Indians win season opener
BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
LYONS — Larned, keyed by three big first-half plays, spoiled Carl Nolan’s head coaching debut with a 41-19 football victory Friday over the Lyons Lions. Nolan had served as an assistant coach at Larned.
The Indians scored two defensive touchdowns and on a punt return. Sophomore Brady Hope had an outstanding defensive game for Larned as he had three interceptions, scored two touchdowns and numerous tackles.
Logan Erway gained 177 yards on 20 carries as the Indians gained 241 yards. Quarterback Riley Pontius completed six passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
“That was one of the weirdest games I’ve been a part of,” said Larned coach Tad Remy. “It’s a good win for us but we’ve got a lot of things to clean up. We did some good things offensively, but weren’t consistent. They made a lot of mistakes but so did we. It was a big night for Logan Erway. Our quarterback Riley Pontius managed the game.”
Larned’s Fernando Herrera ripped the football out of quarterback Cade Crawford’s hands and returned the fumble 15 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring.
Brady Hope returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown two minutes later. Luke Wilson scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to convert a fumble recovery by Hope for a 20-0 lead.
Carlos Ibarra intercepted a Crawford pass and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown for a 27-0 lead.
Lyons rallied with 19 third-quarter points for a 27-19 score. Cade Crawford scrambling on broken plays provided two touchdowns and he completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ruben Guzman heading into the critical fourth quarter.
“You’ve got to give Coach Nolan and his kids credit. They got after us that third quarter,” Remy said. “We did a good job getting back to what we do best in the fourth quarter.”
The Indians scored after a 33-yard drive on a 13-yard scoring reception by Erway from Pontius. Erway capped the scoring on a 14-yard run.
Crawford gained 115 yards on 13 carries for two touchdowns. Reuben Guzman had two receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown.
Larned 14 13 0 14 – 41
Lyons 0 0 19 0 – 19
L—Fernando Herrera 15 fumble return (Herrera kick); L—Hope 69 punt return (Herrera kick); L—Wilson 5 run (kick failed); L—Carlos Ibarra 43 interception return (Herrera kick); LY—Crawford TD run; LY—Crawford TD run; LY—Ruben Guzman 27 pass from Crawford; L—Erway 14 pass from Pontous (Herrera kick); L—Erway 14 run (Herrera kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—L—30-241; Erway 20-177; Wilson 3-21; Haney 2-15; Hope 2-15; Herrera 3-13.
PASSING—L—Pontius 6-13-0, 77.
RECEIVING—L—Wilson 1-25, Haney 3-22, Erway 1-16, Hope 1-14.
