Area Sports roundup (9/3, 9/4)

CROSS COUNTRY Broncos compete at Schuyler SCHUYLER — The Centennial cross country teams were back on the road Friday for the Schuyler invite, but it was a productive road trip for the Broncos. Carter Fritz brought home a golden finish for the first time in his career, as the junior broke the tape in 17:24.87 to pace the field by about a minute. Behind him, Drayden Krohe and Benjamin Luebbe finished 19th and 20th in 21:06 and 21:10, respectively. Braeden Bloebaum clocked in 22nd with a 21:13 and Hunter Schultz took 41st at 23:51. Rounding out the Centennial boys was Clayton Singleton with a 25:46 as the Broncos took third in the team race. "Carter dominated the entire race from the start. I don't think he was ever in 2nd place and finished :58 seconds ahead of 2nd place," head coach Rob Johansen said. "He is looking really good this early in the season and has his eyes on a state medal after finishing 17th last year." On the girls' side, Centennial finished fourth as a team led by seniors Marley Olson and Nya Fischer in fourth and fifth with times of 22:23 and 22:33, respectively. Jozie Butzke broke the tape in 23:00 and finished 12th, while Memmorie Singleton was 41st in 30:22. Stella Steele also ran a strong race at 20:01, but the freshman was ultimately disqualified because she failed to run around a tree on the home stretch and didn't catch the mistake until after she'd already crossed the finish line. "Marley, Nya and Josie all ran great races to earn medals. Stella easily won the race by 1:10 but failed to run around a tree in the last 50 meters and ended up getting disqualified from the race," Johansen said. "It was very unfortunate for her as the course was poorly marked and the lead cart did not go around the tree either. About 15 seconds after finishing, Stella ran backwards on the course to go around the missed tree and came in 3rd place. The confusion of this caused the meet officials to call the NSAA for a ruling, which was if she would have corrected the running error before going through the finish line, it would have been okay. Going through the finish line ended her race. It was a tough lesson and mistake that both she and the meet directors can learn from." VOYLLEYBALL EMF 3, Centennial 1 Two area schools squared off on the court in Utica on Thursday night, as visiting Exeter-Milligan-Friend took down host Centennial in a four-set battle. Three of the four sets went to extra points, with the Bobcats prevailing 27-25, 25-23, 25-27, 28-26. Adilyn Meints was excellent for EMF in the win, as the freshman hammered half of her 26 swings for kills to post the match high and posted a .385 hitting percentage for the match. Behind her, sophomore Brynnlye Johnson hit .103 and netted 12 winners while junior Miley Ricenbaw also cracked double figures with 11. Aniston Meints terminated seven of her 16 chances for kills with just one error for a .375 hitting percentage, while Reese Tuttle and Alexis Paulsen rounded out the attack with three and two winners, respectively. For Centennial, seniors Jaclynn Prigge and Tyler Opfer whacked 10 kills apiece to tie for the team high. Sophomores Kate Breitkreutz and Macy Dishman were next up with nine and six winners, respectively, while junior Gentry Zimmer added a pair and Meg Hoffschneider recorded one. Breitkreutz was also effective from the service line, where she crushed half of the hosts' eight aces on a 95.2% clip; Hoffschneider, Opfer, Hurley Harroun and Molly Fehlhafer all added one apiece. For EMF, the duo of Reese and Avery Tuttle led the way serving up three aces apiece, while Ricenbaw and Chezney Kanode both chipped in two. Aniston Meints also had one as the Bobcats held the 11-8 edge in aces for the match. Seniors Paulsen and Meints teamed up on both EMF blocks; Zimmer had four for Centennial and Hoffschneider and Dishman each finished with one. Fehlhafer racked up 20 digs defensively followed by 19 from Opfer and Harroun with 12. Avery Tuttle had the match-high 24 digs to pace EMF defensively, with Ricenbaw not too far off that pace with 17. Reese Tuttle racked up 40 of the Bobcats' 45 assists; Hoffschneider led Centennial with 31 of the team's 35, followed by three from Fehlhafer. Knights take CRC clash against Mustangs WACO — The Nebraska Lutheran girls took on McCool Junction in an early-season CRC matchup Thursday night, and the Knights were able to successfully defend home court with a 25-15, 25-20, 25-17 sweep. Hallie Spreeman led the hosts with seven kills and Kate Otte chipped in six, while Ashley Schoen and Adelyn Brauer both netted five. Eliana Endorf and Natali Lauber tallied three and two kills, respectively, while Morgan Krueger and Taelyn Williamson rounded out the attack with one each. Kynnedy Bristol had the match high in the loss as the junior hammered eight kills on 25 swings with no errors and a .320 hitting percentage for McCool Junction. Klaire Rasmussen added three winners, Kensingtyn Bristol netted a pair and Emyjay Houck and Harley Stutzman rounded out the attack with one apiece. At the service line it was Kensingtyn Bristol with both Mustang aces; Brauer led Lutheran with three and Endorf and Spreeman each had two followed by one for Schoen, Krueger and Williamson. Madelyn Clayton had 13 digs for the Knights and Adley Cheek led McCool Junction with 10. Rasmussen had 10 assists in the loss, while Krueger netted 13 for the hosts. VB SCOREBOARD (9/3) Shelby-Rising City 3, Cross County 0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-15) East Butler 3, High Plains 2 (16-25, 25-18, 20-25, 26-24, 15-12) Wilber-Clatonia 2, H&H 0 (25-9, 25-21) H&H 2, Sandy Creek 0 (28-26, 25-15) David City 3, Fillmore Central 0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18) GOLF Bobcats runner-up at Tri County The Exeter-Milligan-Friend girls teed it up at the Tri County invite Friday, and the Bobcats put together a strong outing with a runner-up finish in the team race behind Class B Norris. EMF also had a pair of golfers inside the top five, led by senior Abby Klooz as she fired an 84 to win the individual title by four strokes. Teammate Bristol Sladek also cracked the top five, carding a 92 to land in solo fourth. Behind them, it was Kate Pribyl just missing out on the top 15 with a 108, while Sydney Engert posted a 114 and Gracie Vyhnalek was one stroke above that pace with a 113. FOOTBALL Battle of Mustangs goes to McCool Junction The McCool Junction boys were in action at home for the first time this season as they hosted Meridian in a week two battle of Mustangs. In the end, it was the hosts who moved to 2-0 in emphatic fashion with a 72-21 rout. The Mustangs took a 29-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back, outscoring the visitors in all four frames. Colby Yates picked up right where he left off in week one, running 12 times for 258 yards and five touchdowns, his second consecutive game with 200-plus yards and five scores. Jaxon McDonald also had a pair of carries for 37 yards and found the end zone once while Joaquin Rojas ran four times for 37 yards and a touchdown. Jameson Weiss completed one pass for a 10-yard touchdown to Cornelius Grobler. Weiss also led the Mustangs with 16 tackles followed by 10 from Clayton Kahler. McDonald and Yates also picked off a pass defensively, both of which were returned for touchdowns in the first quarter. Yates' covered 79 yards while McDonald's was a 45-yarder. Fillmore Central 25, Holdrege 10 The Fillmore Central boys had a defensive battle in their first road contest of the season Friday night, but in the end the Panthers were able to buckle down and make the plays needed to skip town with a 25-10 win over the Holdrege Dusters and improve to 2-0 on the year. Preston Komenda had a solid day under center as the senior gunslinger completed 14 of 21 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown; he also ran nine times for 46 yards and another score. Leading the Fillmore Central effort on the ground was Joey Stoner as the senior rumbled for 112 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. Max Aguilera also rushed six times for 23 yards and found the end zone once. Kayden Bolejack led the receiving corps with three grabs for 54 yards, while Aguilera caught four balls for 53 and Kinyon Miller added four for 48. Amari Miller had one reception but made it count on a 22-yard touchdown grab. Stoner also had a pair of catches out of the backfield for 36 yards. Defensively, senior Hunter Fintel racked up 14 tackles while Stoner chipped in seven. Wyatt Hafer had a pair of TFLs and one sack. The Panthers also forced a pair of turnovers as Komenda and Kinyon Miller both picked off a pass. EMF 54, David City 13 The Exeter-Milligan-Friend boys hit the road Friday night and picked up their second win in as many chances as they made the return trip home with a comfortable 54-13 win over the Scouts of David City. EMF didn't have the most prolific passing attack Friday, but they had one big play through the air as Grady Arp completed his only attempt for a 59-yard touchdown pass to Sergio Alacron. However, the Bobcats did not need to have an overly efficient night through the air because the visitors gashed the Scouts on the ground to the tune of 325 yards and six touchdowns on just 21 carries. A.J. Mueller led the way, as the senior rumbled for 197 yards and three scores on just 11 carries, while Will Kallhoff ran twice for 49 yards and found the end zone once. Aiden Nichols had three carries for 41 yards, Elijah Oceguera added two for 25 and a score and Truman Milton netted a 7-yard touchdown on his only attempt while also catching one ball for 20 yards. Defensively Clayton Pribyl had five tackles and tied for the team high with Milton, who also recorded four tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The third Bobcat with five tackles was sophomore Dane Anderson. Mueller also had the Bobcats' lone takeaway with an interception. Hastings St. Cecilia 40, Centennial 8 The Centennial boys were back in action Friday night, as warm temperatures led the start of their matchup with Hastings St. Cecilia to be delayed by an hour with an 8 p.m. opening kick. Unfortunately for the Broncos, it was the visiting Bluehawks who left town with the 40-8 win. Parker Perry was 11 of 28 through the air for 61 yards with an interception while Tripp Hawley completed 2 of 6 passes for 27 yards. On the ground, Perry rumbled for 86 yards and a score on 12 carries. Kellen Naber was the top receiver with five catches for 23 yards. Defensively, Kade McFadden led the way with seven tackles, and he also picked off a pair of passes while Owen Naber had a fumble recovery. Sutton 36, Cross County 12 The Cross County boys faced a tough matchup in their home opener against Sutton on Friday night, and unfortunately for the Cougars it was the visitors who would have the upper hand in a 36-12 final. The Cougars had a tough time slowing down the Mustangs' run game as Sutton had 309 yards and five scores on the ground. Cross County, meanwhile, finished with 138 yards and two scores and averaged under three yards per carry. El Greenwall completed 2 of 5 passes for 25 yards and ran for another 50 and two scores. Tyion Francis also ran 12 times for 45 yards and Morely Warren added 12 for 33, while Tymari Francis nabbed four for 10. Warren and Benson Seim both had one reception for 12 and 13 yards, respectively. Defensively, it was Bode Berggren leading the way with 10 tackles while Tyion Francis and Gabe Nuttelman were right behind him with nine apiece. GICC 45, H&H 0 The Heartland and Hampton boys had a tough task ahead of them in their first home game as the H&H Bearcats, and unfortunately for the hometown crew visiting GICC lived up to the billing and then some. The Crusaders rolled to 2-0 with a 45-0 shutout Friday night, aided by a quick start in which they built up a 28-0 lead after one quarter of play. One week after running all over the Schuyler defense, the H&H ground game found it tough sledding Friday as the Bearcats had just 29 yards on 21 carries as a team. Nevada Gloystein was the leading rusher with 11 totes for 31 yards while Landen Rojewski added 19 yards on three carries. The passing game wasn't effective enough to alleviate the pressure in the run game as the Bearcats were a combined 7 of 18 for 74 yards with a pair of interceptions. Rojewski was the leading receiver as he hauled in five passes for 72 yards. Defensively, Riggs Newton and Jagger Regier tied for the team high with eight tackles apiece and Rojewski picked off one pass. AREA SCOREBOARD High Plains 62, Nebraska Lutheran 0 Sent weekly directly to your inbox! Sports Editor