
Total Plays     41     38
Total Yards     160     329
Passing Yards     98     100
Rushing Yards     62     229
First Downs     4     11
Third Down Efficiency     3-10    2-5
Fourth Down Efficiency     1-3    1-1
Turnovers     3     1
Fumbles Lost     1     -
Interceptions Thrown     2     1
Penalties/Yards     2/15     427Yards
Tackles (solos-assists)—Jacksen Littrel, 6-7; Michael Duvel, 5-4; Grayden Sutherland, 5-4; Blake Nickerson, 1-3-0; Draven Miner, 0-1; Aden Acton, 0-2.
Rushing (attempts-yards-TD)—Kyle Jutten, 12-33-0; Nickerson, 7-19-2; Miner, 1-9-1; Gabe McCrumb, 1-4-0; Sutherland, 0- -3-0.
Passing (completions-attempts-yards-TD-INT)—Duvel, 10-16-98-0-2.
Receiving (receptions-yards-TD)—Littrel, 6-51-0; Sutherland, 2-24-0; Acton, 1-23-0; Nickerson, 1-0-0.
Scoring
First Quarter
SW: 71-yard kickoff return (conversion good)
SW: 22-yard run (kick no good)
SW: 2-yard run (kick good)
Second Quarter
SW: 20-yd pass (conversion good)
WP: Blake Nickerson 5-yd run (Jacksen Littrel kick)
SW: 47-yd run (conversion good)
WP: Nickerson 3-yd run (Littrel run)
SW: 3-yd run (kick good)
Third Quarter
SW: 3-yd run (kick good)
Fourth Quarter
SW: 54-yd pass (kick good)
WP: Draven Miner 9-yd run (kick no good)

Score by quarters:
WP    0    15    0    6—21
SW    21    23    7    7—58