Nickerson–A big night from Larned fullback Luke Fischer turned back upset-minded Nickerson here Friday evening as the Indians dominated the second half in a 56-12 Central Kansas League victory.
Fischer ran the ball 18 times for 166 yards, scored five touchdowns and intercepted one pass. In addition he was the focal point of Larned’s defense that held Nickerson to just four yards rushing for the game.
It was a tale of two halves as Nickerson used their passing attack to stay close to Larned in the first half, trailing just 26-12 at the intermission. The Panthers narrowly missed making it even closer than that as they had a touchdown pass with just one second remaining negated by a penalty. If the score would have held, they would have had just a one score deficit at the half. They didn’t get the score and the Indian defense dominated the second half and held the Panthers scoreless as the Larned offense ran up thirty unanswered second half points.
Fischer scored on a 6-yard run with 9:04 remaining in the first quarter, a 40-yard touchdown run with 5:30 remaining in the second quarter, a 3-yard run with just 58 seconds left before halftime, a 4-yard touchdown run with 11:55 remaining in the game and an 11-yard touchdown run with 8:17 remaining in the game. Larned’s Carson Shaver rambled 45 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, Ty Smith had a 2-yard touchdown run with 4:12 left in the third quarter and Cordell Hammeke scored the Indians final touchdown with 1:55 remaining in the game.
Nickerson answered Larned’s opening possession touchdown with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kristopher Monroe to Austin Peterson with 4:15 remaining in the first quarter. Following Larned’s second touchdown, Nickerson again answered with 11:33 showing in the second quarter by scoring on a 35-yard touchdown pass again gathered in by Peterson. Nickerson failed to convert either of their extra points and trailed just 14-12. That ended the highlights for the Panthers as the Indian defense stiffened and shut them down for the rest of the game.
Larned coach Brady Keith said, “We had to remind our guys at halftime that we were not playing the way we want to and the way we are capable of. We coaches didn’t think that the team warmed up well and that our team wasn’t ready to compete at the start of the game. We got that straightened out during halftime and our effort was much better in the second half.”
Larned amassed 398 yards rushing on 42 carries. In addition to Fischer’s 166 yards, Carson Shaver had 105 yards on ten carries, Ty Smith had 66 yards on 7 carries and Cordell Hammeke had 50 yards on 6 carries. Quarterback Carson Shaver completed three passes in eight attempts for 48 yards.
Nickerson totaled just four yards rushing on 17 attempts but completed 13 passes in 23 attempts for 96 yards and one touchdown. Larned intercepted one Nickerson pass.
With the loss, Nickerson’s record drops to 1-3 for the season and in CKL play. The Panthers travel next Friday to take on top-ranked Andale.
Larned improves to 3-1 for the season and in CKL play. The Indians travel to Cimarron next Friday for a District 7 game.
