Trojans, Warriors storm into rematch; Falcons regain winning ways

CAMBRIDGE Neb. — It’s Cambridge vs. Arapahoe time again and the Trojans showed they are ready Friday night.

Senior quarterback Carson Trompke was on fire with 11 of 15 passing and three touchdowns in the Trojans’ 28-18 win over rival Southern Valley.

Krayton Ruggles caught one TD among his 99 receiving yards on three receptions, while senior Ben Hoberty totaled 43 receiving yards but reached the end zone twice.

Trompke’s 170 pass yards provided perfect balance to a 228-yard Trojan ground attack.

He ran 14 times to 68 yards and junior Jayden Ruf turned his 10 carries into another 55.

Junior Dierks Sayer added 53 and Hoberty 43 on a combined 20 rushes — leaving Southern Valley (2-2) no one target to focus on defensively.

The Eagles also fell below their 40-point scoring average including 66 vs. Maxwell a week earlier.

Ruf equally divided his 16 tackles between eight solos and eight assists.

Senior Hunter Perks made 15 stops though his nine solo tackles were the team best.

Trompke added 13 tackles (seven solos) and how about sophomore wrestling stud Micah Gerlach making another 11 (five solo)?

Besides his other heroics, Trompke picked off two Eagle passes.

No Southern Valley stats have been obtained.

Cambridge now gets ready to visit 4-0 Arapahoe, the neighbors who just knocked off previously unbeaten Alma 44-38.

The Trojans (2-2) took an epic 26-24 victory last season, but their last visit to Arapahoe resulted in a 28-0 defeat two years ago.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Arapahoe.

Arapahoe 44,

Alma 38

ALMA — The Class D-1 No. 10 Arapahoe Warriors withstood Jakin Neal’s 362 passing yards and dealt Alma its first defeat of 2023 Friday night.

Junior William Cacy ran for 148 yards and three TDs while Grayson Koller caught a 28-yard six-point pass.

Senior Rafe Hill stayed clear of Cardinal tackles to gain another 84 yards and junior Trenton Roskop added one more rushing TD among his four for 21.

Alma senior Alek Molzahn caught 11 of Neal’s passes, leading to 174 yards with one score.

Molzahn rumbled for 85 yards and two touchdowns.

DC-S 44,

Bertrand 8

BERTRAND, Neb. — The Class D-2 No. 3 Dundy County-Stratton Tigers stayed unbeaten at 4-0 and dropped those Bertrand Vikings to 0-4 Friday.

Coach Mike Spargo’s team hosts 0-4 Medicine Valley this Friday.

Hitchcock Co. 28,

Loomis 14

LOOMIS, Neb. — With 14 points in the fourth quarter, those defending D-2 champion Falcons made sure there’d be no third consecutive loss Friday night.

Hitchcock County (2-2) silenced the 1-3 host Wolves after losing to 4-0 South Loup and 3-1 Sandhills-Thedford two previous Fridays.

The Falcons (2-2) played an 8-0 first half, kept their margin at 4-6 then added 14 clutch late points.

They’ll take this renewed momentum into another home game against 0-4 Bertrand Friday night.

Chase County 62,

Gibbon 0

GIBBON, Neb. — One of Chase County’s biggest football wins in recent memory evened the Longhorns’ record at 2-2 Friday evening.

The Gibbon Buffaloes (1-3) won their opener over Hershey, 15-8, but have lost three straight with that total point margin being 146-17.

Chase County hosts 0-4 Garden County Friday night in Imperial.

Rawlins County 34,

Wallace County 31

SHARON SPRINGS, Kan. — What a thrilling contest where each team scored six to eight points in all four quarters Friday until Rawlins won the overtime, 6-3.

Junior Ryan Sramek’s 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns fueled the Buffaloes’ third straight win starting 2003.

Senior quarterback Braxton Dixson threw for 125 yards along with another huge score. He also caught a TD pass from Sramek.

Senior Brayan Rodriguez was Rawlins’ leading receiver with four catches for 114 yards and one touchdown.

Dixson also rushed to 36 yards and a visit into six-point paradise.

Wallace County’s now 1-2 on the season.

The Buffs featured an amazing defensive effort where five players were each part of 11 total tackles: seniors Pete Crouse, Gus Hanson, Dixson, junior Dorian Culwell and sophomore Tru Dewey.

Sramek totaled a team-high 12 tackles including seven solo stops.

The Buffs teamed for 17 stops behind Wallace County’s line of scrimmage with Crouse and Cullwell involved in four apiece.

Decatur Co. 20,

St. Francis 14

BIRD CITY, Kan. — The Decatur Community -Oberlin Red Devils (1-2) earned their first football win this season Friday night.

No other details were obtained before today’s Gazette press deadline.

Week 5 will feature several other great matchups including 4-0 Sidney invading the McCook Bison home turf.