Friday evening the #9 Dundy County Stratton Tigers faced Alma for a battle within the D1-9 District. The Tigers won the matchup 42-20, but that score didn't dictate how good of a game this was. Both teams played with incredible effort and it was fun to watch. Dundy County Stratton entered this matchup at 5-1 after beating North Platte St. Pat's and Alma came into the game at 1-5. They had most recently fell to #3 Arapahoe.
In the opening quarter, the offense was hard to come by from each team. The lone score came on an 11-yard pass from Dante Horner to August Shaw. The two-point conversion was good and the Tigers led 8-0 with 7:32 to go in the first. That was the score heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, only one touchdown occurred and this time it was from the Alma Cardinals. It was the second play of the quarter as Zavier Mitchell ran it in from a yard out. Both teams' defense in the quarter's remaining minutes was excellent. Every time you thought an offense would be setting up a chunk play, the defense would bow up and make an impressive stop.
In the third quarter, the Cardinals had possession of the ball first. They elected to be aggressive on their side of the field and turned it over on downs. The Tigers didn't waste the opportunity. A couple of plays later, DCS scored on a 10-yard run from Ethan Latta. That would be his first of many scores on the evening. It was 14-6 at that time.
Alma would move the ball on occasions against the Tiger defense, but DCS would tighten up and get timely stops. Later in the period at the 5:57 mark, Latta ran it in again from 11 yards away. Kevin Garcia caught a quick screen pass from Dante Horner for the two-point conversion and it was 22-6.
On the next possession for Alma, quarterback Zavier Mitchell was sacked by Lane Bybee and the ball was knocked loose. Dundy County Stratton's Bryce Zimbelman recovered the fumble. The Tigers didn't waste the opportunity and Ethan Latta scored again, this time from 18 yards away. It was 28-6 at that point with 4:05 to go in the third.
The Tigers would score one more time before the end of the quarter and again, it was Latta from a yard away to push the lead to 34-6.
That was the tally going to the fourth.
The Cardinals didn't stop fighting. They put together a long drive beginning in the later stages of the third, that carried into the final period, nine plays, including a fake punt that Ryan Mally ran for a first down. The scoring play on the drive was a nice 13-yard pass from Mitchell to Zane Clark. It was 34-12 with 8:37 to go.
Latta got into the endzone one more time for DCS as he ran in from 19 yards. Dante Horner found his younger brother Breck Horner on the two-point conversion and it was 42-12.
Alma's offense put together another nice drive which was capped by a pass from Zavier Mitchell to Dylan Andre from 22 yards away.
Unofficial Stats For Alma
Alma had 126 yards rushing and 94 yards passing. They had just one turnover in the game. Zavier Mitchell had 100 yards passing and three total touchdowns. Miles Ford had 48 yards rushing, Isaiah Neal was utilized for a total of 34 yards rushing and 48 yards receiving, and Matthew Mintzmyer had 20 yards on the ground. Dylan Andre had 22 yards receiving and a score, Zane Clark caught a pass for 13 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell had an interception for Alma as well.
Unofficial Stats for Dundy County Stratton
Dundy County Stratton had 266 yards rushing and 39 yards passing. Dante Horner had all of those passing yards and a touchdown. He did throw an interception. Horner was effective on the ground, scrambling and finding yards as he finished with 52 yards. Ethan Latta had a monster game on offense again with 211 yards and five scores. Lane Bybee had a sack and a forced fumble.
We caught up with Ethan Latta after the game to talk about the ground game and getting prepared for the playoffs. Postgame interviews are brought to you by Acme Printing Company.
Alma is now 1-6 and will be at Hi-Line on Friday next week to close out the season. Dundy County Stratton is 6-1 and will wait for the playoffs. They were scheduled to play Southern Valley but they canceled their season as previously reported. So, they will finish the regular season at 7-1.
Check out the highlights from the game brought to you by Prairie Girl Candle Company
