The West Holt football team improved their record to 2-2 on Friday, Sept. 15 after taking down Fremont Bergan in a high-scoring contest at home.
The Huskies came into the contest looking to avenge a tight loss to Holt County rival O’Neill just a week prior, while Fremont Bergan came in looking for its first win of the season.
The Huskies would get off to a hot start, when the opening kickoff was fumbled by the Knights and Husky junior Grant Osborne was able to dive on top of it, giving the Huskies great field position for their first drive of the ballgame.
West Holt would waste no time getting on the board. As they were able to capitalize off of the turnover quickly with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Lincoln Konrad to Caleb Davis to make the score 6-0 early in the first quarter.
Bergan would respond quickly with a touchdown and extra point of their own, making it a 7-6 ball game at the blink of an eye.
The score wouldn’t stand for long, however, as Konrad would find Andrew Rentschler on a deep route for a 74-yard touchdown pass. This time kicker Julio Mora-Gallardo would convert the extra point, giving the Huskies a 13-7 lead entering the second quarter.
Rentschler would show off his talents yet again to begin the second quarter, getting open for another touchdown reception, this time from 41 yards out. The Huskies would seemingly have the game in the palm of their hands, marching down to the Knights 20-yard-line just one possession after the touchdown, when a forced fumble was returned 80 yards back to the house for Fremont Bergan, giving all the momentum to the Knights as they pulled within five points, making the score 19-14.
Fortunately for the Huskies, Konrad was able to continue to slash up the secondary with his passing game, as he would find Ian Laetsch on a 20-yard touchdown pass as the second quarter came to an end, giving the Huskies a 25-17 lead at the half after a 40-yard field goal was made by the Knights kicker.
The Knights kicker would remain hot in the second half, nailing a 32-yarder halfway through the third quarter, pulling Fremont Bergan back to within five points.
But with the pressure on his shoulders, Konrad would prevail for the Huskies, breaking off a 57-yard touchdown run up the gut to finally put the game on ice for West Holt.
Neither team would find the end zone in the fourth quarter, as the Knights couldn’t get anything going through the air and the Huskies were content with draining the clock out, and the Huskies would go on to win by a final score of 32-20. This win would put the Huskies back at .500 on the season with a record of 2-2, and keep the Huskies undefeated on their home field this season.
Leading the charge for the Huskies was the unstoppable combination of Konrad and Rentschler. Konrad would go a perfect 9/9 through the air for the Huskies with 191 yards and four touchdowns. A big reason for Konrad’s success through the air was the quick feet and soft hands of Rentschler, who caught three passes for 129 yards with two touchdowns.
Helping establish the pass game with great work on the ground was also Konrad, who went for 97 yards and one touchdown on the ground, as well as Laetsch, who had 69 yards of his own on 17 carries.
Defensively it was Mason Crumrine who made his presence felt the most, especially in the backfield. Crumrine ended the game with two sacks and three tackles for loss, forcing the Knights quarterback into some uncomfortable throws.
The Huskies will pack their bags and head east this week as they take on the number one team in class C2, the defending state champions Norfolk Catholic on their home turf on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7:00 p.m.