BY BUDDY TABLER
LARNED – The Larned Indians ground attack overwhelmed the Southwestern Heights Mustangs Friday as they rushed for over 400 yards enroute to a 48-8 victory.
The Indians piled up 408 yards rushing on 45 attempts and had 26 first downs as they were led by Luke Fischer’s 187 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns. It was the second time this year that Fischer had 5 touchdowns in a game. The game was played with a running clock the second half.
Larned (5-1, 2-0 District) plays at Hoisington (6-0, 2-0 District) for a key District 7 showdown. SW Heights (1-5, 0-2 District) plays Cimarron (0-6, 0-2).
Larned got on the scoreboard early. Fischer rambled 36 yards for a touchdown with 7:44 left in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. With just 21 seconds left in the first quarter Fischer again scored, this time on a 1-yard run for a 12-0 lead. With 10:15 left in the second quarter Larned’s Dalen Rasmussen intercepted a Mustang pass at the Indian 25-yard line and the Indians smartly drove to the end zone with Ty Smith scoring on a 1-yard plunge with 5:16 left in the second quarter. Smith ran in the conversion and the Indians led 20-0.
The Indians weren’t finished and with 3:31 left before halftime Fischer again scored on a 2-yard run that had been set up by Carson Shaver’s 50-yard run to the 11 yard line. Then with 2:38 remaining Rasmussen again intercepted a pass and with just 1:06 remaining before halftime Fischer again scored, on a 10-yard run and the Indians extended their lead to 34-0 at halftime.
“Our guys were more focused this week. We made too many mistakes last week and got those corrected<' Larned coach Brady Keith said. "I'm pleased with how our offensive and defensive lines played. They keep getting better. We need to get better because we’ve got a big game at Hoisington.”
The second half was played with a running clock and Larned got a 7-yard touchdown run from Cordell Hammeke at 8:45 of the third quarter and with 11:03 remaining in the game Fischer got his fifth touchdown of the night on a 15-yard run for Larned’s 48 points. With 6:11 left in the game the Mustangs scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Omar Mercado to Brayan Ramirez and then hit a conversion pass to Eli Otero for their 8 points and the final 48-8.
Larned averaged 8.6 yards on each rushing attempt as they piled up the 408 yards. In addition to Fischer’s 187 yards, Shaver rushed for 83 yards on 8 carries, Hammeke had 55 yards on 6 carries and Ty Smith had 43 yards on 6 carries as Larned controlled the line of scrimmage on offense and defense. SW Heights was held to 26 yards rushing on 21 attempts. The Mustangs completed 4 of 17 passes for 33 yards.
SW Heights 0 0 0 8 – 8
Larned 12 22 7 7 – 48
L–Luke Fischer 36 run; L–Fischer 1 run; L–Ty Smith 1 run (Smith run); L–Fischer 2 run; L–Fischer 10 run; L–Cordell Hammeke 7 run; L–Fischer 15 run; SW–Brayan Ramirez 10 pass from Omar Mercado (Eli Otero run)
RUSHING–SW–26-21; L–45-408; Fischer 187; Carson Shaver 8-83; Hammeke 6-55; Smith 6-43.
PASSING–SW–Mercado 4-17-0, 33
2A DISTRICT 7
Hoisington 2-0 6-0
Larned 2-0 5-1
Lakin 2-1 4-2
Cimarron 0-2 0-6
SW Heights 0-3 1-5
10-20—*Hoisington at Cimarron; *Lakin at Larned; SW Heights at Holcomb
10-13—*Larned at Hoisington; Colby at Lakin; *Cimarron at SW Heights
10-6—*Hoisington 63, Lakin 15; *Larned 48, SW Heights 8; Hugoton 54, Cimarron 8
9-29—Hoisington 27, Pratt 19; *Lakin 52, SW Heights 22; *Larned 24, Cimarron 21
9-22—*Hoisington 63, SW Heights 6; Larned 52, Nickerson 12; *Lakin 44, Cimarron 20
9-15—Hoisington 60, Lyons 0; SW Heights 44, Syracuse 28; Goodland 16, Colby 14; Larned 38, Smoky Valley 0; Colby 26, Cimarron 0
9-8—Hoisington 38, Halstead 14; Larned 60, Lyons 0; Lakin 50, Syracuse 14; Holcomb 49, Cimarron 10; Stanton County 20, SW Heights 6
9-1—Hoisington 39, Hesston 7; Lakin 56, Stanton County 14; Pratt 48, Larned 12; Scott City 49, Cimarron 13; Hugoton 52, SW Heights 0
